Acquisitions (124): Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath: Ariel (1966)

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Everett: Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)


Sylvia Plath: Ariel (1965 / 1966)
[Finally Books - Hospice Bookshop, Birkenhead - 19/11/24]:

Sylvia Plath. Ariel. Foreword by Robert Lowell. 1966. Perennial Classics. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1999.

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Sylvia Plath: Ariel (1965)

Lady Lazarus

I don't know if this is still the case, but our first year school-leaver students used to arrive at university familiar with just two poets. One was Shakespeare; the other was Sylvia Plath.

Not that I have a problem with that, mind you. “I see her as a kind of Hammer Films poet”, said Philip Larkin in a letter to his friend Judy Egerton in 1960. He enlarged on the concept in a subsequent letter to Kingsley Amis:

No, of course Ted's no good at all. Not at all. Not a single solitary bit of good. I think his ex-wife, late wife, was extraordinary, though not necessarily likeable. Old Ted isn't even extraordinary.

- Quoted in James Booth, Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love. 2014
(London: Bloombury, 2015): 305-6.

That sounds about right to me, though possibly I'm a bit biassed against Ted Hughes at present, having recently tried (unsuccessfully) to work my way through his Collected Poems for Children (2005).

Sylvia Plath: Collected Poems (1981)

As for Sylvia: not necessarily likeable, but definitely extraordinary. It's interesting to see Larkin contorting this pithy judgement into something more acceptable to the literary establishment in his review of Ted's edition of his "ex-wife, late wife"'s Collected Poems (1981):

Mad poets do not write about madness: they write about religion, sofas, the French Revolution, nature, their cat Jeoffry. Plath did: it was her subject, her donnée ("I do it exceptionally well'); together they played an increasingly reckless game of tag.

[NB: My picks for the "mad poets" hinted at above would be as follows: "sofas": William Cowper; "the French Revolution": William Blake; "nature": John Clare; "their cat Jeoffry": Christopher Smart. As for "religion", that could be any one of them, with the possible exception of Clare.]

Coming back to Sylvia Plath, however, this is how Larkin characterises her last poems, the ones (mostly) collected in Ariel:

Increasingly divorced from identifiable incident, they seem to enter neurosis, or insanity, and exist there in a prolonged high-pitched ecstasy like nothing else in literature. They are impossible to quote meaningfully: they must be read whole.

And their quality?

Considering what one takes to be their subject matter, her poems, particularly the last ones, are curiously, even jauntily impersonal; it is hard to see how she was labelled confessional. As poems they are to the highest degree original and scarcely less effective.

- Philip Larkin, "Horror Poet." Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982 (London: Faber, 1983): 278-81.

Philip Larkin: Required Writing (1983)

You can see the unease her work caused him. And yet the poet in him could not deny its power and intensity. If the term "brilliant" weren't so hackneyed, one might end up having to use it here, for want of a better.

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Sylvia Plath: Ariel (1966)

The other day I bought a copy of the 1966 American edition of Ariel. I knew that it had a couple of extra poems which weren't in the 1965 UK version, which I'd always used hitherto. There's also a preface by one of my literary heroes, Robert Lowell, so it seemed worth it - if only for completeness' sake. Bibliophiles! - Bibliomaniac would be a better description.

The divergences were rather more extensive than I'd realised, though. As you can see from the lists below, they could really be described as different books:

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Sylvia Plath: Ariel (1965)

Sylvia Plath. Ariel. 1965. London: Faber, 1974. [1965]

1. Morning Song
2. The Couriers
3. Sheep in Fog
4. The Applicant
5. Lady Lazarus
6. Tulips
7. Cut
8. Elm
9. The Night Dances
10. Poppies in October
11. Berck-Plage
12. Ariel
13. Death & Co.
14. Nick and the Candlestick
15. Gulliver
16. Getting There
17. Medusa
18. The Moon and the Yew Tree
19. A Birthday Present
20. Letter in November
21. The Rival
22. Daddy
23. You're
24. Fever 103°
25. The Bee Meeting
26. The Arrival of the Bee Box
27. Stings
28. Wintering
29. The Hanging Man
30. Little Fugue
31. Years
32. The Munich Mannequins
33. Totem
34. Paralytic
35. Balloons
36. Poppies in July
37. Kindness
38. Contusion
39. Edge
40. Words

