Sylvia Plath

An anthology of the American poet's intensely personal, candid works reveals her reflections on the ephemeral aspects of life

The Colossus & Other Poems

I've loved Sylvia Plath for years; she's my first inspiration for getting into reading (and writing) poetry, so I was excited to come across this collection of poems I hadn't seen before.

Her writing is stripped bare of frivolities and is startling, yet it's beautiful (and I know it's a cliché to call poetry beautiful, but Plath's simply is). 

Poetry is subjective and as such I felt this collection of poems had a few common themes. The ocean and its power have always been central to Plath's works, and you can feel that here. I mean you can really feel the ocean, and not in the way of a sunny beach day, but it's cold, unforgiving black depths. I still feel a chill even after reading this book. 

Knowing many of the poems were written while Plath was living in England, it feels like a deeper current running through these works is comparing her native New England to the U.K. and feeling almost like an outsider. She feels like she doesn't belong and longs for home--even the bad, dark memories of home. 

I didn't really take notes while reading, and I've already placed this book back on my shelf, so I can't give specific examples of the exact poem names I'm referring to, but nature vs. nurture also seemed like a central theme here. The city versus countryside also dominated. While each poem had a deeper meaning pertaining to Plath's life, they also seemed more universal in terms of fears presented, and a feeling of being out of place persisted. 

My only drawback is the flow of these poems; many were broken up in the middle of a line, disrupting the flow. It didn't feel smooth, although maybe that was the point. As the ocean was so central here, maybe these broken stanzas were meant to emulate choppy ocean waves. 

Additionally, I had to look up the definitions of so many words in each poem that it took away from the rhythm. Now of course, that is on me, but Plath does use many, many words that are not common knowledge or everyday words. Some I'd never come across before. The language is beautiful and thanks to context clues and a basic understanding of word origins, I got the general idea of most. I just didn't feel like whipping out my phone every few seconds to search for another word or to make sure I had the intended meaning already, so I may not have gotten the full understanding of some poems in this collection. I didn't read this all at once, and I think that's the best way to do it. Otherwise you may get overwhelmed with a feeling of dread. There's not much cause for hopefulness or joy in these poems.

Overall, a stunning book of poetry that everyone should read, as there's something in there for everyone. I'm not used to reviewing poetry collections like this, so please forgive any ignorance on my part. I don't often read poetry, but I should read more. Especially of Plath's. Though they are hard to review because, again, it's all subjective. Anyone from different backgrounds could have a completely different take, and that's the beauty of it.

Amanda

I've loved Sylvia Plath for years; she's my first inspiration for getting into reading (and writing) poetry, so I was excited to come across this collection of poems I hadn't seen before.

Her writing is stripped bare of frivolities and is startling, yet it's beautiful (and I know it's a cliché to call poetry beautiful, but Plath's simply is). 

Poetry is subjective and as such I felt this collection of poems had a few common themes. The ocean and its power have always been central to Plath's works, and you can feel that here. I mean you can really feel the ocean, and not in the way of a sunny beach day, but it's cold, unforgiving black depths. I still feel a chill even after reading this book. 

Knowing many of the poems were written while Plath was living in England, it feels like a deeper current running through these works is comparing her native New England to the U.K. and feeling almost like an outsider. She feels like she doesn't belong and longs for home--even the bad, dark memories of home. 

I didn't really take notes while reading, and I've already placed this book back on my shelf, so I can't give specific examples of the exact poem names I'm referring to, but nature vs. nurture also seemed like a central theme here. The city versus countryside also dominated. While each poem had a deeper meaning pertaining to Plath's life, they also seemed more universal in terms of fears presented, and a feeling of being out of place persisted. 

My only drawback is the flow of these poems; many were broken up in the middle of a line, disrupting the flow. It didn't feel smooth, although maybe that was the point. As the ocean was so central here, maybe these broken stanzas were meant to emulate choppy ocean waves. 

Additionally, I had to look up the definitions of so many words in each poem that it took away from the rhythm. Now of course, that is on me, but Plath does use many, many words that are not common knowledge or everyday words. Some I'd never come across before. The language is beautiful and thanks to context clues and a basic understanding of word origins, I got the general idea of most. I just didn't feel like whipping out my phone every few seconds to search for another word or to make sure I had the intended meaning already, so I may not have gotten the full understanding of some poems in this collection. I didn't read this all at once, and I think that's the best way to do it. Otherwise you may get overwhelmed with a feeling of dread. There's not much cause for hopefulness or joy in these poems.

Overall, a stunning book of poetry that everyone should read, as there's something in there for everyone. I'm not used to reviewing poetry collections like this, so please forgive any ignorance on my part. I don't often read poetry, but I should read more. Especially of Plath's. Though they are hard to review because, again, it's all subjective. Anyone from different backgrounds could have a completely different take, and that's the beauty of it.