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Metaphors
by Sylvia Plath
I’m a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising.
Money’s new-minted in this fat purse.
I’m a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I’ve eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there’s no getting off.
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This poem is something of a riddle, told by expressing metaphors. The poet is describing pregnancy, with the various metaphors providing an explanation for how pregnancy feels.
The poem is written in free verses, though there is also a consistent structure. The piece contains nine lines, and each of the nine lines contains nine syllables.
Line 1:
I’m a riddle in nine syllables,
This lines lets us know that the piece is something to be figured out. The big clue here in this line is the focus on the number nine. Once the Speaker tells us about nine syllables, we can take note as the Readers that each line has nine syllables and that there are nine lines total.
Line 2:
An elephant, a ponderous house,
The clues here are related to size. Both elephants and houses are large. A house is also a thing in which other people might live. The Speaker here seems to be making a joke at her own expense.
Line 3 and 4:
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This line seems to be an indicator of shape. After telling us that she is large, here she tells us that she is round – as a melon is round – supported by two tendrils. Tendrils are thin, so we get a picture of a round form supported by two thin legs.
The color red seems to refer to the unborn and growing baby. The ivory, fine timbers refer back to the two tendrils and seem to be the Speaker’s description of her own legs.
Line 5:
This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising.
This line refocuses on the growing “loaf.” The Speaker might mean she is the one growing, or she might be referring to the unborn baby. Interestingly, yeast is alive and bread grows due to growth of the yeast within it. This metaphor is a picture of pregnancy.
Line 6:
Money’s new-minted in this fat purse.
This line is another example of self-deprecation, with the Speaker describing herself, pregnant, as a “fat purse.” That means then that “money” is the way she describes her baby. She seems to view the new life as valuable, though there is something uncomfortable and commercial about that description.
Line 7:
I’m a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
These descriptions all relate to pregnancy. The mother is a means to the end of new life. Pregnancy is a stage, rather than a permanent status. Finally, a cow in calf is a direct description of pregnancy, though not a human one. Again, that choice betrays self-deprecation by the Speaker.
Line 8:
I’ve eaten a bag of green apples,
Here we are the Readers need to imagine how this would feel. If a person ate a bag of green apples, that person would feel overfull, bloated, and uncomfortable. This description also reapplies the fruit metaphor to the unborn baby. Children have long been described by humans using fruit metaphors.
Line 9:
Boarded the train there’s no getting off.
Here we are presented with the image of the Speaker being on a journey that cannot be stopped until she has arrived at the new destination. That also fits with pregnancy. It is unclear whether this line is a statement of reality, or whether a sentiment of displeasure is intended.
And there the poem ends.
What do you think about Metaphors?
