Analysis of the Edge by Sylvia Plath
Analysis of the Edge by Silvia Plath
Sylvia Plath wrote the poem “Edge” six days prior to committing suicide on 11th day of February1963. According to Alexander (1991:214) the poem is alleged to be the author’s last work. The form bears an exciting feature: It has ten stanzas, with each having only two lines, seized in an enjambment. The second line of every stanza is at all times half of the building and denotation of the first line of the subsequent stanza. Therefore, the break of verse is also an edge linking the stanzas, which forms an additional equivalence between form and substance of the poem. The sentences are only concluded once they traverse the edge amid the two stanzas, and character in this piece of literature only appears to discover calm and “achievement” when crossing an edge. In the most common interpretations, this edge is referred to as the one occurring between living and dying. This poem does not pursue a specific rhyme scheme. It has various remarkable inner rhymes or assonant constructions such as child-coiled, sweet-bleed, toga-over, flows-scrolls, and rose-close. These terms do not essentially rhyme in the stern sense but they put in to the tranquil tone of this piece of literature and make stronger the plentiful images given.
Two common literary devices, that is metaphor and metonymy will be examined, and afterward discover how they have been used in the ‘Edge’.
Metaphor Use in the “Edge"
Prior to attempting to examine the poem according to these values, it is foremost essential to appreciate the concepts concerned in the analysis. Thus, metaphor and metonymy are intrinsically related to dissimilar literary forms. Normally by assessment, metaphor is commonly found in poetry, whereas prose is the ordinary field of metonymy. Such a merit can be attributed firstly to the declaration that "poetry is more aligned to the sign according to Jakobson’s thinking (1990:132). These signs as used in literature in an ideal
Sylvia Plath wrote the poem “Edge” six days prior to committing suicide on 11th day of February1963. According to Alexander (1991:214) the poem is alleged to be the author’s last work. The form bears an exciting feature: It has ten stanzas, with each having only two lines, seized in an enjambment. The second line of every stanza is at all times half of the building and denotation of the first line of the subsequent stanza. Therefore, the break of verse is also an edge linking the stanzas, which forms an additional equivalence between form and substance of the poem. The sentences are only concluded once they traverse the edge amid the two stanzas, and character in this piece of literature only appears to discover calm and “achievement” when crossing an edge. In the most common interpretations, this edge is referred to as the one occurring between living and dying. This poem does not pursue a specific rhyme scheme. It has various remarkable inner rhymes or assonant constructions such as child-coiled, sweet-bleed, toga-over, flows-scrolls, and rose-close. These terms do not essentially rhyme in the stern sense but they put in to the tranquil tone of this piece of literature and make stronger the plentiful images given.
Two common literary devices, that is metaphor and metonymy will be examined, and afterward discover how they have been used in the ‘Edge’.
Metaphor Use in the “Edge"
Prior to attempting to examine the poem according to these values, it is foremost essential to appreciate the concepts concerned in the analysis. Thus, metaphor and metonymy are intrinsically related to dissimilar literary forms. Normally by assessment, metaphor is commonly found in poetry, whereas prose is the ordinary field of metonymy. Such a merit can be attributed firstly to the declaration that "poetry is more aligned to the sign according to Jakobson’s thinking (1990:132). These signs as used in literature in an ideal
Cited: Moramarco, Fred. “‘Burned-Up Intensity’: the Suicidal Poetry of Sylvia Plath.” Mosaic: Journal for the Comparative Study of Literature 15.1 (1982): 141-151. Plath, Sylvia. Edge. In Ariel. London: Faber and Faber Limited. 1965. Print. Plath, Sylvia. The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. Print.