“Balloons” By Sylvia Plath

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Balloons by Sylvia Plath
The poem, Balloons, by Sylvia Plath, has depth of meaning and is immersed in imagery. At the outset, the poem seems to simply describe balloons that were present in February since Christmas. However, there is much more to the poem than is indicated at the outset. Balloons represents a loss of innocence, as indicated in the last stanza. The loss of innocence can clearly be seen: the poet’s younger brother pops a balloon in his hand, showing that innocence can be lost in a fraction of a second. The mood of the poem is ironical, even a bit spiteful because it ends with the popping of the balloon. The tone is descriptive; Plath is describing the balloons nonchalantly. The purpose of the poem is to show that innocence can be retained for years, but lost in a second. The audience is composed of individuals who are introspective, and aware of the metaphors, personification, and ironies that Plath draws.
In the poem, Plath describes the balloons as “oval soul-animals” (stanza 1, line 3) which is a testament as to how she often perceives ordinary objects and aligns them with the extraordinary. In order to make the descriptions more understandable, Plath uses several elements, such as metaphors, imageries, and personification. The poem is divided into six stanzas of five lines each. A poem structured like this is said to be composed of quintets. It can also be inferred that Plath uses the uniformity of the quintets to allude to the uniformity of the balloons. Each balloon looks exactly like the other, except for color, which is a contrast to what Plath states, that they are “soul-animals” (stanza 1, line 3)
Personifying the balloons by referring them as animals was also supported by the next lines. Plath states that the balloons give “a shriek and pop when attacked, then scooting to rest” (stanza 2, lines 2-3). The behaviors that Plath confers on the balloons are undeniably ones that can be applied to animals. Animals behave the same way when attacked. Plath also refers to the balloons as “yellow cathead, blue fish” (stanza 2, line 4) implying more of their animal nature. In addition, Plath also states that the balloons are “invisible air drifts” (stanza 2, line 1) and then counters that by saying they shriek when attacked. It is clear that Plath is using irony in this case.
There is also a play on sound. For example, the use of the words Christmas, guiless, and animals repeats the same sound at the end of the different word. This gives the poem a good tone. White and delight are also examples of the sounds that were made in the poem.
Plath also uses stark imagery. In one stanza, she describes the balloons as being red and green, an allusion to Christmas. However, the balloons are still ‘alive’ in February as Plath states, two months after Christmas. The red balloon soon meets a dead fate in the hands of her younger brother. This can be interpreted as being in a state of liveliness for a long time, only to be lifeless in mere seconds. In addition, this can also be interpreted as being innocent for a long time, and then losing innocence much more quickly.
In contrast to her desc...