Slyvia Path Poem – Daddy
Slyvia Path – Daddy Analysis
Slyvia Plath’s poem, Daddy creates a dissimilar and unique oral experience that differs from the visual experience that the reader gets in both instances. When listening, one can hear the aspect of inconsistent rhymes and syllable counts coupled with repeated sounds such as “-oo” and the pronounced German dialect. The inconsistent syllable counts and rhyme schemes create a unique and appealing conversation flow that interrupts the unified structure created by the poem when reading (Ciurea, 2016).
This disconnection in unity is most evident when an individual is listening than when reading due to the fact that the auditory aspects of the poem intensify the speaker’s feeling of abandonment and hatred. For instance, the world “Jew” and “you” inform more about the speaker’s feelings of enragement and isolation when she needed her father the most. Change in the speaker’s voice and tone is most evident when listening in that one is able to get a clear insight into the author’s emotions and the hostility that exists between the father and daughter.
In relation to structure, there is a difference between the spoken and written structure. When reading, one can notice that the structure is organized in sixteen five-line stanzas while the audio format has changed the format to express the emotional and expressive aspects more clearly. Additionally, the oral experience insists on the meanings portrayed by individual lines as well as the flow created by the entire poem in that the individual lines work seamlessly to create the desired flow.
Although an individual can understand the emotional nature of the poem by reading, the aspect of enjambment employed provides the reader with a greater understanding of the emotions through the sound of words, the German dialect, and the repetition employed. For instance, the speaker has portrayed the German dialect perfectly in a manner that shows the existent struggle between Jews and Nazis (Ciurea, 2016). This difference is also evidenced in line 27 and 28 “ich, ich, ich, ich/I could hardly speak” which expresses the writer’s struggle to express herself and the contrast between her father (German) and herself (Jew) (Ciurea, 2016).
Conclusion
The difference between the oral and audio poem is most evidenced through changes in structure, the introduction of an audible tone, mood, and inconsistent rhymes that express the author’s feelings of isolation, anger, and homelessness more clearly.
References
Poetry Foundation (2020). Daddy by Slyvia Path. Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48999/daddy-56d22aafa45b2
Ciurea, T., (2016 February 29). Slyvia Path listening to Daddy [online]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=fIxpYzPq070&feature=emb_logo