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Roman Clodia's Reviews > Ariel
Ariel
by
by
So, no-one needs another review of Plath's raging, bitter, vengeful poems that batter us with image after startling, shattering image: the scarlet bloom of blood, claustrophobia and airlessness, the dissolution of the female body and voice, balanced by transcendental moments of renewal and rebirth.
But it's worth saying that this edition is based on the 1965 version 'edited' by Ted Hughes which took out poems which he considered too aggressive (presumably towards him?), and which reordered the poems from Plath's manuscript. (Collected Poems gives Plath's own order on p.295.)
Leaving aside all the well-rehearsed arguments about his appropriations and muting of her voice, the effect of Hughes' possibly self-interested reordering and re-selection means that 'his' Ariel ends on a note of annihilation, the 'her dead body' of 'Edge', the penultimate poem, and 'words dry and riderless' of the final 'Words'. It makes Plath's suicide teleological.
Her own selection and ordering was, arguably, less bleak - she ends with the Bee poems ('The Bee Meeting', 'The Arrival of the Bee Box', 'Stings', 'The Swarm' which Hughes excluded altogether and 'Wintering') and the final lines of her edition speak to at least the hope of some kind of renewal:
Will the hive survive, will the gladiolas
Succeed in banking their fires
To enter another year?
What will they taste of, the Christmas roses?
The bees are flying. They taste the spring.
But it's worth saying that this edition is based on the 1965 version 'edited' by Ted Hughes which took out poems which he considered too aggressive (presumably towards him?), and which reordered the poems from Plath's manuscript. (Collected Poems gives Plath's own order on p.295.)
Leaving aside all the well-rehearsed arguments about his appropriations and muting of her voice, the effect of Hughes' possibly self-interested reordering and re-selection means that 'his' Ariel ends on a note of annihilation, the 'her dead body' of 'Edge', the penultimate poem, and 'words dry and riderless' of the final 'Words'. It makes Plath's suicide teleological.
Her own selection and ordering was, arguably, less bleak - she ends with the Bee poems ('The Bee Meeting', 'The Arrival of the Bee Box', 'Stings', 'The Swarm' which Hughes excluded altogether and 'Wintering') and the final lines of her edition speak to at least the hope of some kind of renewal:
Will the hive survive, will the gladiolas
Succeed in banking their fires
To enter another year?
What will they taste of, the Christmas roses?
The bees are flying. They taste the spring.
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Ariel.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
January 1, 2016
–
Finished Reading
June 8, 2016
– Shelved
May 19, 2020
–
Started Reading
May 19, 2020
–
13.95%
"A ring of gold with the sun in it?
Lies. Lies and a grief.
~ The Couriers"
page
12
Lies. Lies and a grief.
~ The Couriers"
May 19, 2020
–
23.26%
"I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die.
~ Lady Lazarus"
page
20
And like the cat I have nine times to die.
~ Lady Lazarus"
May 19, 2020
–
24.42%
"The tulips are too red in the first place, they hurt me.
Even through the gift paper I could hear them breathe.
~ Tulips"
page
21
Even through the gift paper I could hear them breathe.
~ Tulips"
May 19, 2020
–
30.23%
"I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel it's soft, feathery turnings, it's salinity.
~ Elm"
page
26
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel it's soft, feathery turnings, it's salinity.
~ Elm"
May 19, 2020
–
30.23%
"I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.
~ Elm"
page
26
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.
~ Elm"
June 10, 2020
–
43.02%
"And I
Am the arrow
The dew that flies
Suicidal, at one with the drive
Into the red
Eye, the cauldron of morning."
page
37
Am the arrow
The dew that flies
Suicidal, at one with the drive
Into the red
Eye, the cauldron of morning."
June 10, 2020
–
43.02%
"And I
Am the arrow
The dew that flies
Suicidal, at one with the drive
Into the red
Eye, the cauldron of morning.
~ Ariel"
page
37
Am the arrow
The dew that flies
Suicidal, at one with the drive
Into the red
Eye, the cauldron of morning.
~ Ariel"
June 10, 2020
–
54.65%
"The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.
And the message of the yew tree is blackness - blackness and silence."
page
47
And the message of the yew tree is blackness - blackness and silence."
June 13, 2020
–
58.14%
"What is this, behind this veil, is it ugly, is is beautiful?
It is shimmering, has it breasts, has it edges?
I am sure it is unique, I am sure it is just what I want.
When I am quiet at my cooking I feel it looking, I feel it thinking
--- From 'A Birthday Present'"
page
50
It is shimmering, has it breasts, has it edges?
