Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Whitsun" by Sylvia Plath opens with a tone of disillusionment: "This is not what I meant." It sets the stage for a meditation on expectation versus reality, capturing the gap between the imagined ideal and the disappointing actuality of a day by the sea. The poem, filled with vivid and often unsettling imagery, walks the reader through a landscape that is as much internal as it is external.

The title "Whitsun" refers to Whitsun Day, or Whit Sunday, which is celebrated in some Christian traditions as the day of the Holy Spirit's descent upon the apostles, also known as Pentecost. By naming the poem "Whitsun," Plath leverages the reader's preconceptions to add an additional layer of complexity and irony. She taps into the cultural and religious symbolism of a day of renewal to underscore the lack of any such rejuvenation in the emotional and physical landscape of the poem.

The stucco arches and "banked rocks sunning in rows" are likened to "bald eyes or petrified eggs," creating an impression of lifelessness. This eerie setting is compounded by the sight of adults "coffined in stockings and jackets," appearing almost like animated corpses. It is as if nature and humanity alike are drained of vitality, sipping the "thin / Air like a medicine."

The portrayal of the environment continues to disturb. A carousel horse "on his chromium pole" appears almost menacing as he "stares through us; his hooves chew the breeze." The eeriness persists, with crisp linen shirts bloating "like a spinnaker," and hat brims deflecting "the watery dazzle," all contributing to an unsettling atmosphere. In a setting where people should be enjoying their leisure time, the atmosphere is likened to a "hospital," thick with ennui and stagnation.

The sea, which traditionally represents freedom or adventure, is depicted in a way that also negates these romanticized ideas. The sea is "weed-mustachioed" and presents "its glaucous silks," but does so with an obsequious manner "like an old-school oriental." The sea doesn't offer escape or exhilaration; it too is entrapped in the prevailing mood of disappointment. The narrator notes, "You're no happier than I about it," cementing the shared dissatisfaction between the speaker and their companion.

Even when the opportunity for a change of scene arises, as "a policeman points out a vacant cliff," the atmosphere doesn't lighten. The cliff is "green as a pool table," a simile that sucks the natural beauty out of the landscape, reducing it to the artifice of a game. The "death-stench of a hawthorn" accompanies their picnic, a memento mori at what should be a pleasant meal. By the end of the poem, they are "sea-sick and fever-dry," physically uncomfortable in a landscape that refuses to provide relief or happiness.

In "Whitsun," Plath masterfully dissects the chasm between expectation and reality, not just in the surrounding world, but also in human emotions and relationships. The poem portrays a day of failed promise and mutual unhappiness, where even nature mirrors human discontent. It serves as a powerful critique of the ideals and expectations we impose on ourselves and the world around us, emphasizing the disillusionment that occurs when reality falls short.

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