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Sylvia Plath: Ariel (1966)

Sylvia Plath. Ariel. Foreword by Robert Lowell. 1966. Perennial Classics. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1999. [1966]

1. Morning Song
2. The Couriers
3. Sheep in Fog
4. The Applicant
5. Lady Lazarus
6. Tulips
7. Cut
8. Elm
9. The Night Dances
10. Poppies in October
11. Berck-Plage
12. Ariel
13. Death & Co.
14. Lesbos
15. Nick and the Candlestick
16. Gulliver
17. Getting There
18. Medusa
19. The Moon and the Yew Tree
20. A Birthday Present
21. Mary's Song
22. Letter in November
23. The Rival
24. Daddy
25. You're
26. Fever 103°
27. The Bee Meeting
28. The Arrival of the Bee Box
29. Stings
30. The Swarm
31. Wintering
32. The Hanging Man
33. Little Fugue
34. Years
35. The Munich Mannequins
36. Totem
37. Paralytic
38. Balloons
39. Poppies in July
40. Kindness
41. Contusion
42. Edge
43. Words

Robert Lowell & Lady Caroline Blackwood (c.1970)

Like his friend Larkin's review, Lowell's introduction sounds more puzzled than impressed by the revelation of Plath's late work. The poet she'd become was very difficult to square with the one he'd known - albeit tangentially - in Boston:

She was willowy, long-waisted, sharp-elbowed, nervous, giggly, gracious - a brilliant tense presence embarrassed by restraint. Her humility and willingness to accept what was admired seemed at times to give her an air of maddening docility that hid her unfashionable patience and boldness.

"I sensed her abashment and distinction, and never guessed her later appalling and triumphant fulfillment."

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Sylvia Plath: Ariel: The Restored Edition (2004)

Sylvia Plath. Ariel: The Restored Edition. A Facsimile of Plath's Manuscript, Reinstating Her Original Selection and Arrangement. 1965. Foreword by Frieda Hughes. London: Faber, 2004. [2004]

1. Morning Song
2. The Couriers
3. The Rabbit Catcher
4. Thalidomide
5. The Applicant
6. Barren Woman
7. Lady Lazarus
8. Tulips
9. A Secret
10. The Jailor
11. Cut
12. Elm
13. The Night Dances
14. The Detective
15. Ariel
16. Death & Co.
17. Magi
18. Lesbos
19. The Other
20. Stopped Dead
21. Poppies in October
22. The Courage of Shutting-Up
23. Nick and the Candlestick
24. Berck-Plage
25. Gulliver
26. Getting There
27. Medusa
28. Purdah
29. The Moon and the Yew Tree
30. A Birthday Present
31. Letter in November
32. Amnesiac
33. The Rival
34. Daddy
35. You're
36. Fever 103°
37. The Bee Meeting
38. The Arrival of the Bee Box
39. Stings
40. Wintering

Some forty years after the first appearance of Ariel, the time had finally come to present Plath's own choice of poems for her final collection. As in Ted Hughes' 1965 version, there are forty poems in all, but it turned out that he'd left out at least a dozen (including "The Rabbit Catcher" and "The Jailor"), as well as adding another fifteen from various other sources.

All of the excised poems are included in the Collected Poems, so it's not as if he was trying to suppress them for good. But it's probably true to say that the 1965 edition of Plath's book is more his vision of what this book of poems should be than it was hers.

