Wow, what a powerful performance of a tragically beautiful poem. It is really quite remarkable. Thanks for sharing this. Angela
Glad you enjoyed it. It really is a beautiful – and sad – poem and performance.
One of the most important reasons to express the way we feel about everything that happens to us in our lives is to come to terms with it ourselves. Writers throughout history have inspired many other people to become writers themselves, and untold millions of others who only read the work of those writers, come away with insights and perspectives that might otherwise have been impossible to acquire by other means.
The modern day celebration of love on this day, and all the hoopla surrounding romantic love, which is wonderful and joyful and essential in every life, almost completely misses the full spectrum of the experience of love, and pretends somehow that any other experience of romantic feelings for another, other than the one we see in commercials and in advertising, doesn’t even exist.
Sylvia Plath was an extraordinary wordsmith, who was profoundly affected by the loss of romantic love, but more importantly, was unable to overcome the tragic loss emotionally.
The experience of being human includes a variety of potential emotional events, of which the fulfilling and joyful experience of romantic love represents only a portion, and to single out one aspect of that full range of emotion to the exclusion of all others can tip the balance of wholeness to the point where we are irretrievable as a whole person.
Sylvia may have been mentally disabled due to some pathology of the brain or because she was suffering from clinical depression, but the world in which she lived, very much like the world in which WE live, was lacking in an emphasis on wholeness and balance, and there is ALWAYS an alternative to giving up on life.
We all need to know love in its many manifestations, and to see beyond the emotional response to the source of love, in the spirit of life. True love is spiritual at its core, and includes every variety of love, and THAT is what we should be celebrating every single day.
John H.
I agree, John. Poor, sad, heartbroken, talented Sylvia.
There is an editor I know what just finished reading a book by Sylvia Plath and now seems more down on everything and everyone, especially himself, than ever before. I have found that I need to keep a slight distance to this type of expressions, while completely empathizing and supporting to the one experiencing these types of mental and emotional dislocations after disappointments, whether romantic, professional, familial, or otherwise. We do all need to work harder to support those in despair.
Well she certainly was a sad and distressed woman – poor Sylvia – but as you describe it is a balance between supporting those in despair while not drowning in the sadness ourselves.
I agree with Granbee and tend to avoid Sylvia Plath’s writing . . . because her sadness permeates and reaches out to readers.
But this poem had a sad vibrancy to it. Thanks!
Hope you had a happy and SWEET Valentine’s Day.
Poor Sylvia, she suffered a lot – mind you this poem seems to me to be sad and wistful but not despairing. I had a grand Valentine’s Day, thanks Nancy – I hope you did too.
I agree with Granbee and tend to avoid Sylvia Plath’s writing . . . because her sadness permeates and reaches out to readers.
But this poem had a sad vibrancy to it. Thanks!
Hope you had a happy and SWEET Valentine’s Day.
Poor Sylvia, she suffered a lot – mind you this poem seems to me to be sad and wistful but not despairing. I had a grand Valentine’s Day, thanks Nancy – I hope you did too.
I have a love-hate relationship with Plath and her poetry. I didn’t know this one. I love it. Thanks.
I totally get that about Sylvia Plath – I think it might describe my own relationship to her poetry – but I also loved this poem and this performance.
I have a love-hate relationship with Plath and her poetry. I didn’t know this one. I love it. Thanks.
I totally get that about Sylvia Plath – I think it might describe my own relationship to her poetry – but I also loved this poem and this performance.
so sad but beautiful what a performance
Agreed on both counts.
so sad but beautiful what a performance
Agreed on both counts.
This is a stunning performance of that poem. I had never heard of read this poem before. Thank you for sharing it.
This is a stunning performance of that poem. I had never heard of read this poem before. Thank you for sharing it.
Wow, what a powerful performance of a tragically beautiful poem. It is really quite remarkable. Thanks for sharing this. Angela
Glad you enjoyed it. It really is a beautiful – and sad – poem and performance.
One of the most important reasons to express the way we feel about everything that happens to us in our lives is to come to terms with it ourselves. Writers throughout history have inspired many other people to become writers themselves, and untold millions of others who only read the work of those writers, come away with insights and perspectives that might otherwise have been impossible to acquire by other means.
The modern day celebration of love on this day, and all the hoopla surrounding romantic love, which is wonderful and joyful and essential in every life, almost completely misses the full spectrum of the experience of love, and pretends somehow that any other experience of romantic feelings for another, other than the one we see in commercials and in advertising, doesn’t even exist.
Sylvia Plath was an extraordinary wordsmith, who was profoundly affected by the loss of romantic love, but more importantly, was unable to overcome the tragic loss emotionally.
The experience of being human includes a variety of potential emotional events, of which the fulfilling and joyful experience of romantic love represents only a portion, and to single out one aspect of that full range of emotion to the exclusion of all others can tip the balance of wholeness to the point where we are irretrievable as a whole person.
Sylvia may have been mentally disabled due to some pathology of the brain or because she was suffering from clinical depression, but the world in which she lived, very much like the world in which WE live, was lacking in an emphasis on wholeness and balance, and there is ALWAYS an alternative to giving up on life.
We all need to know love in its many manifestations, and to see beyond the emotional response to the source of love, in the spirit of life. True love is spiritual at its core, and includes every variety of love, and THAT is what we should be celebrating every single day.
John H.
I agree, John. Poor, sad, heartbroken, talented Sylvia.
There is an editor I know what just finished reading a book by Sylvia Plath and now seems more down on everything and everyone, especially himself, than ever before. I have found that I need to keep a slight distance to this type of expressions, while completely empathizing and supporting to the one experiencing these types of mental and emotional dislocations after disappointments, whether romantic, professional, familial, or otherwise. We do all need to work harder to support those in despair.
Well she certainly was a sad and distressed woman – poor Sylvia – but as you describe it is a balance between supporting those in despair while not drowning in the sadness ourselves.
I agree with Granbee and tend to avoid Sylvia Plath’s writing . . . because her sadness permeates and reaches out to readers.
But this poem had a sad vibrancy to it. Thanks!
Hope you had a happy and SWEET Valentine’s Day.
Poor Sylvia, she suffered a lot – mind you this poem seems to me to be sad and wistful but not despairing. I had a grand Valentine’s Day, thanks Nancy – I hope you did too.
I agree with Granbee and tend to avoid Sylvia Plath’s writing . . . because her sadness permeates and reaches out to readers.
But this poem had a sad vibrancy to it. Thanks!
Hope you had a happy and SWEET Valentine’s Day.
Poor Sylvia, she suffered a lot – mind you this poem seems to me to be sad and wistful but not despairing. I had a grand Valentine’s Day, thanks Nancy – I hope you did too.
I have a love-hate relationship with Plath and her poetry. I didn’t know this one. I love it. Thanks.
I totally get that about Sylvia Plath – I think it might describe my own relationship to her poetry – but I also loved this poem and this performance.
I have a love-hate relationship with Plath and her poetry. I didn’t know this one. I love it. Thanks.
I totally get that about Sylvia Plath – I think it might describe my own relationship to her poetry – but I also loved this poem and this performance.
so sad but beautiful what a performance
Agreed on both counts.
so sad but beautiful what a performance
Agreed on both counts.
This is a stunning performance of that poem. I had never heard of read this poem before. Thank you for sharing it.
This is a stunning performance of that poem. I had never heard of read this poem before. Thank you for sharing it.