Sylvia Plath's “Nick and the Candlestick” is a free verse poem told from the perspective of a woman who has recently given birth. As she nurses her son, the speaker expresses her struggle to navigate early motherhood by comparing herself to a miner who scours a grisly cave. However, she finds solace in her child, who becomes both her guiding light and the precious stone she seeks. Plath composed “Nick and the Candlestick” in October of 1962 along with a flurry of other poems that would eventually make up Ariel, the American poet’s acclaimed 1965 posthumous collection. The poem’s title alludes to the nursery rhyme "Jack Be Nimble" as well as to Plath’s son, Nicholas, who was born shortly before this poem was written.
|
Get
LitCharts
|
|
The Full Text of “Nick and the Candlestick”
The Full Text of “Nick and the Candlestick”
-
“Nick and the Candlestick” Summary
-
-
“Nick and the Candlestick” Themes
-
The Challenges of Motherhood
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-30
-
Finding Fulfillment in Motherhood
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 20-42
-
-
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Nick and the Candlestick”
-
Lines 1-5
I am a ...
... its dead boredom. -
Lines 6-9
Black bat airs ...
... me like plums. -
Lines 10-13
Old cave of ...
... Those holy Joes. -
Lines 14-19
And the fish, ...
... my live toes. -
Lines 20-22
The candle ...
... Its yellows hearten. -
Lines 23-26
O love, how ...
... Your crossed position. -
Lines 27-30
The blood blooms ...
... is not yours. -
Lines 31-34
Love, love, ...
... last of Victoriana. -
Lines 35-39
Let the stars ...
... the terrible well, -
Lines 40-42
You are the ...
... in the barn.
-
-
“Nick and the Candlestick” Symbols
-
The Cave
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-3: “I am a miner. The light burns blue. / Waxy stalactites / Drip and thicken, tears”
- Line 4: “The earthen womb”
- Lines 5-6: “Exudes from its dead boredom. / Black bat airs”
- Line 7: “Wrap me,”
- Lines 10-11: “Old cave of calcium / Icicles, old echoer”
- Line 12: “Even the newts are white,”
- Line 32: “our cave”
-
The Candle
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 1: “The light”
- Line 20: “The candle”
-
Blood
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 19: “first communion”
- Line 27: “The blood”
-
-
“Nick and the Candlestick” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
-
Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Lines 17-19: “A piranha / Religion, drinking / Its first communion out of my live toes.”
- Line 20: “The candle”
- Line 42: “You are the baby in the barn.”
-
Apostrophe
Where apostrophe appears in the poem:- Lines 23-42: “O love, how did you get here? / O embryo / Remembering, even in sleep, / Your crossed position. / The blood blooms clean / In you, ruby. / The pain / You wake to is not yours. / Love, love, / I have hung our cave with roses, / With soft rugs— / The last of Victoriana. / Let the stars / Plummet to their dark address, / Let the mercuric / Atoms that cripple drip / Into the terrible well, / You are the one / Solid the spaces lean on, envious. / You are the baby in the barn.”
-
Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 2: “Waxy stalactites”
- Line 3: “Drip,” “thicken”
- Lines 4-5: “womb / Exudes”
- Line 6: “Black bat”
- Line 7: “Wrap,” “me,” “raggy”
- Line 9: “plums”
- Line 10: “Old,” “calcium”
- Line 11: “old echoer”
- Line 13: “Those holy Joes”
- Line 15: “Christ,” “ice”
- Line 16: “vice,” “knives”
- Line 19: “my live”
- Line 23: “O”
- Line 24: “O embryo”
- Line 25: “even,” “sleep”
- Line 27: “blooms,” “clean”
- Line 28: “you,” “ruby”
- Line 29: “pain”
- Line 30: “You,” “wake”
- Line 31: “Love,” “love”
- Line 32: “hung”
- Line 33: “rugs”
- Line 34: “Victoriana”
- Line 35: “stars”
- Line 36: “dark”
- Lines 38-39: “cripple drip / Into”
- Line 39: “terrible”
-
Asyndeton
Where asyndeton appears in the poem:- Lines 3-5: “Drip and thicken, tears / The earthen womb / Exudes from its dead boredom.”
- Lines 7-8: “Wrap me, raggy shawls, / Cold homicides”
- Lines 10-11: “Old cave of calcium / Icicles, old echoer.”
- Lines 15-18: “they are panes of ice, / A vice of knives, / A piranha / Religion”
- Lines 21-22: “Gulps and recovers its small altitude, / Its yellows hearten”
- Lines 32-33: “I have hung our cave with roses, / With soft rugs”
-
Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “burns blue”
- Line 2: “Waxy stalactites”
- Line 3: “thicken”
- Line 5: “Exudes,” “dead boredom”
- Line 6: “Black bat”
- Line 9: “weld,” “like,” “plums”
- Line 10: “Old,” “cave,” “calcium”
- Line 11: “Icicles,” “old echoer”
- Line 12: “Even,” “newts,” “white”
- Line 13: “Those,” “Joes”
- Line 15: “Christ,” “ice”
- Line 16: “vice”
- Line 18: “drinking”
- Line 19: “communion”
- Line 20: “candle”
- Line 21: “Gulps,” “recovers,” “small altitude”
- Line 22: “yellows”
- Line 23: “love,” “how,” “here”
- Line 24: “embryo”
- Line 25: “Remembering,” “sleep”
- Line 26: “crossed position”
- Line 27: “blood blooms clean”
- Line 28: “ruby”
- Line 32: “roses”
- Line 33: “rugs”
- Line 34: “last”
- Line 35: “Let,” “stars”
- Line 36: “Plummet,” “dark address”
- Line 37: “Let,” “mercuric”
- Line 38: “cripple drip”
- Line 39: “terrible well”
- Line 41: “Solid,” “spaces,” “lean,” “on,” “envious”
- Line 42: “baby,” “barn”
-
End-Stopped Line
Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:- Line 1: “ blue.”
