Trying to have a little fun this summer, below are attempts to construct sentences out of the poem titles in Sylvia Plath's Ariel (both the 1965/1966 Ted Hughes version and those from her original order, first published in 2004). I have endeavored to not employ additional words (to, at, the, are, etc.) to connect things up; however, in some instances I found it beneficial to do so... And in some cases I brought in titles from other 1962 poems.
Getting there by candlelight, the applicant Gulliver cut the fearful eavesdropper for a fatherless son.
The arrival of the bee box, a secret event (a birthday present), stopped dead the detective burning the letters.
Medusa stings Daddy; the other magi- the jailor - on the tour wintering among the narcissi: Berck-Plage, Lyonnesse, Ariel, Lesbos, has the courage of shutting-up the elm and death & co.
The Munich mannequins totem: a paralytic thalidomide child, sheep in fog, pheasant, balloons, the swarm, the moon and the yew tree.
Crossing the water years after an appearance at the bee meeting, the rabbit catchers amnesiac apprehensions are words heard, by accident, over the phone.
The couriers words, a letter in november, edge the rival barren woman - in a purdah of tulips and poppies in july, poppies in october - and the hanging man into the night dances.
Mary's song, the little fugue, is a contusion to Lady Lazarus.
You're Nick and the candlestick's morning song.
Getting there by candlelight, the applicant Gulliver cut the fearful eavesdropper for a fatherless son.
The arrival of the bee box, a secret event (a birthday present), stopped dead the detective burning the letters.
Medusa stings Daddy; the other magi- the jailor - on the tour wintering among the narcissi: Berck-Plage, Lyonnesse, Ariel, Lesbos, has the courage of shutting-up the elm and death & co.
The Munich mannequins totem: a paralytic thalidomide child, sheep in fog, pheasant, balloons, the swarm, the moon and the yew tree.
Crossing the water years after an appearance at the bee meeting, the rabbit catchers amnesiac apprehensions are words heard, by accident, over the phone.
The couriers words, a letter in november, edge the rival barren woman - in a purdah of tulips and poppies in july, poppies in october - and the hanging man into the night dances.
Mary's song, the little fugue, is a contusion to Lady Lazarus.
You're Nick and the candlestick's morning song.
Oh wow lol great! Im sure Sylvia would have been proud of you and happy for this! ;-) have a nice day
ReplyDeletegreetings from Florence, Italy
Alessandra
Very clever, Peter! You got me thinking up other title-sentences in my head, thanks for that! The word (from the title) "Cut" is a good verb which can be used in a lot of the sentences between the various poem titles. i.e. "Daddy cut Medusa" and vice-versa. And other similar set-ups with "Cut" that can make some sense in relation to Plath's life. "Lady Lazarus Cut Daddy" etc etc.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see "The Babysitters" anywhere in your sentences, though... tsk tsk :-) (such an over-looked poem, in my opinion).
A little too much time on your hands? ;-)
ReplyDeleteNah... I love word games too. Might be fun to do anagrams next. Plath had a "crazy eye for anagrams," you know!
How about Sylvia Plath typos: Sylvia Path, Salvia Plath, and of course Ted Huge. It gets complicted now with autocorrect programs where you type an unusual word and the program changes it to the more conventional or customary word. Something for poets to think about. There is probably some autocorrect program that will change Olwyn Hughes into Gorgon Hughes.
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