...we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
Sylvia PlathRead
I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No, it was the poetry.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses an intense emotional reaction to poetry, likening it to a supernatural experience.
Sylvia Plath uses vivid imagery to describe the powerful effect poetry has on her, conveying the idea that it can elicit deep, almost ghostly sensations. The gooseflesh, typically associated with coldness or fear, here arises from the beauty and impact of the poetic experience, illustrating that poetry stirs profound emotions within us.
Themes
PoetryEmotionBeautyExperienceExpression
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a poetry reading to express the deep feelings poetry can evoke.
More from Sylvia Plath
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