Poetry appreciation of "You're" by Sylvia Plath.

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SHABNAM ABUBAKER                 ENGLISH LITERATURE            2001

POETRY APPRECIATION OF “YOU’RE” BY SYLVIA PLATH

When looking at the title of the poem, “you’re”, I get the impression that the poem is referring to someone else. It is about or to someone else. She could also be referring to herself, describing herself. I did ask my self though who in the world could she be talking about? She does not state exactly whom she is talking about.

     The poem is divided into two stanzas, each with nine lines exactly. It is a short yet thorough poem. I noticed that Plath has once again used nine lines in each stanza, as she did in “Tulips”, and nine is known to be a death number. So once we look at this poem we could relate it with death once again, that is without reading it. The poem’s form is rather regular, as the lines are all equal and this creates a very parallel plain effect.

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    The opening line of the poem is kind of confusing. It is a simile, it says, “clown like, happiest on your hands”, sometimes clowns are related with evilness. Personally they give me the creeps; on the other hand they are happy and joyous. When she says ‘happiest on your hands, feet to the stars”, I picture one doing a handstand. So the clown was probably meant in a good way, doing a trick. “Gilled like a fish”, once again is a simile, which suggests that the way this ‘person’ breathes is very soft like a ...

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