Sylvia Plath

Fever 103°

Pure? What does it mean? The tongues of hell Are dull, dull as the triple Tongues of dull, fatCerberusCerberusa hound in Greek and Roman mythology that guards the gates of Hell (Hades), often represented with three heads Who wheezes at the gate. Incapable Of licking clean Theagueyagueycharacterized by an acute fever, accompanied by shivering or shakingtendon, the sin, thesin. agueyIn Plath's recorded reading of this poem, she adds four lines after this one: "O auto-da-fe! the purple men, / Gold-crusted, thick with spleen, / Sit with their hooks and crooks / and stoke the light. " These lines do not appear in the original publication version (Poetry, August 1963) nor inThe Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath(1966), where this text is taken. The tinder cries. Theindelibleindeliblepermanentsmell Of a snuffed candle! Love, love, the low smokes roll From me likeIsadora’s scarvesIsadora’s scarvesAmerican dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) had a known longing for flowing scarves. She died in a freak car accident, most likely by strangulation, when her long scarf wrapped around her neck became caught in one of the wheel spokes of the traveling car. , I’m in a fright One scarf will catch and anchor in the wheel, Such yellow sullen smokes Make their own element. They will not rise, Buttrundletrundlerollround the globe Choking the aged and the meek, The weak HothouseHothousea heated greenhouse where plants are bredbaby in its crib, The ghastly orchid Hanging its hanging garden in the air, Devilish leopard! Radiation turned it white And killed it in an hour. Greasing the bodies of adulterers LikeHiroshimaHiroshimaJapanese industrial city which was the first of two cities hit with an atomic bomb by the U. S. in August 1945 to end World War II. Many survivors of the attack later died of radiation burns or sickness. ash and eating in. The sin. The sin. Darling, all night I have been flickering, off, on, off, on. The sheets grow heavy as alecher’slechera person with strong sexual desires; lustfulkiss. Three days. Three nights. Lemon water, chicken Water, water make me retch. I am too pure for you or anyone. Your body Hurts me as the world hurts God. I am a lantern—— My head a moon Of Japanese paper, my gold beaten skin Infinitely delicate and infinitely expensive. Does not my heat astound you! And my light! All by myself I am a hugecamelliacamelliaa plant native to Asia, with large flowers typically red or pink in color Glowing and coming and going, flush on flush. I think I am going up, I think I may rise—— The beads of hot metal fly, and I love, I Am a pureacetyleneacetylenea colorless, flammable gas that produces a high heat under pressure, used for torch welding and the cutting or purifying of metals Virgin Attended by roses, By kisses, bycherubimcherubimplural of “cherub”; high-ranking angels mentioned in the Bible, often depicted in paintings as winged babies or toddlers. , By whatever these pink things mean! Not you, nor him Nor him, nor him (My selves dissolving, old whore petticoats)—— To Paradise.