Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Death & Co.," by Sylvia Plath, is a powerful poem that grapples with the subject of mortality and the different personas or faces that death wears. The poem is characterized by stark imagery, complex metaphors, and an overarching sense of foreboding. Two figures represent death, and each brings a distinct flavor of finality. This dichotomy sets up a poignant tension that makes the reader reevaluate their understanding of life, death, and the subtleties in between.

The poem starts with a blunt acknowledgment: "Two, of course there are two." Here, Plath recognizes the multiplicity of death, suggesting that death can manifest in various forms or attitudes. The first figure of death is described as one "who never looks up, whose eyes are lidded / And balled, like Blake's," referencing the visionary Romantic poet William Blake. This figure is unemotional, detached, and almost clinical. His "birthmarks," or defining features, are "the scald scar of water, / The nude / Verdigris of the condor." Here, the natural elements are twisted into tokens of destruction. For this persona of death, the speaker is "red meat," not yet claimed but marked.

Contrastingly, the second figure is the emotive one: "His hair long and plausive / Bastard / Masturbating a glitter / He wants to be loved." This image is jarringly different, almost theatrical and self-absorbed. Where the first figure is unemotional and austere, the second one seems to crave emotional engagement or validation. It is this desire for love that makes him all the more disconcerting; it adds a layer of complexity to our understanding of death. Death is not just a cold, biological endpoint; it can also be a psychological and emotional experience that demands recognition.

What stands out strikingly is the speaker's stoicism: "I do not stir." She observes these various shades of death with a quiet resignation or perhaps a sense of inevitability. Amid this grim tableau, Plath describes how "The frost makes a flower, / The dew makes a star," pointing to the cyclical nature of life and death, suggesting that one state transitions into another, each with its own form of beauty or significance.

The poem closes with, "The dead bell, / The dead bell. / Somebody's done for." The repetition of "the dead bell" serves as a chilling refrain, emphasizing the inescapable finality of death. It's a reminder that despite its different faces and complexities, death is a singular ending for everyone. The line "Somebody's done for" reinforces this message while also leaving room for a haunting ambiguity. Is it the speaker who is "done for," or is it a collective acknowledgment of our shared human fate?

In "Death & Co.," Sylvia Plath ingeniously presents death as a multi-faceted entity, both coldly indifferent and emotionally charged. She builds an intense atmosphere using rich imagery and complex metaphors, compelling the reader to confront the inevitable with a nuanced perspective. By exploring the duality of death, Plath enriches our understanding of it, reminding us that in its inevitability, death is as complex and unfathomable as life itself.

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