All The Dead Dears by Sylvia Plath Structure and Form

Rigged poker -stiff on her back
With a granite grin
This antique museum-cased lady
Lies, companioned by the gimcrack
Relics of a mouse and a shrew
That battened for a day on her ankle-bone.

These three, unmasked now, bear
Dry witness
To the gross eating game
We’d wink at if we didn’t hear
Stars grinding, crumb by crumb,
Our own grist down to its bony face.

How they grip us through think and thick,
These barnacle dead!
This lady here’s no kin
Of mine, yet kin she is: she’ll suck
Blood and whistle my narrow clean
To prove it. As I think now of her hand,

From the mercury-backed glass
Mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother
Reach hag hands to haul me in,
And an image looms under the fishpond surface
Where the daft father went down
With orange duck-feet winnowing this hair —-

All the long gone darlings: They
Get back, though, soon,
Soon: be it by wakes, weddings,
Childbirths or a family barbecue:
Any touch, taste, tang’s
Fit for those outlaws to ride home on,

And to sanctuary: usurping the armchair
Between tick
And tack of the clock, until we go,
Each skulled-and-crossboned Gulliver
Riddled with ghosts, to lie
Deadlocked with them, taking roots as cradles rock.

The structure and form of Sylvia Plath’s poem “All The Dead Dears” contribute to its overall impact and thematic depth. In terms of structure, the poem consists of six stanzas, each containing varying numbers of lines. The first stanza sets the scene, introducing the deceased woman and the relics accompanying her. Subsequent stanzas delve deeper into the themes of mortality, ancestral connections, and the enduring presence of the dead. The final stanza brings the poem to a contemplative conclusion, reflecting on the cyclical nature of life and death.

In terms of form, the poem follows a loose meter and rhyme scheme. While the poem does not adhere strictly to a specific rhyme pattern, there are instances of rhyme and rhythm throughout, contributing to the poem’s musicality and flow. For example, in the first stanza, the repetition of the “ack” sound in “back,” “grin,” and “ankle-bone” creates a sense of cohesion and rhythm. Additionally, the use of alliteration, such as in “companioned by the gimcrack,” adds to the poem’s auditory texture.

Language devices such as imagery, symbolism, and figurative language are employed to convey the poem’s themes and evoke emotional resonance. Plath’s use of vivid imagery paints a stark and haunting picture of death and decay. The description of the deceased woman as a “museum-cased lady” and the relics of the mouse and shrew evoke a sense of mortality and transience. Symbolism is also employed to underscore the interconnectedness of past and present, as seen in the image of ancestral hands reaching out from the “mercury-backed glass.” Figurative language, such as the metaphor of “stars grinding, crumb by crumb,” imbues the poem with a sense of cosmic inevitability and existential dread.

Moreover, the use of repetition and parallelism enhances the poem’s thematic coherence and emotional impact. The repeated motif of the dead gripping the living “through think and thick” underscores the inescapable influence of the past on the present. The parallel structure of the final stanza, with its enumeration of life events such as “wakes, weddings, Childbirths,” reinforces the cyclical nature of familial bonds and the enduring presence of the dead within the fabric of human experience.

Overall, “All The Dead Dears” is a masterful exploration of mortality, ancestral connections, and the enduring presence of the dead. Through its meticulous structure, evocative language, and rich imagery, the poem invites readers to contemplate the complexities of life and death, and the ways in which the past continues to shape the present.