Morning Song
Poetry
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Sylvia Plath
Morning Song Full Poem
Morning Song
By Sylvia Plath (1932 – 1963)
Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.
Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.
I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slo...
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Morning Song Key Facts
Key Facts
Title: Morning Song
Poet: Sylvia Plath
Written Date: 1961 (after the birth of her daughter, Frieda)
Publication Date: 1965, in the collection Ariel (published after her death)
Form: Free verse lyric poem, divided into six tercets (three-line stanzas)
Meter: Free verse, no fixed meter or rhythm (line lengths vary)
Rhyme Scheme: No regular rhyme scheme (only occasional inter...
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Morning Song Summary
Summary
“Morning Song” is about a mother’s feelings after the birth of her child. Sylvia Plath describes the strangeness, confusion, and wonder of this new experience.
Stanza 1
The baby is born. The poet says love started the baby’s life just like a watch starts ticking. The midwife slaps the baby’s feet to make it cry. Then the cry becomes a part of the natural world, like wind, rain, or other so...
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Morning Song Themes
Themes
Motherhood and Mixed Emotions: In “Morning Song,” Sylvia Plath explores the theme of motherhood. The poem shows that becoming a mother is not only about joy and love, but also about confusion, distance, and amazement. The speaker feels both close to and distant from her newborn baby. She feels shock at her new role and disconnection from her baby. She compares herself to a cloud that disapp...
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Morning Song Characters
"Morning Song" by Sylvia Plath (1932 – 1963) is a complex and thoughtful poem. The poem explores a mother's feelings towards her newborn child. Here are some key characters of the poem:
The Mother
The poem is narrated from the viewpoint of a new mother. She is not explicitly named in the poem, but she is the central character. Her emotions and experiences are the focus of the poem. The mother is m...
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Morning Song Literary Devices
Figures of Speech
Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things, generally using like or as.
Example: “Love set you going like a fat gold watch.”
Here, the baby’s life is compared to a watch starting to tick. The baby’s life is beginning like the tick of a watch.
We find another simile in stanza 5. “Your mouth opens clean as a cat’s.”
Here, the poet compares the baby’s...
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Morning Song Quotes
Quotes
“Love set you going like a fat gold watch.”
Here, the mother compares her baby to a beautiful gold watch. She sees her baby as a beautiful object. It means she still does not feel an emotional connection with her baby.
“Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival.”
The echo of the parents’ voices seems like beautiful music that welcomes the baby.
“I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud t...
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Notes
Explore 5 detailed notes related to Morning Song. Each note provides in-depth analysis, explanations, and critical insights.