Edge

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1965

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

Plath puts her poem into 10 couplets (stanzas containing two lines). The fixed stanza length tips the Fate Versus Free Will balance toward the former, with the predetermined stanza length reflecting the inevitable destiny of the woman. The woman’s “illusion of a Greek necessity” (Line 4) puts her on the irrevocable path toward death, and the couplets produce a form that inevitably produces stanzas with two lines.

Through diction, Plath’s speaker drops hints that the woman’s belief in her fate is a misperception or a fantasy, and similarly, the couplets, inevitably transgress the idea of a neat, self-contained two-line stanza. Six of the seven first stanzas end in the middle of a sentence or clause: They’re enjambments, so the line doesn’t break with a natural grammatical pause. The sudden drop to not only another line but also another stanza indicates that the stanzas are illusory. They give the impression of organization, but they can’t contain the speaker’s full thoughts.

The meter is free verse, so Plath isn’t obligated to follow any predetermined pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. The open meter also favors the concept of free will. The line is open to various syllable patterns, and the woman’s outcome lacks a predetermined end. The free verse can function as an illusion. The splintered lines mimic the woman’s severed outcomes. Like the lines, the woman feels cut off. She feels like there’s only one outcome, and her feelings become reality.

Allusion

Allusion is a literary device where the poet references a topic, but they don’t do so explicitly. In “Edge,” Plath alludes to Greek tragedies and Cleopatra, with “Greek necessity” (Line 4) linking to the former and “a white serpent” (Line 9) connecting to the latter. The allusions create mystery and push the reader to use their imagination and knowledge. It produces an interactive dynamic, where Plath drops the hint, and the reader follows the clue and draws an applicable conclusion.

The theme of The Allure of Death lets the reader know that the “Greek necessity” (Line 4) doesn’t involve a heroic affirmation of life. More so, the emphasis on women and “she” pronouns indicate that the poem is concerned with women. The reader can deduce that the dead woman sees herself in the same vein as tragic Greek heroines like Medea and Antigone. The “white serpent” (Line 9) is arguably more opaque, as it assumes a knowledge of Shakespeare. Nevertheless, the allusions subtly spotlight the magnificence of the dead woman. She’s as illustrious as a myth or a character in the play of a canonized author.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a literary device where the author puts words together—or near one another—that sound similar or that start with the same letter. Plath uses alliteration to occasionally introduce a melodious sound, which clashes with the severe fate of the woman and some of the amputated stanzas. In other words, the pleasant sequence of sounds, when they occur, jar the reader, keeping them alert and aware of their incongruence. The moments of pleasing melody come across as inappropriate because the poem centers on harsh themes.

The alliteration of sound happens when the speaker notes, “The flows in the scrolls of her toga” (Line 5). The “o” sound “flows” through “flow,” “scrolls,” and “toga,” just as the woman’s toga flows. The alliteration of words with the same first letter occurs with “[e]ach dead child coiled.” The two “c” words entwine like the “coiled” children. There’s also alliteration of the double-e sound with “bleed,” “sweet,” and “deep” (Lines 15-16), and there’s soft “a” alliteration with “blacks crackle and drag” (Line 20). In these moments, the alliteration suggests unity among the garden and for the moon/witch.