Friday, January 3, 2003

Full Fathom Five Comments

Rating: 3.4

Old man, you surface seldom.
Then you come in with the tide's coming
When seas wash cold, foam-
...
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Sylvia Plath
COMMENTS
Patty Harden 21 January 2008

This poem is a little bit difficult to interpret. I believe she is using fathom in terms of the nautical measurement, since I can ascertain the rest of the piece is describing the qualities of the ocean. I am quite fond of the last verse 'Your shelled bed I remember, Father, this thick air is murderous. I would breathe water' It is almost like the ocean, being a metaphor for her Father, with the sandy bottom being the last thing she remembers, and with water being the air, suffocates her.

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Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
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