Plath's Metaphors
Body Obsession
This poem about pregnancy consists of one versagraph with nine lines. Each line has nine syllables. This emphasis on the number “nine” obviously corresponds to the nine months of gestation. The choices of metaphors reveal a common theme with Plath, that of ambivalence toward motherhood.
“I'm a riddle in nine syllables”
The first line of “Metaphors” implies that the speaker’s hormones are out of whack, making her a “riddle in nine syllables.” Husbands often complain that they have trouble understanding the mood swings of their pregnant wives, and many comedy sketches have dramatized that complaint.
“An elephant, a ponderous house”
Of course, one of the difficulties of pregnancy is the growing abdominal size of the mother-to-be, and the speaker points to that predicament when she describes herself as “An elephant, a ponderous house.” She feels as big as a huge animal. The awkwardness makes her feel like a big bulky building.
“A melon strolling on two tendrils”
Her unbalanced size is highlighted when she insists that she looks like a “melon strolling on two tendrils.” The huge round belly supported by the legs, which do not change size proportionally, makes her look off balance.
“O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!”
She then pays homage to the little person whom she is carrying by exclaiming to the child, “O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!” The growing baby is delicate with tender limbs and newly forming flesh.
She envisions the skin as smooth as “ivory.”
“This loaf's big with its yeasty rising”
She continues to mention the growing baby, likening it to a loaf of bread rising in the oven, playing on the slang expression of “having bun in the oven,” but this time she again shows her preoccupation with her own size.
“Money's new-minted in this fat purse”
She then refers to the baby as money being “new-minted in this fat purse.” This line is silly; it is not in a purse but a government building that money is minted. Even though it is a baby growing that causes her swollen appearance, she remains more concerned about her own appearance than with the baby’s status.
“I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf”
The speaker then denigrates her humanity by comparing herself to “a means, a stage, a cow in calf.” She is just the medium through which a new life enters the world, and she feels no more advanced than any other gestating mammal; thus, she calls herself a cow.
“I've eaten a bag of green apples”
Eating a bag of green apples dramatizes the nausea and bloated sensations that accompany pregnancy. Often, the pregnant woman will feel as though she has eaten too much, even when she has not, because the growing child is crowding the mother’s internal organs, and the sensation is very uncomfortable.
“Boarded the train there's no getting off”
The speaker then says she has “boarded the train there’s no getting off.” This pregnancy was pre-Roe v Wade, but the speaker would have known that abortions were, nevertheless, attainable; therefore, the speaker’s final metaphoric declaration avows that she has chosen life, despite the bodily discomforts of being pregnant.
Sylvia Plath
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