Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In Sylvia Plath's "Letter in November," the speaker evokes an intimate, almost mystical, connection with nature, a relationship that offers both solitude and solace. What begins as an observation of color and light becomes a transformative experience that imbues the landscape-and the speaker herself-with a sense of ownership, vitality, and historical gravitas.

The poem begins with a sense of surprise and wonder: "Love, the world / Suddenly turns, turns color." The color, light, and time of day are immediately arresting, as the laburnum's "rat's tail" pods are split by a streetlight at nine in the morning. While the laburnum typically blooms in late spring to early summer, the "Arctic" setting and the time "in November" suggest a seasonal anomaly, perhaps serving as a metaphor for emotional or psychological shifts.

The speaker then moves to a localized, personal realm, referring to the landscape as "this little black / Circle." The "tawn silk grasses" are likened to "babies' hair," a metaphor that imbues the scene with an affectionate, almost maternal quality. The "green in the air" is not just observed but also felt as a soft, comforting force: "It cushions me lovingly." The speaker's emotional state is mirrored in the natural world-she feels "flushed and warm," and even speculates that she might be "enormous" because she is "so stupidly happy."

In claiming the landscape as her own-"This is my property"-the speaker reveals a sense of control and belonging that contrasts sharply with her confession of feeling "stupidly happy." Her Wellington boots, practical footwear for wet conditions, further ground her in this natural space as they "squelch and squelch through the beautiful red," likely referring to autumn leaves. Here, the "red" also serves as a symbol of life's vibrancy, a stark contrast to the "thick gray death-soup" that the trees seem to hold later in the poem.

There is also an explicit acknowledgment of the darker, harsher elements of this idyllic scene. The speaker describes "the barbarous holly" with its "viridian / Scallops, pure iron," and "the wall of the odd corpses." Yet, even these elements are embraced with an affection that borders on reverence: "I love them. / I love them like history." This love extends to the apple trees, with their "gold-ruddy balls," embodying both life and decay.

Towards the end of the poem, Plath weaves in a historical reference to Thermopylae, the ancient Greek site famous for a heroic last stand. Just as the outnumbered Greeks resisted valiantly at Thermopylae, the "irreplaceable / Golds bleed and deepen," indicating both an enduring beauty and a poignant tragedy in the cycle of life and death.

The poem's closing addresses an ambiguous "O love, O celibate." This could be an invocation of love as a universal, even monastic, devotion to the world in its complexities, or perhaps an acknowledgement of the speaker's isolated but passionate relationship with her surroundings.

"Letter in November" serves as a testament to Plath's ability to imbue natural landscapes with deeply personal and emotional significance. Through a rich tapestry of images and sensations, the poem captures the speaker's profound sense of connection to a world that is, at once, nurturing and indifferent, beautiful and cruel, temporal and eternal.

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