Bees in Literature. SassafrasBeeFarm
To be honest, Sylvia Plath’s poetry has always made me slightly uncomfortable. I find it hard to think of her without a creepy feeling. I know, she was a tormented young woman but I feel the way I feel. Imagine, then, my cringe when I opened an email from James in which he excitedly shared with me a poem by a beekeeper named Sylvia Plath. I had no idea she ever kept bees. Here is a link to her beekeeping poetry and a well-written article about this time in her life: Sylvia Plath and the Bees
Wintering
This is the easy time, there is nothing doing.
I have whirled the midwife’s extractor,
I have my honey,
Six jars of it,
Six cat’s eyes in the wine cellar,Wintering in a dark without window
At the heart of the house
Next to the last tenant’s rancid jam
And the bottles of…
View original post 246 more words

Ted Hughes, her husband, has (had?) been one of my favorite poets since I was 15. Reading a book of poems that Plath and Hughes wrote to each other made me look at both of their poems differently, and reading his biography with Plath’s story made me look at his poetry very differently, too.
Still, I enjoyed reading this poem — it’s dark in the middle, but at least the bees get to fly again in spring.
LikeLike