“The Arrival of the Bee Box” is a poem by Sylvia Plath, one of the most prominent American poets of the 20th century. It was published in her bestselling collection Ariel, and forms parts of a sequence of poems that involve bees in some shape or form. In the poem, the first-person speaker receives the bee box that she “ordered.” She contemplates her power over the box and the bees, variously feeling like does and doesn’t want it. By the end, she resolves to set the bees free—but will only do so “tomorrow,” ensuring the poem ends on a note of irresolution.

• Read the full text of “The Arrival of the Bee Box”

• “The Arrival of the Bee Box” Summary

• “The Arrival of the Bee Box” Themes

  • 

    Power

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Lines 6-10
    • Lines 11-20
    • Lines 21-25
    • Lines 26-30
    • Lines 31-36
  • 

    Death and Psychological Turmoil

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-5
    • Lines 6-10
    • Lines 11-20
    • Lines 21-36

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Arrival of the Bee Box”

  • Lines 1-5

    I ordered this, ...
    ... din in it.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-10

    The box is ...
    ... grid, no exit.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-15

    I put my ...
    ... black, angrily clambering.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-20

    How can I ...
    ... my god, together!

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-25

    I lay my ...
    ... am the owner.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 26-30

    I wonder how ...
    ... of the cherry.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 31-36

    They might ignore ...
    ... is only temporary.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Arrival of the Bee Box” Symbols

  • 

    The Bee Box

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-5: “I ordered this, clean wood box / Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift. / I would say it was the coffin of a midget / Or a square baby / Were there not such a din in it.”
    • Line 6: “The box is locked, it is dangerous.”
    • Lines 7-8: “I have to live with it overnight / And I can't keep away from it.”
    • Lines 9-10: “There are no windows, so I can't see what is in there. / There is only a little grid, no exit.”
    • Lines 11-12: “I put my eye to the grid. / It is dark, dark,”
    • Line 23: “a box of maniacs.”
    • Line 28: “If I just undid the locks and stood back and turned into a tree.”
    • Line 36: “The box is only temporary.”
  • 

    The Laburnum / Cherry Trees

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 28-30: “If I just undid the locks and stood back and turned into a tree. / There is the laburnum, its blond colonnades, / And the petticoats of the cherry.”
  • 

    Moon Suit and Funeral Veil

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 31-32: “They might ignore me immediately / In my moon suit and funeral veil.”