But perhaps the easiest way to visualise these complex overlaps is through this further, alphabetical list of the contents of all three versions of Ariel, identified respectively as 1965, 1966, and 2004:

Sylvia Plath: Ariel: Uncorrected Proof Copy (1965)

1. A Birthday Present [1965] [1966] [2004]
2. A Secret [2004]
3. Amnesiac [2004]
4. Ariel [1965] [1966] [2004]
5. Balloons [1965] [1966]
6. Barren Woman [2004]
7. Berck-Plage [1965] [1966] [2004]
8. Contusion [1965] [1966]
9. Cut [1965] [1966] [2004]
10. Daddy [1965] [1966] [2004]
11. Death & Co. [1965] [1966] [2004]
12. Edge [1965] [1966]
13. Elm [1965] [1966] [2004]
14. Fever 103° [1965] [1966] [2004]
15. Getting There [1965] [1966] [2004]
16. Gulliver [1965] [1966] [2004]
17. Kindness [1965] [1966]
18. Lady Lazarus [1965] [1966] [2004]
19. Lesbos [1966] [2004]
20. Letter in November [1965] [1966] [2004]
21. Little Fugue [1965] [1966]
22. Magi [2004]
23. Mary's Song [1966]
24. Medusa [1965] [1966] [2004]
25. Morning Song [1965] [1966] [2004]
26. Nick and the Candlestick [1965] [1966] [2004]
27. Paralytic [1965] [1966]
28. Poppies in July [1965] [1966]
29. Poppies in October [1965] [1966] [2004]
30. Purdah [2004]
31. Sheep in Fog [1965] [1966]
32. Stings [1965] [1966] [2004]
33. Stopped Dead [2004]
34. Thalidomide [2004]
35. The Applicant [1965] [1966] [2004]
36. The Arrival of the Bee Box [1965] [1966] [2004]
37. The Bee Meeting [1965] [1966] [2004]
38. The Courage of Shutting-Up [2004]
39. The Couriers [1965] [1966] [2004]
40. The Detective [2004]
41. The Hanging Man [1965] [1966]
42. The Jailor [2004]
43. The Moon and the Yew Tree [1965] [1966] [2004]
44. The Munich Mannequins [1965] [1966]
45. The Night Dances [1965] [1966] [2004]
46. The Other [2004]
47. The Rabbit Catcher [2004]
48. The Rival [1965] [1966] [2004]
49. The Swarm [1966]
50. Totem [1965] [1966]
51. Tulips [1965] [1966] [2004]
52. Wintering [1965] [1966] [2004]
53. Words [1965] [1966]
54. Years [1965] [1966]
55. You're [1965] [1966] [2004]

So what is one to conclude from all this? What is this book Ariel? To whom does it belong?

I'm afraid that it has to be seen as a strange, posthumous collaboration between Sylvia Plath and her estranged (though not yet entirely ex-) husband Ted Hughes.

Most books of poems have their own peculiar back-stories. Certainly some of Lowell's - Life Studies and Notebook, in particular - went through an even more complicated set of manoeuvres before settling into the form in which we know them.

Robert Lowell: Notebook 1967-68 / Notebook (1969 / 1970)

Nor is it particularly unusual to find divergences between the US and UK texts of what is, ostensibly, the same collection. It seems to matter more for Ariel, I suppose, because of the sexual politics involved: a wife's work still being (in a sense) regarded as legally her husband's "property" after her suicide - despite the fact they were separated and heading for a divorce at the time.

It might have behoved Ted to tread lightly under these circumstances. He did not. And yet, the books he made out of her poems and journals have sold widely around the world, and were instrumental in establishing the "Sylvia Plath" legend.

Now that we can compare them to new editions of her unabridged journals and letters - though not yet, admittedly, a truly comprehensive Complete Poems - we're better able to assess what he may have suppressed or left out. Not a great deal, under the circumstances, one is forced to concede.

Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar (1963)

I think it's safe to say, then, that Ariel and The Bell Jar will retain their place as the twin foundations of her fame. We have them; we've read them. We may be able to fill out the picture more fully over time, but the essential nature of her greatness is now set in stone.

