Commentary on the poem, “Arrival of Bee Box” by Sylvia Plath

The following is a commentary on the poem, The Arrival of Bee Box by Sylvia Plath. The poem is about an individual who is metaphorically through the use of “bee box”, explaining her emotions. Considering that the poem is written from a first person perspective it can be suggested that the poet Sylvia Plath is referring to herself when she mentions and refers to ‘I” in the poem. As a result most of the poem takes the form of a monologue where the narrator, in this case Plath, emotes. The poem is essentially on the internal thoughts of suicide that she is facing hence the main theme is that of death, while the tone is sad. Imagery and metaphors are used by her to emphasize the points of her feelings.

In the, “Arrival of Bee Box”, the main theme is that of death. Given that the poem is about her feeling and thoughts on suicide. It is brought to the readers awareness right from the beginning of the poem in Stanza 1 itself, where the poet constantly refers to death, mainly through the use of diction, for instance when she says, “coffin of midget” or even towards the ending of the poem when she is initially developing her idea’s and thoughts on suicide in Stanza seven when she refers to a “funeral veil”. In all it is a constant reference that we see throughout the poem. The other theme ironically that has references to all through the poem is that of Hope. It is first witnessed in stanza two where she mentions and refers to “a little grid” which suggests that the poet Sylvia Plath herself finds a ray of hope. Similarly in Stanza 5, she mentions that her “box is only temporary”. Thus implying that the poets views on suicide is most likely to be temporary hence instilling hope in the readers mind.

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Metaphors are one of the integral and main devices that Sylvia Plath uses right through the poem, “The Arrival of Bee Box”. For instance in stanza two, Plath makes reference to a “box is locked, it is dangerous”. What she is infact referring to here through the use of metaphors is that of her thoughts that she considers to be dangerous which Plath feels she  cannot refrain from thinking about. Subsequently she says, “I can’t keep away from it”. Consequently it foreshadows the fact that her views might just come true. Through the use of metaphors Sylvia Plath ...

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