Black Rook In Rainy Weather Poem

*INTRO*

*BLACK ROOK IN RAINY WEATHER*
“Black Rook in Rainy Weather” is focused on her feelings and thoughts, her lack of inspiration – although it appears as if she is writing about the outside world. She uses her nearby surroundings as a metaphor for her feelings and ideas. Plath feels empty and longs for nature and her mundane surroundings to ‘speak’ to her, to provide her with inspiration for her poetry “A minor light may still lean incandescent out of kitchen table or chair as if a celestial burning took possession of the most obtuse objects now and then…” She is in a state of desperation, and describes her life as a “season of fatigue” with “brief respites from fear of total neutrality.” The poem is suffused with her fear of failing.

It is a contrast in comparison to many of Plath's other poems, which are suffused with despair, it is full of tenderness and love. It is a new beginning for both Plath and her baby. This sets the tone as she answers her newbornrole as a new mother. The opening line of the poem – ‘love set you like 's cry, still unsure of her a fat gold watch’ – suggests that her baby is precious. Her baby is depicted as a “new statue in a drafty museum…” This emphasizes the child’s beauty, like a statue. It also represents the harshness of the world, and her vulnerability, as a "new" statue.It also sounds as if Plath felt disconnected from the baby. She feels uncertain and incapable, as she describes ‘staring blankly at walls’. She is confused and unsure by motherhood. This image seems at first cold, but it is a realistic judgment of her ideas of parenthood. The feeling of distance is also shown in: “I’m not more your mother than the cloud that distils as mirror to reflect its own slow effacement at the wind’s hoard.” The final lines of the poem present the reassuring vision of a loving mother attending to her baby's needs. Plath’s self-image – ‘cow-heavy and floral in my Victorian nightgown’ – is self-deprecating and realistic. The final image is an optimistic one. It ends in celebration of her hope for her baby's future ‘And now you try Your handful of notes The clear vowels rise like

It was written when Plath’s marriage to Ted Hughes was in difficulty and she was suffering with depression.We are given an insight into the her inner feelings and trouble. She uses dark, disturbing and graphic imagery which reflects her mind at the time she was writing the poem. The state she describes is almost terrifying. The description of the poppies in the opening lines is positive. However, the description of the poppies’ become negative as we see that the bright red colour of the poppies swaying in the wind. This reminds the poet of the flames flickering in the fires of hell: "little hell flames" She cannot touch the poppies and it frustrates her. She then wonders whether or not these poppies are dangerous. It drains her to watch the poppies, yet she continues to carefully observe them. She calls them as “hell flames,”She seems to refer to self harm multiple times in this poem. She puts her hand among the “flames” to see if it burns. The poet’s urge to feel, even pain, is carried on throughout the poem. Plath uses a metaphor to describe the poppies as "little bloody skirts!". The use of the word "bloody" reflects her description of the colour of the poppies and also may be another reference to self-harm. She also may be referring to younger women in their short skirts, she is envious of them. This is understanable given the state of her marriage at the time that this poem was written. Plath seems torn between