o be very little opinion from the mother, but she seems to be enjoying a sense of investigation and discovery with her infant. The only feeling that is particularly obvious is one of contented pride, as the mother celebrates her baby’s birth (“Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival”) and congratulates it on its newly-found independence. There does seem to be an upset, almost resentful undertone, as the mother says “I’m no more your mother/ Than the cloud which distills a mirror to reflect its own slow/ Effacement at the wind’s hand.” Although she is only pointing out that this is the case, she seems to be nostalgic for the time when her baby was wholly dependant on her. The focus of the poem, however, seems to be on discovery, as is shown by the end: “And now you try/ Your handful of notes;/ The clear vowels rise like balloons.” This appears to be a description of the baby crying, but instead of reprimanding her child, the mother acclaims it. This has the effect of showing her contentment due to the baby being able to cry, and her satisfaction with regard to its experimental use of sounds. In By Candlelight, the persona returns to the comforting tones seen earlier (“I rock you like a boat”,) only this time she seems much more scared. Plath uses harmonious rhyme, while continuing to write without any strict metre. This shows a desire to remain individual, while seeming to conform to others’ ideals. She also does this throughout the selection of poems by refusing to use clichs: she refers to her child as “Balled hedgehog” and “travelled prawn”, using original imagery to describe how she envisages the child. This could be out of desire to express herself in a way that is not permitted by traditional phrases, or due to a fear of using hackneyed expressions, as they tend to lose their effectiveness if they are used excessively. The exploration c...
