Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In Sylvia Plath's "Moonrise," the poet confronts the complexities of whiteness as a color, an emotional state, and a symbol of various aspects of life, including purity, death, and emptiness. The poem oscillates between organic and inorganic images, discussing the natural world in terms of white catalpa flowers, grub-white mulberries, and red berries, while also summoning the whiteness of linen and Niagaras. It uses this multiplicity to question the implications of whiteness-whether as a surface concealing decay, a blank slate, or an existential condition.

The poem opens with the tactile, sensory image of "Grub-white mulberries redden among leaves." The mulberries serve as a metaphor for transformation, representing the ongoing cycle of life and decay, a process which the speaker wants to emulate by sitting "in white like they do, Doing nothing." There's a deliberate passive acceptance, even surrender, to nature's way. But the acceptance is imbued with a sense of unease, with "July's juice rounds their nubs," suggesting an inherent volatility in stagnancy.

The poet introduces a park "fleshed with idiot petals," replete with purposeless beauty that eventually succumbs to decay: "White catalpa flowers tower, topple, / Cast a round white shadow in their dying." Nature here is not a romanticized idyll but a field of constant flux, where beauty is fleeting and vulnerable to the inevitable death. A pigeon's "fantail's white / Vocation" becomes emblematic of purposeless existence-just "opening, shutting."

As the poem unfolds, the speaker delves deeper into the implications of whiteness. "White bruises toward color, else collapses," suggests that if whiteness isn't filled with experience or 'color,' it tends toward oblivion. There's an existential weight in these lines, echoing themes of emotional and spiritual emptiness that cannot sustain itself without engagement with the outer world, without the 'red' of life, so to speak.

The decay associated with whiteness is further evidenced in "A body of whiteness / Rots, and smells of rot under its headstone / Though the body walk out in clean linen." Here, the speaker observes that underneath the surface-whether it's the whiteness of society, culture, or even the human mind-there's often an underlying rot, a decay that we might not immediately perceive.

The latter part of the poem takes on a mythological tone with the invocation of "Lucina, bony mother, laboring / Among the socketed white stars," linking the physical struggles of life and decay to celestial bodies. Lucina, a goddess of childbirth, is "weary," dragging "our ancient father at the heel." These mythological references provide a sense of timelessness to the poem's existential queries.

"Moonrise" culminates with the note that "The berries purple / And bleed. The white stomach may ripen yet," leaving the reader with a semblance of hope. Despite the inherent volatility and potential for decay, life continues its cycle, and perhaps even the "white stomach," the very core of our existence, may "ripen" or gain fulfillment.

In its tightly woven tapestry of images and ideas, Sylvia Plath's "Moonrise" serves as an existential contemplation on the complex symbolisms of whiteness, touching on themes of decay, existential emptiness, and the possibility of renewal. Its lyrical beauty is laden with a philosophical depth that provokes both emotional and intellectual engagement, ultimately challenging us to ponder the complexities of life's various shades of white.

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