All My Pretty Ones
The poem All My Pretty Ones talks about how the writer lost her father and how she is having a hard time grieving him. Confessionalism is shown in this poem because the poem is diving into the message of personal trauma. The personal trauma comes from the loss of the writer’s father. The writer also makes the poem more personal when she goes through her father’s old things. The writer says, “boxes of pictures of people I do not know” (Sexton, line 9). This quote means that since her father passed away, she feels burdened by having to go through her father’s things, and it’s hard for her to relive his past.
The Operation
The Poem “The Operation” is similar to the poem “All My Pretty Ones” because it explores the same concept of death and grieving for someone. The poem discusses how the writer/daughter is grieving her mother’s illness, while also acknowledging that she has inherited a similar condition from her mother. There is a personal aspect to this poem. The writer says, “my ills with hers and decide to operate” (Sexton, lines 8-9). This is talking about how the writer has the same illness as her mother, and that the writer has to go through an operation for it.
The Ambition Bird
The poem The Ambition Bird has symbolism. In the poem, it talks about a bird who wants to accomplish all these goals in his life, but the bird is a symbol of a human who has all these goals/ambitions in their life that they want to accomplish. The writer says, “All night dark wings flopping in my heart. Each an ambition bird” (Sexton, lines 16-18). This quote talks about how human has these dark wings or passions in their heart that are flopping around trying to get out of their heart and into the real world. The personal aspect of this poem is that the writer uses the bird instead of a human to showcase the feelings of strength and freedom.
While researching Anne Sexton’s personal life it appears clear as to why her poems are so personal. Throughout Anna Sextons life she struggled with “her breakdown, time in a mental hospital, her therapy, her troubled marriage (ending in divorce) and her affairs” (Nava Atlas). Her personal life relates very similarly to her poems because it portrays the same characteristics that have happened in her life.
Work Cited
Foundation, Poetry. “All My Pretty Ones by Anne Sexton.” Poetry Foundation, 23 Mar. 2020, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42569/all-my-pretty-ones.
—. “The Ambition Bird by Anne Sexton.” Poetry Foundation, 16 Feb. 2020, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148744/the-ambition-bird-5c11322239c2b.
—. “The Operation by Anne Sexton.” Poetry Foundation, 20 Nov. 2022, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53113/the-operation-56d232209c14d.
Nava Atlas. “Anne Sexton, Confessional Poet | LiteraryLadiesGuide.” Literary Ladies Guide, 2019, www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/anne-sexton/.