Transcript Morning Song” - Miss O' Connell's English Class

“Morning Song”
Sylvia Plath
Pg. 181
“Morning Song”
Read the text
 General class discussion – first
impressions.

 Content
of poem
 Language
 Themes
Pre-reading
Context:
Plath wrote this poem ten months after the
birth of her first baby, Frieda in April 1960
…..
And just two weeks after suffering a
miscarriage in February 1961.
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Content: Morning Song
“Morning Song” is a counter-balance to
“Child”. Here we have Plath the mother,
rejoicing and celebrating the wonder of birth.
 The poem is split in half in terms of tone/mood.
 First half: helpless, insecure and aloof from
her child (emotion which can be associated
both with miscarriage and the early stages of
motherhood)
 Second half: warmer, more secure relationship
is depicted.

Content: Verse One
This positive opening shows Plath at her
best (mentally), her happiest. It is a rich
image and “Love” opens this wonderful
poem.
 She compares her crying newborn baby
to a “fat gold watch” – suggestive of the
baby’s plumpness and how precious she
is to Plath.

Content: Verse Two
The new parents talk of the baby’s arrival,
“magnifying it” which can refer to both the
boasting of their child and how enormous the
responsibility is that the parents now face.
 The location is a “draughty museum” – a cold,
clinical place where the child is on display.
Hospital has negative associations for mother?
[Child is still seen as a rare and precious
being – placed in a museum]

The actions of the parents are filled with
uncertainty – “We stand round blankly as
walls”. They don’t know what to say.
 They are overwhelmed by the new life.
 They are emotional about the
miscarriage they both experienced.

Content: Verse Three
“I’m no more your mother”
 -reference to the child she lost
 -reference to her living daughter:
“I’m no more your mother/Than the cloud...” –
compares the complex relationship between
mother and child to that between a cloud and
a pool of water. The cloud produces the water
that forms a pool, and the pool, in turn, reflects
the cloud.

Therefore, the mother makes the child
and the child reflects the mother
(physically, socially etc.)
 A child is a mirror image of its mother,
but not a permanent one. As a cloud is
slowly changed in shape by the wind, so
too do the mother and child change
shape. The child becomes her own
person.

Content: Verse Four

 “All night” : the duties of motherhood
 Second half of the poem sees Plath
more comfortable in her mother-role.
 She is constantly aware of the child’s
breathing (possibly in fear of cot-death?)
 “Moth-breath” = fluttering of child’s
breathing


“flat pink roses” resemble the child’s
delicate mouth and also symbolise
maternal warmth.
Content:Verse Five

This verse shows Plath, again, addressing the
realities of motherhood.
 “One cry” sees a mother jumping from her bed
to attend to her child – demanding
motherhood, no more time to stare at blank
walls!
 Humorous description of herself in her
“floral…nightgown”.
 She is “cow-heavy” = nursing/breast-feeding
the child which signifies a bond, closeness.
Content: Verse Six
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

Dawn is breaking as it “whitens” outside the window
The baby’s first “bald cry” is now transformed into a
“handful of notes” – Plath is not apprehensive
anymore of the cry – she sees it as music to her ears.
Image of “balloons” – celebratory image to finish on as
it suggests the joy and celebration of childhood.
The great festival of life has begun for both mother
and child and is a rare high moment for Plath!
Language
Descriptive language – LOTS of imagery. The
birth of her child (and the happiness it gave
her) seemed to inspire her as a poet.
 Direct and inclusive language: she speaks to
the child
 Written in tercets (3 lines)
 The magnificent simile that opens the poem
shows Plath at her best (mentally), her
happiest. It is a rich image of love.


Imagery: In the first half of the poem the
images she uses are often cold, stark and
dark.
 The child’s cry is “bald” [harsh], the hospital is
a museum [clinical] which captures her anxiety
about becoming a new mother.
 Image of mother reflecting child is N.B. This
begins their bond.
 Imagery in second half of the poem is warm,
maternal and celebratory – she has come to
terms with her new role!
Use of COLOUR = N.B.!!!
Plath’s use of colour:
 “shadows” (V.2) = dark uncertainty…


versus
“gold” [universal colour of wealth and
good health]
 “pink” [universal colour of love...]
 “whitens” [universal colour of purity and
innocence].
