The Speaker

“Sylvia’s Death” is an overtly autobiographical poem, so the speaker is an avatar for the poet Anne Sexton. The speaker has a complicated relationship with both Sylvia and death, with love and resentment coming through in different moments of the poem. They feel a certain possessiveness over both death as an ideal and Sylvia herself, expressing dissatisfaction with Sylvia’s absence as she cares for her family. When Sylvia gives herself over to death alone, the speaker feels excluded and reacts with anger, followed by nostalgia for the time and philosophy they once shared.

Sylvia Plath

The poem is subtitled “For Sylvia Plath,” drawing a clear autobiographical connection between the Sylvia of the poem and Anne Sexton’s contemporary, rival, and friend. Here, Sylvia is not present but her memory and influence is clearly felt by the speaker. She is portrayed as a lost woman struggling...