Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Berck-Plage" by Sylvia Plath is a multifaceted poem that grapples with themes of mortality, the frailty of human life, and the inevitability of death, set against a backdrop that paradoxically teems with both beauty and decay. The poem is divided into seven numbered sections, a structure that lends itself to a journey-like narrative, replete with observations that ricochet between the mundane and the metaphysical.

In the opening stanza, Plath describes the sea as "this great abeyance," immediately setting a tone of indeterminacy and suspension. The sea here is not just a physical entity but an emotional and existential landscape, mirroring the human condition. As the stanza evolves, we're shown contrasting images like "electrifyingly-colored sherbets" held by "pale girls," underscoring the duality of life-vibrant yet fragile. Plath's questioning "Why is it so quiet, what are they hiding?" hints at a pervasive sense of unease, suggesting that the surface serenity is deceptive, hiding darker truths beneath.

The second section offers a starker confrontation with mortality, describing a "black boot" that "has no mercy for anybody." This could be read as a representation of death, relentless and indiscriminate. Plath delves into the morbid by describing "obscene bikinis hid in the dunes," and a "green pool" that is "sick with what it has swallowed." Each object or scene she describes has a sinister underside, much like the larger theme of the poem, which deals with the interplay between life and death.

The third section of the poem introduces us to a hospital scene. Unlike the eternal sea, this is a man-made structure where human frailty is concentrated. The items that glitter on the balconies of the hospital are not jewels but "tubular steel wheelchairs, aluminum crutches." Plath does not shy away from highlighting the vulnerability that comes with the human condition, indicating that our bodies are not built for permanence.

As we move further into the poem, particularly the fourth and fifth sections, the imagery becomes increasingly funereal. Plath's focus on death culminates in the lines, "This is what it is to be complete. It is horrible." These lines serve as a chilling answer to the questions raised throughout the poem about life's fragility and mortality. To be "complete," according to the poem, is to reach the end of one's life, a completion that comes with its own terror.

In the penultimate section, the atmosphere is ecclesiastical, filled with references to a church-going procession. Plath examines the rituals surrounding death, using vivid color imagery like "Old blood of caked walls the sun heals," showcasing how ritual and nature both attempt to offer solace and healing in the face of life's harsh realities.

The final section veers into a personal realm as the speaker becomes "a member of the party," involved in a funeral procession. The priest, who is supposed to be a spiritual guide, is described as "a tarred fabric, sorry and dull," reflecting the inadequacy of religious ritual to truly contend with the mystery of death.

Sylvia Plath's "Berck-Plage" acts as a grim meditation on mortality, probing into the dichotomies that define human existence-life and death, beauty and decay, the finite and the infinite. Its layered narrative, enriched by vivid imagery and a melancholic tone, makes it a complex tapestry that eloquently captures the intricacies of the human condition. The poem serves as an existential inquiry, asking the reader to confront the uncomfortable truths that lie just beneath the veneer of daily life.

NOTE: Berck-Plage is a seaside resort in France. It's also the location of a beachfront home for disabled people that which Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes visited.

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