poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

Oddly enough, I read this poem just last night out of one of my poetry books which included Plath, Sexton, Ginsberg, etc.. Plath has always intrigued me, and The Arrival of the Bee Box took on a very light-hearted feel but spoke volumes of the anguish she was going through in her own life, inwardly. Think, how would a box full of angry bees behave? And then you are given the solution that this box is "temporary" meaning that she either plans to write and free these bees (metaphorically thoughts) or commit suicide and find comfort in death. Just one interpretation.

I am so so tired of people reading Plath's work as if it were Princess Di's diary...ooh, isn't it tragic, can you spot the clues? I think people's knowledge of the circumstances of her life and death tends to get in the way of them understanding and appreciating the work in itself. At least as an *exercise*, I think it would be a good idea to try reading this pretending you don't know who wrote it. I doubt that the themes of suicide and relationships to fathers would automatically suggest themselves if you did that...I can't spot them in the poem at all. I think, in part, the poem's about people being diminished - by slavery, by mob culture - and the loss of individuality. Other themes I think it addresses: power, control, the fear of the individual faced with the not-individual (society, nature) and transformation. It's one of my favourite poems because of the gorgeous surrealism of the imagery ("a square baby" is my favourite) and because of the way in which the voice of the poem alters and modulates through it.

I think The Bee Box epitomises afflictions and miseries of women.Plath's voice is essentially feministic.She herself suffered as a daughter, as a sister and as a wife, confined to the "box" of alienation.She is obliged to drink the cup of agony and humiliation.She is conscious of her confinement but expresses her optimism that this "temporary" phase will pass out and women will win their emancipation one day from the merciless clutches of callous Ted Hughes.

I think Plath is saying that humans basically do want deep down to be humane and considerate to all living things even when nothing is forcing them to be. Unfortunately, this desire is too often overtaken by other factors like jealousy and greed, which people often find hard to control. (I didn't read anything about jealousy or greed in the poem; I was just elaborating a little.)

my lit teacher suggested that the "clean wood box" was the structure of a (possibly political)poem, that Plath was trying to write. She may have been having trouble fitting her ideas into a structured poem. The fear she was struggling with was the backlash that may occur due to this idea she was wanting to write about... but i feel the 'bees are thoughts' argument easier to understand and think about.

When she says:
`i am no source o f honey
So why should they turn on me`
I think she explains about her relation to her husband as he never bothered about her presence ans neglectd her.here she thinks of her self as a queen Bee who is now old and cannot lay eggs anymore and the bee collecter are throwing her out of her place and has snatched her place now they don't need her.it also represent her diverted mind about society who just take advatage of everybody and after it;s use they just dispose them....also her husband who just used her and made her the mother of two but after that for his pleasures he left her on her own....

in anyones opinion, how do u think plath creates a dramatic atmosphere in the arrivle of the bee box? which words and phrases do u think are particularly effective??

The Arrival of the Bee Box has a sense of schizophrenia to it. The din that she has to live with overnight, suggest that this sound is something that is constantly harrassing her, somethng inside her mind, which she cannot put a stop to. To me, she wishes to let the noises, probably, voices in her head out, but is afraid that it would lead to danger. She sounds like she is trying to talk herself into letting go and accepting the voices in her head despite the fact that she is aware that the 'bees' could very well come out and sting her. Again, I read a Plath poem that somehow tells me that this woman is aware that a part of her is perhaps mentally ill, but is uncertain wether this is a good or a bad thing. TI also gathered this theme from her poem Cut, in which she realizes that her reaction towards pain and suffering is not of norm as compared to those around her.

I might be totally off base, but when i read the poem i immediatly thought of her miscarriage. I thought if the bees were metaphorical they were the idea of children. Because her father was a beekeeper, i didn't necessarily think of her suicide, i thought of family. I thought she felt she'd be inadequate as a mother, but would want children for the mere fact of shaping them or letting them loose, whichever she intended to do. But i do think the other comments are logical too

I think when Plath says "it is dark dark" she is refering to her inner thoughts, what she can really see is her on life due to her depression