When I was sixteen my A level English Literature teacher introduced me to the poetry of Sylvia Plath. I was enthralled my her words and perhaps, as a teenager, more attracted to the angst than the structure or form. But by the end of the academic year I was searching for poetry of all forms, appreciating the rhythms and cadences as well as the content. Among her structured poems, her villanelle ‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’ is one of my favourite.
Mad Girl’s Love Song, by Sylvia Plath
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan’s men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you’d return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)”
Hi, Sophie. I too discovered Sylvia Plath in my late teens – what poetry – what angst! Still love her today, and enjoyed the villanelle. I tried to write one once, but I think I should stick to prose and children’s rhymes.
Haven’t read your blog for a while, thanks for the reminder on Facebook, I shall remember to look in more often. BW, Jenny H
Unflinching poem! Hard for me to articulate further upon it.