“Morning Song”
Sylvia Plath
Pre-reading
Context:
Plath wrote this poem ten months after the
birth of her first baby, Frieda in April
1960 …..
And just two weeks after suffering a
miscarriage in February 1961.

‘Morning Song’
What does the narrator of the poem feel
about the birth of her child and how does
the poet present these feelings?
There are two parts to the question:
What
How
Preparation at home:
Learn a range of adjectives that sum up
moods and feelings:
Happy
Sad
Anxious
…
Now think of synonyms for these
words
Happy = joyful, ecstatic, delighted
 Sad = miserable, despondent,
depressed, low


To help: type the word and highlight,
right click and choose the option
synonym…
Now learn poetic devices:
Metaphor
 Simile
 Onomatopoeia
 Alliteration
 Personification
 Assonance
 Enjambment
 Pathetic fallacy

“Morning Song”
Read the text
 Identify the feelings (What) and
techniques used to communicate them
(How)
 Content of poem
 Language
 Themes

Morning Song
Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.
Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival.
New statue. In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.
I'm no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind's hand.
All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses.
I wake to listen: A far sea moves in my ear.
One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat's. The window square
Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.
Content: Morning Song
Identify the mood and atmosphere and link to
her feelings about the birth of her child
Does it change?

First half: helpless, insecure and aloof from
her child (emotion which can be associated
both with miscarriage and the early stages of
motherhood)
 Second half: warmer, more secure relationship
is depicted.

Imagery: In the first half of the poem the
images she uses are often cold, stark and
dark.
 The child’s cry is “bald” [harsh], the hospital is
a museum [clinical] which captures her anxiety
about becoming a new mother.
 Image of mother reflecting child is - this begins
their bond.
 Imagery in second half of the poem is warm,
maternal and celebratory – she has come to
terms with her new role!
Stanza One
What feelings
Love set you going like a fat
gold watch.
How are they presented?

The midwife slapped your
footsoles, and
your bald cry
Took its place among the
elements.

The mother feels happy at the birth of
her child. The word love begins the
poem and a simile is used to suggest
how precious the baby is to the
mother. We associate ‘gold’ with
winning or with treasure which
highlight how the mother feels she has
achieved success after the trial of
giving birth. It must be a relief after
the pain of labour to have the prize of
your baby at the end.
However, the baby’s cry is described
as ‘bald’ which is a harsh word and
may suggest how the mother finds the
baby’s crying unsettling.
Stanza Two
What feelings
Our voices echo, magnifying
your arrival.
New statue. In a drafty
museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We
stand round blankly as
walls.
How are they presented?
The new parents talk of the baby’s
arrival, “magnifying it” which may
refer to both the pride they take in
their child or the enormity of the
responsibility the parents now
face.
 The location is a “draughty
museum” – a cold, clinical place
where the child is on display.
Hospital has negative associations
for mother?
[Child is still seen as a rare and
precious being – placed in a
museum]

Your turn …
What feelings can you
identify here?
your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We
stand round blankly as
walls.
How are they presented?
Stanza Three
Feelings
I'm no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a
mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind's
hand.
Techniques
Don’t forget to identify the
changes
The persona’s feelings about the birth of
her child change…
In the examination, it is likely that you will
be given a poem with changing mood,
atmosphere, thoughts, feelings… so if you
track the text, you will be able to trace the
changes!
Good Luck!
The End