Lady Lazarus
The poem I chose to read was Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath. I found this poem very dark in context, and emotional in a personal way. The first thing that struck me was that the author was speaking directly to her reader in this poem. When reading Lady Lazarus I get the feeling that Mrs. Plath is speaking directly about her experiences in life, and that she is sharing this with anyone willing to listen (the reader). The types of imagery she uses are intense. She compares her skin to a bright Nazi lampshade (Plath lines 4-5), and her face to a fine Jew linen (Plath lines8-9). These are images that hit close to home for me because my grandmother was a holocaust survivor. I also get a sense of depression in this poem. With Plath's mention of death and how the first time was accidental (at the age of 10), and how on her second time she meant it to last (Plath), I can’t help but imagine that she is referencing to her own mortality and suicide. This I can relate too because I like many others have struggled with depression (especially my teen years). At the end of the poem I think that Plath likens herself to a phoenix. This is suicide attempt number three for her and as always the doctors bring her back from the brink of death. Her resurrection so to speak is like a phoenix, the mythical bird that bursts into flames and is consumed into ash at its death, only to rise again reborn. I also think that maybe she uses this metaphor because in her heart she knows that suicide is wrong, and may indeed fear burning in hell for her sin, hence the ashes. The doctors save her life, and she sees that as avoiding hell all together, and her faith in God is reborn, just as her life is.
Here is a link if you would like to know more about Sylvia Plath.
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