Thank you for sharing this; your dog is adorable ❤ I love all of Plath's work and feel her talent and more lighthearted poetry should be celebrated more.
Ha, many thanks Kate! He is a sweetheart and very photogenic, of course. And I agree about the wide range of Plath's poetry should be better known - I was grateful to Heather Clark for highlighting this in her biography Red Comet, and to Jeremy Noel-Tod for reminding me.
It's so great to see, hear and read more of Sylvia Plath's work that is not as celebrated and appreciated as it should be. Affirmation is wonderful even if late and even if not enough extended in volume at the time it was most needed. If someone feels appreciated enough from the outside in the time of greatest vulnerability, then one could hope they might have developed enough strength and tenacity to persevere alongside someone whose most sensitive perceptions never quite seemed to travel beyond themselves.
You’re welcome. Totally agree it is great we have the chance to know more and understand more and especially the chance to do both as we grow older. It like an open knowledge smorgasbord that never closes.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge on Sylvia Plath! I loved reading about how hopeful she was. It's also interesting what you shared about Katherine—how different it must be reading Sylvia's work without knowing about her life.
Thanks Alicia and it fits well with what you say about Rooney's Intermezzo. I am a fan of the novel, and of most of her work, but the ableist aspects of this one troubled me too. If Plath wasn't constantly viewed through the lens of tragedy her writing would be more appreciated, I think.
Your pieces are always such a treat to read. I hadn't read "Balloons", so this was a delightful discovery, nor this painting. Her drawings are remarkable too, in such wonderful descriptive, jagged ink.
Parallel Lives sounds great! Victorian marriages are so interesting - my new novel, Topsy & Co, is centred on the life of William Morris and narrated by Georgie Burne-Jones. As I got towards the end of it, I started to realise that it’s also a portrait of a set of interconnected marriages (William & Jane Morris, Georgie & Edward Burne-Jones, Lizzie Siddal and Rossetti etc). Something so fascinating about the way that Victorians’ marriages shaped their lives.
I loved this, Ann. I was thinking of Sylvia Plath all weekend. I didn't know that about her 'Balloons' poem - it's a lovely, charming poem. Really hit home for me as my 1 year old was still playing with her balloons from her birthday last month... I know the scenes she's describing so well.
And her art is so interesting - I came across this quote from an article on a DC exhibition I can't believe I missed a few years back -
“There’s this sense of a duality that she seemed to be playing with in her self-portraiture, that she later writes about,” Moss observes. “A lot of her writing draws on images of mirrors and eyes that look outward and inward, and that’s visible in her self-portraits, this almost-conflicted state of being that surfaces in her use of color and the emotions that her drawings and paintings evoke.” Themes from the writing appear in the art, but it’s also easy to glimpse elements of the art in the writing. As Moss puts it, “how the visual surfaces in her descriptions. She compares her daughter, Frieda, to a ‘fat gold watch’ when she’s born. You start realizing how much she must have been seeing in her mind before putting it into words.”
What a beautiful way to start my week. What a glorious painting. Thank you, Ann, for sharing the brightness of a poet who is so often overshadowed by her death. A triple-threat woman! And your photos bring me joy. So happy to be one of your paid subscribers, and thrilled that you are one of mine. Congratulations on the milestone of 800.
Triple threat women! I love this.
It’s very inspiring… and she really was.
Me too Nic
Thank you for sharing this; your dog is adorable ❤ I love all of Plath's work and feel her talent and more lighthearted poetry should be celebrated more.
Ha, many thanks Kate! He is a sweetheart and very photogenic, of course. And I agree about the wide range of Plath's poetry should be better known - I was grateful to Heather Clark for highlighting this in her biography Red Comet, and to Jeremy Noel-Tod for reminding me.
It's so great to see, hear and read more of Sylvia Plath's work that is not as celebrated and appreciated as it should be. Affirmation is wonderful even if late and even if not enough extended in volume at the time it was most needed. If someone feels appreciated enough from the outside in the time of greatest vulnerability, then one could hope they might have developed enough strength and tenacity to persevere alongside someone whose most sensitive perceptions never quite seemed to travel beyond themselves.
Many thanks, Larry, for your perceptive comment. It's good that we have the chance as readers to know more, and understand more, as we get older.
You’re welcome. Totally agree it is great we have the chance to know more and understand more and especially the chance to do both as we grow older. It like an open knowledge smorgasbord that never closes.
Missed this the first time around, very happy to have read it now, including puddles and dog!
Thanks Maria, our dog running madly through puddles is always a cheering sight for me (as long as I don't get splashed).
Thank you for sharing your knowledge on Sylvia Plath! I loved reading about how hopeful she was. It's also interesting what you shared about Katherine—how different it must be reading Sylvia's work without knowing about her life.
Thanks Alicia and it fits well with what you say about Rooney's Intermezzo. I am a fan of the novel, and of most of her work, but the ableist aspects of this one troubled me too. If Plath wasn't constantly viewed through the lens of tragedy her writing would be more appreciated, I think.
It would indeed.
Australia had an interesting code breaker team similar to Bletchley Park: https://youtu.be/S9SfhvbloLE?feature=shared they decoded the location of a Japanese general.
Thank you - that sounds very interesting. Such brilliant women.
Your pieces are always such a treat to read. I hadn't read "Balloons", so this was a delightful discovery, nor this painting. Her drawings are remarkable too, in such wonderful descriptive, jagged ink.
Parallel Lives sounds great! Victorian marriages are so interesting - my new novel, Topsy & Co, is centred on the life of William Morris and narrated by Georgie Burne-Jones. As I got towards the end of it, I started to realise that it’s also a portrait of a set of interconnected marriages (William & Jane Morris, Georgie & Edward Burne-Jones, Lizzie Siddal and Rossetti etc). Something so fascinating about the way that Victorians’ marriages shaped their lives.
What a puddlicious photo ❤️
I loved this, Ann. I was thinking of Sylvia Plath all weekend. I didn't know that about her 'Balloons' poem - it's a lovely, charming poem. Really hit home for me as my 1 year old was still playing with her balloons from her birthday last month... I know the scenes she's describing so well.
And her art is so interesting - I came across this quote from an article on a DC exhibition I can't believe I missed a few years back -
“There’s this sense of a duality that she seemed to be playing with in her self-portraiture, that she later writes about,” Moss observes. “A lot of her writing draws on images of mirrors and eyes that look outward and inward, and that’s visible in her self-portraits, this almost-conflicted state of being that surfaces in her use of color and the emotions that her drawings and paintings evoke.” Themes from the writing appear in the art, but it’s also easy to glimpse elements of the art in the writing. As Moss puts it, “how the visual surfaces in her descriptions. She compares her daughter, Frieda, to a ‘fat gold watch’ when she’s born. You start realizing how much she must have been seeing in her mind before putting it into words.”
https://www.vogue.com/article/sylvia-plath-national-portrait-gallery-one-life
Loved this.
What a beautiful way to start my week. What a glorious painting. Thank you, Ann, for sharing the brightness of a poet who is so often overshadowed by her death. A triple-threat woman! And your photos bring me joy. So happy to be one of your paid subscribers, and thrilled that you are one of mine. Congratulations on the milestone of 800.
Now I have aa excuse to buy balloons.🎈
How have I never seen that gorgeous painting?! Thank you!
How have I never seen that gorgeous painting?! Thank you!