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thesinginglights's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I just realised that this is the first book of poetry I've read from start to finish. The first time I've shelved something under "poetry". So I acknowledge I come from a point of potential ignorance.
But.
My first collection was haunting and confusing. As is wont to happen in a collection of everything, not all poems are created equal. There's enough here to excite but also not everything sings.
Among my favourites were:
The eponymous poem "Crossing The Water"
A little light is filtering from the water flowers.
Their leaves do not wish us to hurry:
They are round and flat and full of dark advice.
"Face Lift"
For five days I lie in secret,
Tapped like a cask, the years draining into my pillow.
Even my best friend thinks I'm in the country.
The view from the window scene in "Parliament Hill Fields"
On this bald hill the new year hones its edge.
Faceless and pale as china
The round sky goes on minding its business.
"I Am Vertical"
It is more natural to me, lying down.
Then the sky and I are in open conversation,
And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:
Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.
...among others like "Mirror" or "Insomniac".
This might be me but there's a lot of darkness and foreboding in this collection, blackness and longing for motion when there's not a lot of it, birds and violent colours. We have the privilege of perspective but there's a weight to every line Plath has put down, of struggle and sacrifice.
I enjoyed it overall, some of it's dated, some of it is a bit inscrutable for me untrained poetic mind. I think this will reveal itself in re-reads.
I just realised that this is the first book of poetry I've read from start to finish. The first time I've shelved something under "poetry". So I acknowledge I come from a point of potential ignorance.
But.
My first collection was haunting and confusing. As is wont to happen in a collection of everything, not all poems are created equal. There's enough here to excite but also not everything sings.
Among my favourites were:
The eponymous poem "Crossing The Water"
A little light is filtering from the water flowers.
Their leaves do not wish us to hurry:
They are round and flat and full of dark advice.
"Face Lift"
For five days I lie in secret,
Tapped like a cask, the years draining into my pillow.
Even my best friend thinks I'm in the country.
The view from the window scene in "Parliament Hill Fields"
On this bald hill the new year hones its edge.
Faceless and pale as china
The round sky goes on minding its business.
"I Am Vertical"
It is more natural to me, lying down.
Then the sky and I are in open conversation,
And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:
Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.
...among others like "Mirror" or "Insomniac".
This might be me but there's a lot of darkness and foreboding in this collection, blackness and longing for motion when there's not a lot of it, birds and violent colours. We have the privilege of perspective but there's a weight to every line Plath has put down, of struggle and sacrifice.
I enjoyed it overall, some of it's dated, some of it is a bit inscrutable for me untrained poetic mind. I think this will reveal itself in re-reads.
smbcoffee's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love it but it wasn’t my cup of tea. Some of her poems were quite beautiful and meaningful, but most fell flat to me.
barbisreading's review against another edition
2.0
i'm not a big fan of poetry but this year i wanted to give this genre a new try. then, i came across a book club (readers on poetry on ig) focused on poetry and i couldn't let this opportunity pass. what happens was that i didn’t understand most of this book, and there were a few poems that i really liked. but i am not discouraged, i intend to invest more in poetry.
sere_rev's review against another edition
3.0
Not quite as evocative as The Colossus, but still very good. Plath clearly had a gift.
sebastian_arias_97's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
ingerlouise's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
4.75
A stunning collection of poems! I can see why so many people love her work. I Am Vertical, Two Campers in Cloud Country, Mirror and The Tour are my favourites.
frommito's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first 4 star Sylvia Plath review I've given. Idk if it is because I just need more time to read the poems and absorb them. Some I understood and some seemed to be really difficult to get. I think I need to come back to this collection at a later time.