Sylvia Plath wrote "Metaphors" in March of 1959. The poem's pregnant speaker relays her deep anxiety about motherhood and her estrangement from her quickly changing body through a series of clever metaphors. These metaphors illustrate the often disorienting nature of pregnancy, which seems to make a "house" or a "stage" out of the speaker's body and threatens to render the speaker herself insignificant. "Metaphors" was collected in The Colossus and Other Poems in 1960.
|
Get
LitCharts
|
|
The Full Text of “Metaphors”
The Full Text of “Metaphors”
-
“Metaphors” Summary
-
-
“Metaphors” Themes
-
The Anxiety and Discomfort of Pregnancy
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-9
-
-
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Metaphors”
-
Lines 1-2
I'm a riddle ...
... a ponderous house, -
Lines 3-4
A melon strolling ...
... ivory, fine timbers! -
Lines 5-6
This loaf's big ...
... this fat purse. -
Line 7
I'm a means, ... cow in calf.
-
Lines 8-9
I've eaten a ...
... no getting off.
-
-
“Metaphors” Symbols
-
The Green Apples
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 8: “I've eaten a bag of green apples,”
-
-
“Metaphors” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
-
Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “riddle in nine syllables”
- Line 2: “ponderous house”
- Line 3: “melon strolling on two tendrils”
- Line 4: “fruit,” “fine”
- Line 6: “Money's new-minted in”
- Line 7: “I'm,” “means,” “cow,” “calf”
- Line 8: “bag,” “green”
-
Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “riddle in,” “syllables”
- Line 4: “ivory,” “fine”
- Line 5: “big with its”
- Line 6: “minted in this”
- Line 7: “calf”
- Line 8: “bag,” “apples”
-
Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 3: “strolling,” “two tendrils”
- Line 4: “fruit,” “fine”
- Line 6: “Money's,” “minted”
- Line 7: “means,” “cow,” “calf”
-
Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 1-9
-
Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 2-6
- Line 8
-
End-Stopped Line
Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:- Line 1: “syllables,”
- Line 2: “house,”
- Line 3: “tendrils.”
- Line 4: “timbers!”
- Line 5: “rising.”
- Line 6: “purse.”
- Line 7: “calf.”
- Line 8: “apples,”
- Line 9: “off.”
-
Asyndeton
Where asyndeton appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4
- Line 7
- Lines 8-9
-
Parallelism
Where parallelism appears in the poem:- Line 1: “I'm a riddle”
- Line 2: “An elephant, a ponderous house”
- Line 3: “A melon”
- Line 7: “I'm a means, a stage, a cow”
-
-
“Metaphors” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Ponderous
- Tendrils
- Strolling
- Ivory
- Yeasty
- New-minted
- Means
-
(Location in poem: Line 2: “a ponderous house”)
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Metaphors”
-
Form
-
Meter
-
Rhyme Scheme
-
-
“Metaphors” Speaker
-
-
“Metaphors” Setting
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “Metaphors”
-
-
More “Metaphors” Resources
-
External Resources
-
Plath's Life and Work — Learn more about the poet's biography via the Poetry Foundation.
-
The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading of the poem.
-
Poems About Motherhood — The Poetry Foundation's collection of recent poems about pregnancy and motherhood.
-
Red Comet — Check out a review of this best-selling 2020 biography of Plath, hailed as "both a joyful affirmation for Plath fanatics and a legitimization of her legacy."
-
-
LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
-
Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions
Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
