by Marijane Suttor

Created on: September 20, 2008   Last Updated: April 13, 2012

Close your eyes and think of the word tulip. What images enter your mind? I picture them in shades of purple and pink poking up in the early spring when the weather is still chilly. I see them as the wilting flowers chosen by a friend for her wedding, drooping in vases at the reception like sad little children bent over with stomach aches. I remember all the childlike tulip blossoms my kids would draw for me on their papers with pointy green leaves poking out from the sides.

As I conjure up these images of tulips before I read the poem "Tulips" by Sylvia Plath. I have brought my own impressions to the reading of this poem. As well I am familiar with some of the biography of Plath, so I am aware of what I am about to indulge in. I take the leap and scan my eyes over this lengthy poem reading quickly, I immediately return to the top and read it again with appreciation of the gut wrenching first hand narration of her thoughts. With the poem "Tulips", Plath allows the reader into a glimpse of her consciousness. We see a window into how she genuinely feels after suffering a miscarriage.

It is a vivid contrast between the innocent associations we have with tulips and the tulips of Plath's description. She begins with the line "The tulips are too excitable." It is a bit of a shocking opening as tulips tend to have a benign and placid association. As the reader looks further into the poem, more images of tulips add to the contrast

Plath who wrote the poem after a miscarriage tells the reader that she didn't want flowers, that the redness reminded her of her wound and hurt her. They remind her of a baby being swaddled in the paper which appears to take all of the oxygen. The crinkle of the paper reminds her of breathing which is a stark contrast to the baby that she lost.

Plath compares her heart to the bouquet of red flowers opening and closing. This gives the impression of beating. She indicates that it beats out of love for her only which indicates her sadness at her loss and life.

I can imagine a spouse not knowing what to do in this circumstance and selecting red tulips thinking that they are cheery, not knowing what they may infer to a woman suffering under these circumstances.

Another contrast to the red tulips is Plath's use of white as a symbol. She refers to being snowed in and the white walls. She is propped between the white pillow and the white sheet cuff like an eyelid that won't close. One of the more interesting descriptions is to describe the nurses

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