• “The Arrival of the Bee Box” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 11-25: “I put my eye to the grid. / It is dark, dark, / With the swarmy feeling of African hands / Minute and shrunk for export, / Black on black, angrily clambering. / How can I let them out? / It is the noise that appalls me most of all, / The unintelligible syllables. / It is like a Roman mob, / Small, taken one by one, but my god, together! / I lay my ear to furious Latin. / I am not a Caesar. / I have simply ordered a box of maniacs. / They can be sent back. / They can die, I need feed them nothing, I am the owner.”
    • Lines 28-30: “If I just undid the locks and stood back and turned into a tree. / There is the laburnum, its blond colonnades, / And the petticoats of the cherry.”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “Square,” “chair”
    • Line 5: “din in it”
    • Line 6: “box,” “locked”
    • Line 7: “live with it ”
    • Line 10: “little grid”
    • Line 13: “swarmy feeling,” “African hands”
    • Line 15: “angrily clambering”
    • Line 17: “appalls,” “all”
    • Line 18: “unintelligible syllables”
    • Line 19: “mob”
    • Line 20: “Small,” “god”
    • Line 25: “die, I,” “need feed”
    • Line 29: “blond colonnades”
    • Line 31: “me immediately”
    • Line 32: “moon suit,” “funeral”
    • Line 33: “honey”
    • Line 34: “me”
    • Line 35: “sweet,” “free”
    • Line 36: “only,” “temporary”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “this, clean”
    • Line 6: “locked, it”
    • Line 9: “windows, so”
    • Line 10: “grid, no”
    • Line 12: “dark, dark,”
    • Line 15: “black, angrily”
    • Line 20: “Small, taken,” “one, but,” “god, together!”
    • Line 25: “die, I,” “nothing, I”
    • Line 29: “laburnum, its”
    • Line 35: “God, I”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “clean,” “box”
    • Line 2: “Square,” “chair”
    • Line 3: “coffin”
    • Line 4: “square”
    • Line 5: “din in”
    • Line 6: “box,” “locked”
    • Line 8: “can't keep”
    • Line 12: “dark,” “dark”
    • Line 13: “feeling,” “African”
    • Line 14: “shrunk,” “export”
    • Line 15: “Black,” “black,” “clambering”
    • Line 17: “appalls,” “me most,” “all”
    • Line 18: “unintelligible syllables.”
    • Line 19: “Roman mob”
    • Line 20: “Small,” “god, together”
    • Line 21: “lay,” “furious,” “Latin”
    • Line 22: “Caesar”
    • Line 23: “simply,” “box,” “maniacs”
    • Line 24: “can be,” “back”
    • Line 25: “can die,” “need feed”
    • Line 26: “wonder how hungry”
    • Line 27: “wonder,” “would”
    • Line 28: “turned into,” “tree”
    • Line 29: “laburnum,” “blond colonnades,”
    • Line 31: “might,” “me immediately”
    • Line 32: “my moon,” “funeral veil”
    • Line 35: “sweet,” “set”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “lift.”
    • Line 5: “it.”
    • Line 6: “dangerous.”
    • Line 8: “it.”
    • Line 9: “there.”
    • Line 10: “exit.”
    • Line 11: “grid.”
    • Line 16: “out?”
    • Line 18: “syllables.”
    • Line 20: “together!”
    • Line 21: “Latin.”
    • Line 22: “Caesar.”
    • Line 23: “maniacs.”
    • Line 24: “back.”
    • Line 25: “owner.”
    • Line 26: “are.”
    • Line 28: “tree.”
    • Line 30: “cherry.”
    • Line 32: “veil.”
    • Line 34: “me?”
    • Line 35: “free.”
    • Line 36: “temporary.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “box / Square”
    • Lines 3-4: “midget / Or”
    • Lines 4-5: “baby / Were”
    • Lines 7-8: “overnight / And”
    • Lines 13-14: “hands / Minute”
    • Lines 27-28: “me / If”
    • Lines 31-32: “immediately / In”
    • Lines 33-34: “honey / So”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-15: “It is dark, dark, / With the swarmy feeling of African hands / Minute and shrunk for export, / Black on black, angrily clambering.”
    • Line 23: “I have simply ordered a box of maniacs.”
    • Lines 31-32: “They might ignore me immediately / In my moon suit and funeral veil.”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 12: “dark, dark,”
    • Line 15: “Black on black”
    • Lines 21-23: “I lay my ear to furious Latin. / I am not a Caesar. / I have simply ordered a box of maniacs.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Line 16: “How can I let them out?”
    • Line 34: “So why should they turn on me?”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift.”
    • Lines 19-20: “It is like a Roman mob, / Small, taken one by one, but my god, together!”

• “The Arrival of the Bee Box” 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.

  • Din
  • Swarmy
  • African Hands
  • Export
  • Clambering
  • Unintelligible
  • Mob
  • Caesar
  • Laburnum
  • Blond colonnades
  • Petticoats
  • Moon suit
  • (Location in poem: Line 5: “din”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Arrival of the Bee Box”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Arrival of the Bee Box” Speaker

• “The Arrival of the Bee Box” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Arrival of the Bee Box”

• More “The Arrival of the Bee Box” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Plath's Life and Poems — A valuable resource from the Poetry Foundation about Plath and her work.  

    • Plath and Hughes — An early radio interview with Plath and her poet husband Ted Hughes.

    • On Beekeeping — An interesting look into the history of beekeeping. 

    • "The Ending Sylvia Plath Wanted" — An article on how Plath, before her death, had wanted her collection Ariel to close with her bee poems.

    • A Reading of the Poem — An interesting visual take on "The Arrival of the Bee Box."

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath

    • Ariel

    • Cut

    • Daddy

    • Edge

    • Fever 103°

    • Kindness

    • Lady Lazarus

    • Mad Girl's Love Song

    • Metaphors

    • Mirror

    • Morning Song

    • Nick and the Candlestick

    • Poppies in July

    • Poppies in October

    • Sheep in Fog

    • Sow

    • The Applicant

    • The Moon and the Yew Tree

    • The Munich Mannequins

    • The Night Dances

    • Tulips

    • Words

    • You're

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