A Study Guide for Sylvia Plath's "Morning Song"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Sylvia Plath's "Morning Song," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Sep 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535828864

Book preview

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Morning Song

Sylvia Plath

1965

Introduction

Originally published in 1965, two years after the author's suicide, Sylvia Plath's short lyric poem Morning Song captures a moment in a new mother's life, when she awakens to hear the sounds her baby is making in the morning. As Plath's deep depression in the final years before her death is well known, the work written during this time period in her life is often examined within this context. Morning Song contemplates the infant's entrance into the world as well as the baby's connection to the world and to its mother. The poem contains a variety of images, some filled with longing and sadness, and others that are more firmly optimistic and imbued with the beauty and hopefulness of new life. Nevertheless, the poem is often regarded in its relation to Plath's depression. Morning Song was published in the 1965 collection of poems Ariel.

Author Biography

Born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts, Plath was the daughter of Aurelia Schober and Otto Plath, a German and biology professor at Boston University. Plath's father died of complications from diabetes in 1940, when Plath was eight. His stern nature and his abrupt death when Plath was so young affected Plath deeply and influenced her later poetry. In 1950, Path entered Smith College, having spent much of her time in high school writing poetry and seeking publication in regional journals. Plath battled depression during her years at Smith; she attempted suicide in 1953, but went on to graduate with honors in 1955. Having earned a Fulbright Scholarship, Plath traveled to Cambridge, England, after graduation from college. She soon met the English poet Ted Hughes, early in 1956; Plath and Hughes were married in June the same year. In 1957, Plath returned to Massachusetts and studied poetry