"The trees of the mind are black."

— Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Faber and Faber
Date
1963, 1965
Metaphor
"The trees of the mind are black."
Metaphor in Context
This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary.
The trees of the mind are black. The light is blue.
The grasses unload their griefs on my feet as if I were God
Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility
Fumy, spiritous mists inhabit this place.
Separated from my house by a row of headstones.
I simply cannot see where there is to get to.
(p. 172, ll. 1-7)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Composed October 22, 1961. First published in The New Yorker (August 3, 1963).

Published in Plath's Ariel (London: Faber and Faber, 1965).

Text from Sylvia Plath, The Collected Poems, ed. Ted Hughes (New York: Harper Perennial, 1992).
Date of Entry
02/16/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.