The Moon and The Yew Tree Sylvia Plath

(A study set by Ted Hughes for his partner)

Sylvia Plath looked out at her Yew tree in the graveyard at Court Green and wrote this masterpiece. wölfie

"This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary.

The trees of the mind are black. The light is blue.

The grasses unload their griefs at my feet as if I were God,

Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility.

Fumy spiritious mists inhabit this place

Separated from my house by a row of headstones.

I simply cannot see where there is to get to.

The moon is no door. It is a face in its own right,

White as a knuckle and terribly upset.

It drags the sea after it like a dark crime; it is quiet

With the O-gape of complete despair. I live here.

Twice on Sunday, the bells startle the sky -

Eight great tongues affirming the Resurrection.

At the end, they soberly bong out their names.

The yew tree points up. It has a Gothic shape.

The eyes lift after it and find the moon.

The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary.

Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls.

How I would like to believe in tenderness -

The face of the effigy, gentled by candles,

Bending, on me in particular, its mild eyes.

I have fallen a long way. Clouds are flowering

Blue and mystical over the face of the stars.

Inside the church, the saints will be all blue,

Floating on their delicate feet over cold pews,

Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.

The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.

And the message of the yew tree is blackness - blackness and silence."

Analysis (ai): This poem explores themes of isolation, grief, and the search for meaning. Its eerie and dreamlike imagery conveys a sense of alienation and despair. The speaker's perception of the moon as a cold, impersonal face and the yew tree as a symbol of darkness and silence reflect their emotional state. The poem's language is precise and controlled, creating a sense of distance and detachment.

Compared to Plath's other works, this poem shares her characteristic themes of mental anguish and female subjectivity. However, it differs in its more abstract and symbolic approach, relying less on personal narrative and more on imagery and symbolism.

The poem also reflects the existentialist and confessional sensibilities of the time period, expressing a sense of alienation, disillusionment, and the search for meaning in a seemingly meaningless world. 

https://allpoetry.com/The-Moon-And-The-Yew-Tree

Videos

2:47

Patti Smith reads "The Moon and the Yew Tree" by Sylvia Plath

YouTube · Maria Popova

5 Sept 2023

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DBq564YmsL3s&ved=2ahUKEwiO1vb_ypmPAxW2b_UHHb3YEuQQwqsBegQISRAF&usg=AOvVaw1cNUFpw2EWvlnRTnr6R6Ya