Connecting Words in Plath’s Ariel: A Concatenation of Rainbows (original) (raw)

Every serious poet eventually faces the daunting task of assembling a collection of work. Some group their work by theme, some by feeling. What does it take to assemble the perfect book of poetry? To create a flow and cohesive feeling for the reader? How does one tell a story that lifts the reader from one place to the other on a seamless, breathless ride through 40 poems? Sylvia Plath knew. In my book, Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath, vol. one (2014, Stephen F. Austin State University Press), I introduce Plath’s organizational system of aligning her poems in Ariel: The Restored Edition (2004, HarperCollins) with the tarot and Qabalah. In the introduction of my forthcoming FSGL volume two, I’ll discuss another poetic technique in Plath’s arsenal: Connecting one poem to the next through shared words and images. Want to see for yourself? Grab your copy of Ariel and come along for the ride.