(4) Base Camp
Plain, ordinary English. A pretty darn familiar subject. Short, snappy lines. Need we say more?
Plath sucks her readers into this poem with her first image – and she keeps us engaged by the promise of continual emotional access. Hey, there's a reason why gossip mags are so ridiculously popular. We all want to know the dirty details of other people's lives. That's what makes this poem so appealing – and so easy to read.
That said, this poem is chock-full of metaphors, and figuring out how the speaker feels about her baby can be a bit tricky.