Sylvia Plath: Ariel (1965 / 2015)

The story's not over yet, though. Books such as these set other minds in motion. The next generation of students may well turn up clutching equally dogeared copies of Tusiata Avia or Tracey Slaughter.

Tusiata Avia: Big Fat Brown Bitch (2023)

Tracey Slaughter: The girls in the red house are singing (2024)

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Poetry Foundation: Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath
(1932-1963)

Poetry:


1. The Colossus and Other Poems (1960)
   • The Colossus: Poems. 1960. London: Faber, 1977.
2. Ariel (1965)
   • Ariel. 1965. London: Faber, 1974.
   • Ariel. Foreword by Robert Lowell. 1966. Perennial Classics. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1999.
   • Ariel: The Restored Edition. A Facsimile of Plath's Manuscript, Reinstating Her Original Selection and Arrangement. 1965. Foreword by Frieda Hughes. London: Faber, 2004.
3. Three Women: A Monologue for Three Voices (1968)
4. Crossing the Water (1971)
5. Winter Trees (1971)
6. Collected Poems (1981)
   • Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. Faber Paperbacks. London: Faber, 1981.
7. Selected Poems (1985)

Prose:


8. [as 'Victoria Lucas'] The Bell Jar (1963)
   • The Bell Jar. 1963. London: Faber, 1974.
9. Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: Short Stories, Prose, and Diary Excerpts (1977)
   • Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams and Other Prose. Ed. Ted Hughes. 1977. London: Faber, 1979.
10. The Magic Mirror [Smith College senior thesis] (1989)
11. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom (2019)
    • Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom. Faber Stories. London, Faber, 2019.
12. The Collected Prose of Sylvia Plath. Ed. Peter K. Steinberg (2024)

Children's Books:


13. The Bed Book. Illustrated by Quentin Blake (1976)
14. The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit (1996)
15. Mrs. Cherry's Kitchen (2001)
16. Collected Children's Stories (2001)
    • Collected Children’s Stories. 1976 & 1996. Illustrated by David Roberts. Faber Children’s Classics. London: Faber, 2001.

Letters & Journals:


17. Letters Home: Correspondence 1950–1963 (1975)
    • Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-63. Ed. Aurelia Schober Plath. 1975. A Bantam Book. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1977.
18. The Journals of Sylvia Plath (1982)
    • The Journals of Sylvia Plath. Ed. Frances McCullough, with Ted Hughes. 1982. Anchor Books. New York: Doubleday, 1988.
19. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. Ed. Karen V. Kukil (2000)
    • Kukil, Karen V., ed. The Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950-1962: Transcribed from the Original Manuscripts at Smith College. 2000. London: Faber, 2001.
20. The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 1. Ed. Peter K. Steinberg & Karen V. Kukil (2017)
    • Steinberg, Peter K. & Karen V. Kukil, ed. The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 1: 1940-1956. Harper. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2017.
21. The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 2. Ed. Peter K. Steinberg & Karen V. Kukil (2018)
    • Steinberg, Peter K. & Karen V. Kukil, ed. The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 2: 1956-1963. Harper. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2018.

Secondary:


22. Steiner, Nancy Hunter. A Closer Look at Ariel: A Memory of Sylvia Plath. Afterword by George Stade. 1973. London: Faber, 1976.
23. Kyle, Barry. Sylvia Plath: A Dramatic Portrait, Conceived and Adapted From Her Writing. 1976. London: Faber, 1982.
24. Stevenson, Anne. Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath. With Additional Material by Lucas Myers, Dido Merwin, and Richard Murphy. 1989. New Preface. London: Penguin, 1998.
25. Malcolm, Janet. The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. 1993. Picador. London: Pan Macmillan General Books, 1994.
26. Hughes, Ted. Birthday Letters. 1998. London: Faber, 1999.
27. Wagner, Erica. Ariel’s Gift: A Commentary on Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes. 2000. London: Faber, 2001.
28. Bate, Jonathan. Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life. Fourth Estate. Sydney: HarperCollins Publishers, 2015.

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• category - American Poetry & Drama: Poetry

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