Sylvia Plath wrote multiple great confessional poems by deeply expressing thoughts and feelings that many people would not like to publicly share. Sylvia Plath got divorced after having two children. She writes about some of her experiences as a single mother in her poem “Morning Song”. After multiple suicide attempts throughout Sylvia’s life, she committed suicide when she was thirty years old. Plath used her poem “Lady Lazarus” to show the world how deeply she felt about suicide, which is something that many people do not speak about.
In “Morning Song” by Sylvia Plath, Sylvia expresses feelings as a mother that many mothers are not willing to admit. “I am no more your mother than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow effacement at the wind’s hand” (Plath lines 7-9). Plath admits that she feels disconnected from her children. Sylvia also shows the struggle of needing to care for children at all times, even the inconvenient, “One cry, and I stumble from my bed, cow heavy and floral” (Plath line 13).
In “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath, confessionalism is used to show her feelings about death. “Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I’ve a call” (Plath stanzas 15-16). Many people are not willing to be so open in their thoughts about suicide. Sylvia not only explains that she enjoys it, but that she has a calling to hurt herself and be good at harming herself.
Sources
Plath, Sylvia. Lady Lazarus | The Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49000/lady-lazarus.
Plath, Sylvia. Morning Song | The Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49008/morning-song-56d22ab4a0cee.