I am sure it is unique, I am sure it is just what I want.
When I am quiet at my cooking I feel it looking, I feel it thinking
--- From 'A Birthday Present'"
June 14, 2020
–
61.63%
"'If the moon smiled, she would resemble you.
You leave the same impression
Of something beautiful, but annihilating.
~ From 'The Rival'"
page
53
You leave the same impression
Of something beautiful, but annihilating.
~ From 'The Rival'"
June 14, 2020
–
66.28%
"'I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.'
~ From 'Daddy'"
page
57
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.'
~ From 'Daddy'"
June 15, 2020
–
68.6%
"Pure? What does it mean?
The tongues of hell
Are dull, dull as the triple
Tongues of dull Cerberus
Who wheezes at the gate.
~ From 'Fever 103'"
page
59
The tongues of hell
Are dull, dull as the triple
Tongues of dull Cerberus
Who wheezes at the gate.
~ From 'Fever 103'"
June 15, 2020
–
70.93%
"Now they are giving me a fashionable white straw Italian hat
And a black veil that moulds to my face, they are making me one of them.
~ From 'The Bee Meeting'"
page
61
And a black veil that moulds to my face, they are making me one of them.
~ From 'The Bee Meeting'"
June 15, 2020
–
73.26%
"The box is locked, it is dangerous.
I have to live with it overnight
And I can't keep away from it.
~ From 'The Arrival of the Bee Box'"
page
63
I have to live with it overnight
And I can't keep away from it.
~ From 'The Arrival of the Bee Box'"
June 15, 2020
–
75.58%
"I am no drudge
Though for years I have eaten dust
And dried plates with my dense hair.
~ From 'Stings'"
page
65
Though for years I have eaten dust
And dried plates with my dense hair.
~ From 'Stings'"
June 15, 2020
–
79.07%
"This is the room I have never been in.
This is the room I could never breathe in.
The black bunched in there like a bat
~ From 'Wintering'"
page
68
This is the room I could never breathe in.
The black bunched in there like a bat
~ From 'Wintering'"
June 15, 2020
–
80.23%
"The bees are all women,
Maids and the long royal lady.
They have got rid of the men
~ From 'Wintering'"
page
69
Maids and the long royal lady.
They have got rid of the men
~ From 'Wintering'"
June 15, 2020
–
98.84%
"The woman is perfected.
Her dead
Body wears the smile of accomplishment
~ From 'Edge'"
page
85
Her dead
Body wears the smile of accomplishment
~ From 'Edge'"
June 15, 2020
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-11 of 11 (11 new)
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Aw, you're sweet Jola! I could also read Sylvia Plath forever. And changing the order of the poems so that the volume ends with my quotation might affect the way we read its shape.
Most probably Ted Hughes wouldn't have let us even think about rearranging the order. By the way, I've never realized how important the order of poems may be. The sense of the whole book might be changed completely.
Yes, it's crucial for a poet like Plath who was so sensitive to how the volume as a whole should be shaped. She continued to change the order of individual poems... but Hughes still emended her final manuscript. At least we have access now to how she seemed to want the book to be read.
Great review, RC, but oh dear, I have never wanted to immerse myself in her disturbed intensity. She’s not for me.
Yes, I can respect your feeling about Plath - she's utterly uncompromising in her dark visions. For me, reading her makes the hairs on my neck stand up - she's terrifying and wonderful at the same time.
Cracking review, RC. And, speaking as someone who has studied philosophy of science, we don't hear the word 'teleological' nearly enough, in my view, so thanks. 😉
Great review! I've always found the influence Hughes had on the way her work was posthumously presented extremely suspect because it all seems geared towards acquitting himself. That, and the fact that he burnt that last journal.
Sadly, there is no dearth of female authors whose writing becomes mediated by men who take it upon themselves to shape and control their words: Hughes follows Scott on Zelda, and I'm currently reading Katherine Mansfield's journals which were edited by her husband (and, I think, he destroyed some) for publication.I think Hughes said he was protecting the children by burning that final journal - but we'll never know.
I read about that, too, and it's fairly likely, just like all the other possibilities.I had absolutely no idea about Mansfield's journals, but didn't Scott also lift some of Zelda's writing? So much of male authors and their success seems to be built over all this.
Scott was miffed that Zelda's Save Me the Waltz used some of the same material that he wanted for Tender is the Night - he just assumed that he was entitled to it! But yes, all kinds of revealing gender dynamics when it comes to writing couples.
PS
The extract about bees and flowers is exquisite.