- Line 5: “boredom.”
- Line 7: “shawls,”
- Line 8: “homicides.”
- Line 9: “plums.”
- Line 11: “echoer.”
- Line 12: “white,”
- Line 13: “Joes.”
- Line 14: “fish—”
- Line 15: “ice,”
- Line 16: “knives,”
- Line 19: “toes.”
- Line 21: “altitude,”
- Line 22: “hearten.”
- Line 23: “here?”
- Line 25: “sleep,”
- Line 26: “position.”
- Line 28: “ruby.”
- Line 30: “yours.”
- Line 31: “love,”
- Line 32: “roses,”
- Line 33: “rugs—”
- Line 34: “Victoriana.”
- Line 36: “address,”
- Line 39: “well,”
- Line 41: “envious.”
- Line 42: “barn.”
-
Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 2-3: “stalactites / Drip”
- Lines 3-4: “ tears / The”
- Lines 4-5: “womb / Exudes”
- Lines 6-7: “airs / Wrap”
- Lines 10-11: “calcium / Icicles”
- Lines 17-18: “piranha / Religion”
- Lines 18-19: “drinking / Its”
- Lines 20-21: “candle / Gulps”
- Lines 24-25: “embryo / Remembering”
- Lines 27-28: “clean / In”
- Lines 29-30: “pain / You”
- Lines 35-36: “stars / Plummet”
- Lines 37-38: “mercuric / Atoms”
- Lines 38-39: “drip / Into”
- Lines 40-41: “one / Solid”
-
Juxtaposition
Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:- Lines 1-42
-
Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Line 1: “I am a miner”
- Lines 3-5: “tears / The earthen womb / Exudes from its dead boredom”
- Lines 6-8: “Black bat airs / Wrap me, raggy shawls, / Cold homicides”
- Lines 10-11: “calcium / Icicles”
- Line 13: “Those holy Joes”
- Lines 15-19: “they are panes of ice, / A vice of knives, / A piranha / Religion, drinking / Its first communion out of my live toes”
- Lines 40-41: “You are the one / Solid the spaces lean on, envious”
- Line 42: “You are the baby in the barn”
-
Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Lines 3-5: “tears / The earthen womb / Exudes from its dead boredom”
- Lines 20-21: “The candle / Gulps”
- Line 41: “the spaces lean on, envious”
-
Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Lines 10-11: “Old cave of calcium / Icicles, old echoer”
- Line 14: “the fish, the fish”
- Lines 15-17: “panes of ice, / A vice of knives, / A piranha ”
- Lines 23-24: “O love, how did you get here? / O embryo”
- Line 31: “Love, love,”
- Lines 32-33: “with roses, / With soft rugs”
- Line 35: “Let the”
- Line 37: “Let the”
- Line 40: “You are the”
- Line 42: “You are the”
-
Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 9: “They weld to me like plums”
-
-
“Nick and the Candlestick” 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.
- Stalactites
- Earthen
- Raggy
- Homicides
- Weld
- Holy Joes
- First communion
- Altitude
- Hearten
- Embryo
- Victoriana
- Mercuric
-
(Location in poem: Line 2: “stalactites”)
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Nick and the Candlestick”
-
Form
-
Meter
-
Rhyme Scheme
-
-
“Nick and the Candlestick” Speaker
-
-
“Nick and the Candlestick” Setting
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “Nick and the Candlestick”
-
-
More “Nick and the Candlestick” Resources
-
External Resources
-
Plath's Life Story — A detailed biography of the author, including a discussion of Ariel's composition and Plath's legacy.
-
The Poetry of Sylvia Plath: Crash Course Literature — A concise, accessible introduction to Plath's poetry with graphics and animations, narrated by author John Green.
-
A Conversation With the Author — A 1962 interview with Plath from the British Council.
-
An Introduction to Confessional Poetry — An overview of the confessional mode, including its stylistic features, reception, and legacy.
-
Plath Reads “Nick and the Candlestick” — Listen to the author read the poem aloud. This version is slightly different from that which appears in Ariel. In particular, Plath recites several additional stanzas that were later cut from the end of the poem. Plus, the “stalactites” of line 2 are “stalagmites” here.
-
Enquiry: A Woman's Place — A mid-sixties video on women's attitudes towards marriage, child rearing, and more. The segment was filmed in the UK, where Plath liv ed for much of her life, including the period in which this poem was written.
-
Enquiry: A Woman's Place — A mid-sixties video on women's attitudes towards marriage, childrearing, and more. The segment was filmed in the UK, where Plath lived when "Nick and the Candlestick" was written.
-
-
LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
-
Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions
Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
