Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"An Appearance" by Sylvia Plath confronts the intricate and often contradictory emotional landscape of love, exploring the tension between coldness and warmth, mechanization and humanity. The poem captures the perplexing dimensions of a loved one who appears simultaneously distant and intimate. Through vivid metaphors and imagery, Plath excavates the complexities that come with affection and emotional engagement.

The opening line, "The smile of iceboxes annihilates me," instantly suggests an inherent contradiction. A smile generally signifies warmth and openness, but its juxtaposition with 'iceboxes' immediately cools that warmth, making the beloved seem distant or even dangerous. This sets the stage for a series of paradoxes that make the loved one a complex, enigmatic figure. In one line, the loved one's veins have "blue currents," but her heart also "purrs," a line that complicates the icy imagery with one of warmth and life.

From the loved one's lips, "ampersands and percent signs/Exit like kisses," an image that blends the mechanical with the intimate. This plays into the idea of "Monday in her mind," a day associated with routine, work, and perhaps a return to emotional or moral order, as her morals "launder and present themselves." The speaker is left bewildered by these contradictions, encapsulated in the line, "What am I to make of these contradictions?"

The red material "issuing from the steel needle" serves as another compelling metaphor. On one hand, it symbolizes love (via the color red), but it's a love born of something sharp and potentially painful (the "steel needle"). This love will "make little dresses and coats," suggesting domesticity or perhaps future generations, but the same love also "will cover a dynasty," hinting at power dynamics and historical legacies.

The line "How her body opens and shuts-" is followed by another metaphor, comparing her to "A Swiss watch, jeweled in the hinges!" The Swiss watch denotes precision and luxury but also emotional complexity. Like a watch, she is closed off and exact, yet intricate and valuable. The exclamation mark indicates a note of surprise or perhaps resignation at this complexity.

Towards the end of the poem, the speaker addresses their own heart as "O heart, such disorganization!" It is as if the emotional tumult caused by the contradictions in the loved one has turned inward, causing chaos within the speaker. The "flashing" stars described as "terrible numerals" give a sense of urgency or impending doom. The final line "ABC, her eyelids say" is ambiguous-either simplifying the complexities into basic elements or indicating a beginning, as ABC is the starting point of language.

In sum, "An Appearance" offers a richly textured exploration of the emotional complications of love. Through a series of vivid images and metaphors, Plath portrays a relationship filled with paradoxes and contradictions that both enthrall and confuse. The poem invites readers to contemplate the difficulties of truly understanding someone you love, encapsulating the myriad conflicting feelings that come with emotional intimacy.

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