"Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath is a 9 x 9 poem (9 syllables; 9 lines) spoken by a pregnant speaker (hence the 9 months). The speaker uses a barrage of metaphors all of which compare a host-mother to her more valuable cargo-child.
Here are how the metaphors match up:
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"Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath is a 9 x 9 poem (9 syllables; 9 lines) spoken by a pregnant speaker (hence the 9 months). The speaker uses a barrage of metaphors all of which compare a host-mother to her more valuable cargo-child.
Here are how the metaphors match up:
Host/Mother vs. Cargo/Child
"riddle" vs. 9 syllables"
"elephant" vs. "ivory"
"house" vs. "fine timber"
"melon" vs. "red fruit"
"loaf" vs. "yeast"
"purse" vs. "money"
"bag" vs. "green apple"
"means" / "stage" vs. ("end")
"cow" vs. "calf"
"train" vs. (passenger)
The mother speaker in the poem feels like a "means" to an end, a "stage." She must feel that people are more concerned about the condition of her baby than they are about her. "How's the baby?" "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" "Do you have names picked out?" She obviously feels unwanted and unappreciated in her pregnant condition.