Flashcards for Child

The Child

The child in Sylvia Plath's poem "Child" represents a silent, glowing presence, embodying immense potential rather than taking any action.

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The Speaker (Mother)

The Speaker (Mother) serves as the main consciousness and only narrative voice in "Child" by Sylvia Plath, a short yet emotionally rich lyric poem.

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“Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing.”

This line opens Sylvia Plath's poem "Child" (1963), written just weeks before her death.

Sylvia Plath (lyric speaker/mother)

“I want to fill it with color and ducks, / The zoo of the new”

This vivid couplet comes from Sylvia Plath's poem "Child," written in January 1963, just weeks before her death.

Sylvia Plath (lyric speaker) · Child

“Whose names you meditate — / April snowdrop, Indian pipe,”

This couplet is taken from Sylvia Plath's poem "Child."

Sylvia Plath (lyric speaker) · Wintering

“Little / Stalk without wrinkle,”

This delicate phrase comes from Sylvia Plath's poem "Child" (1963), written just weeks before her death.

Sylvia Plath (lyric speaker) · Child (poem, 1963)

“Pool in which images / Should be grand and classical”

This quote is from Sylvia Plath's poem "Child," which she wrote in 1963, just before her death, making it one of her last pieces.

Sylvia Plath (lyric speaker/mother) · Poem: "Child" (1963)

“Not this troublous / Wringing of hands, this dark / Ceiling without a star.”

These closing lines come from Sylvia Plath's poem "Child," written in January 1963, just weeks before her death.

Sylvia Plath (lyric speaker/mother) · "Child" (poem)

The Ceiling / Troublous Wringing of Hands

In Child by Sylvia Plath, the ceiling—described as "this troublous / Wringing of hands"—represents the heavy, anxiety-filled adult world that the speaker desperately wants to protect her child from.

The Child's Eye

In Child by Sylvia Plath, the child's eye symbolizes a pure, untainted way of seeing — a sense of wonder that the speaker yearns to protect and foster.

The Pool / Clear Water

In The Colossus and Plath's wider body of confessional poetry, still water and pools act as mirrors of the self — surfaces that seem to offer clarity but actually reflect a distorted, doubled image.

Imagery

Plath constructs the poem mainly through a series of vivid images that expand from the child's eye to the broader world the speaker hopes to fill.

Juxtaposition

The poem's structure relies on a sharp contrast between what the speaker wishes to provide and what she can truly give.

Extended Metaphor

The child's eye is described as "a pool," and this idea runs throughout the poem: the eye-as-pool can hold reflections, capture images, and accurately mirror the world.

Volta

"Child" takes a sudden turn that feels devastating because it comes out of nowhere.

Free Verse

Plath's poem "Child" features unrhymed, irregular lines that still convey a sense of control.

Apostrophe

The whole poem speaks directly to the child with lines like "Your clear eye" and "I want to fill you," but the child can't understand or respond.

Symbolism

The "ceiling without a star" in the poem's final lines symbolizes the speaker's depression in a compact way.

Metaphor

Beyond the central image of the eye as a pool, Plath uses several compact metaphors.

Line Break

Plath's line breaks in "Child" serve a powerful emotional purpose.

Enjambment

Enjambment runs throughout "Child," drawing the reader in while the short lines create intentional pauses.

Pathetic Fallacy

Plath flips the typical use of pathetic fallacy on its head.

Motif

Light and its absence drive the poem's main theme.