Blackberrying By Sylvia Plath

Background Information Plath lived in urban America (Brooklyn) for most of her life, though this poem was written when Plath lived in rural England. Plath is a confessional poet, and many of the themes tackled in her poems are recurring. Some of the themes tackled in Blackberrying are Isolation Fragility of life The sublime\Liveliness of Nature.

Isolation “Nobody in the lane, and nothing, nothing but Blackberries” Sense of nothingness Opening line of the poem – sets the tone “Blackberries” – The colour black and fixation on nature “I had not asked for such a blood sisterhood; they must love me.” Kinship with nature, personification with “blood sisterhood” – Isolated from society. “they must love me” – reassuring herself, struggling to connect with nature “Theirs is the only voice, protesting, protesting” The only speaking thing in the poem, choughs, are protesting – nature’s voice Repetition of “protesting” Ties in to “Bee Box,” as Plath wants to connect with nature but struggles.

Fragility of Life “With blue-red juices. These they squander on my fingers.” Personification of Blackberries Word choice of “Squander”, complete destruction with ease “Blue-red juices” – All the Blackberries really are, similar to Humans being flesh, blood and bone. “Overhead go the choughs in black, cacophonous flocks – bits of burnt paper wheeling in a blown sky.” “Choughs in black”, as if dressed in black, reference to funeral “Burnt paper”, funeral pyre, Plath sees death in one of the only other alive objects. Colour of Black, running themes with the Blackberries. “I come to one bush of berries so ripe it is a bush of flies.” Flies are dirty, disease carrying – juxtaposition with ripeness of the blackberries. Too good to be true, life attracts death. Blackberries attracting the flies, as if malicious. This ties in with “Sleep in the Mojave Desert”, as the speaker struggles to survive in the harsh nature of her surroundings.

The sublime\Liveliness of Nature “A blackberry alley, going down in hooks, and a sea.” Throughout the poem, the speaker is being pulled through her journey by an ominous hook, towards the mysterious sea. This creates the idea of a journey, The speaker being pulled through makes Nature appear as a sublime object, slowly drawing the speaker in. “I do not think the sea will appear at all” “The only thing to come now is the sea” The sea is mentioned throughout, making it appear ominous The speaker is fixated on it, and although there is a journey, we never see the sea This elevates its importance to the speaker, emphasising the sublime.

The sublime\Liveliness of Nature “I follow the sheep path between them. A last hook brings me To the hills’ northern face, and the face is orange rock That looks out on nothing, nothing but a great space. “the sheep path” – the speaker knows she is being pulled along by nature. Emphasises sublime, as speaker is saying humans are like sheep compared to nature. “the face is orange rock” – personifies nature, nature having a face implies it is both looking out at the sea, and at the speaker. “nothing, nothing” is a repetition of the opening line, as the speaker has come full circle Here the line emphasises the vastness of the sea, as the vast sea is all the speaker can see, swallowing everything – “a great space.”