"Fever 103°" was first published in Sylvia Plath's posthumous collection Ariel (1965), although she wrote the poem in 1962. The combination of hellish and heavenly imagery reflects her state of mental anguish (she suffered all her life from clinical depression) and in a broadcast on the BBC she stated: "This poem is about two kinds of fire—the fires of hell, which merely agonize, and the fires of heaven, which purify. During the poem, the first sort of fire suffers itself into the second." It is a highly dynamic work, dramatizing a journey from suffering to paradise.

• Read the full text of “Fever 103°”

• “Fever 103°” Summary

• “Fever 103°” Themes

  • 

    Purity and Sin

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-7
    • Lines 14-15
    • Lines 15-22
    • Lines 25-27
    • Line 30
    • Lines 31-54
  • 

    Lust and Desire

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Line 7
    • Lines 11-13
    • Lines 23-27
    • Lines 28-30
    • Lines 34-54

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Fever 103°”

  • Lines 1-7

    Pure? What does ...
    ... sin, the sin.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-15

    The tinder cries. ...
    ... their own element.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 15-22

    They will not ...
    ... Devilish leopard!

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 23-27

    Radiation turned it ...
    ... sin. The sin.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 28-33

    Darling, all night ...
    ... make me retch.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 34-39

    I am too ...
    ... and infinitely expensive.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 40-45

    Does not my ...
    ... I love, I

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 46-50

    Am a pure ...
    ... pink things mean!

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 51-54

    Not you, nor ...
    ... To Paradise.

    

    

    

    

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• “Fever 103°” Symbols

  • 

    Fire

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “The tongues of hell”
    • Line 8: “The tinder cries.”
    • Lines 9-10: “The indelible smell / Of a snuffed candle!”
    • Line 29: “I have been flickering, off, on, off, on.”
    • Lines 36-38: “ I am a lantern—— / My head a moon / Of Japanese paper,”
    • Line 40: “Does not my heat astound you! And my light!”
    • Line 42: “Glowing and coming and going, flush on flush.”
    • Lines 45-47: “The beads of hot metal fly, and I love, I / Am a pure acetylene / Virgin”
  • 

    Virgin

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 46-47: “a pure acetylene / Virgin”
  • 

    Leopard

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 22: “Devilish leopard!”

• “Fever 103°” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Pure? What does it mean?”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-5: “dull as the triple / Tongues of dull, fat Cerberus / Who wheezes at the gate.”
    • Lines 11-13: “the low smokes roll / From me like Isadora’s scarves, I’m in a fright / One scarf will catch and anchor in the wheel,”
    • Line 26: “Like Hiroshima ash and eating in.”
    • Line 31: “Three days. Three nights.”
    • Line 47: “Virgin”
    • Line 49: “by cherubim,”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “The tongues of hell”
    • Lines 5-7: “Incapable / Of licking clean / The aguey tendon, the sin, the sin.”
    • Lines 8-12: “The tinder cries. / The indelible smell / Of a snuffed candle! / Love, love, the low smokes roll / From me”
    • Lines 12-13: “I’m in a fright / One scarf will catch and anchor in the wheel,”
    • Lines 15-25: “They will not rise, / But trundle round the globe / Choking the aged and the meek, / The weak / Hothouse baby in its crib, / The ghastly orchid / Hanging its hanging garden in the air, / Devilish leopard! / Radiation turned it white / And killed it in an hour. / Greasing the bodies of adulterers”
    • Line 29: “I have been flickering, off, on, off, on.”
    • Lines 36-39: “ I am a lantern—— / My head a moon / Of Japanese paper, my gold beaten skin / Infinitely delicate and infinitely expensive.”
    • Line 41: “All by myself I am a huge camellia”
    • Line 45: “The beads of hot metal fly,”
    • Lines 45-50: “I / Am a pure acetylene / Virgin / Attended by roses, / By kisses, by cherubim, / By whatever these pink things mean!”
    • Lines 53-54: “(My selves dissolving, old whore petticoats)—— / To Paradise.”

  • Epizeuxis

    

    

    

    

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    Where epizeuxis appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “dull, dull”
    • Line 7: “the sin, the sin.”
    • Line 11: “Love, love,”
    • Line 27: “The sin. The sin.”
    • Line 33: “Water, water ”
    • Lines 51-52: “nor him / Nor him, nor him”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “does,” “it”
    • Line 2: “tongues ”
    • Line 3: “dull, dull,” “triple”
    • Line 4: “Tongues ,” “dull”
    • Line 5: “wheezes ,” “gate. Incapable”
    • Line 6: “clean”
    • Line 7: “sin,” “sin”
    • Line 8: “tinder ”
    • Line 9: “indelible ,” “smell”
    • Line 10: “Of,” “snuffed ”
    • Line 11: “Love, love,” “ low smokes roll”
    • Line 12: “like,” “Isadora’s,” “in,” “fright”
    • Line 13: “catch ,” “anchor ”
    • Line 14: “Such ,” “sullen ”
    • Lines 16-17: “ globe / Choking”
    • Line 17: “meek”
    • Line 18: “weak”
    • Line 19: “ in its ,” “crib”
    • Line 20: “orchid”
    • Line 21: “Hanging,” “its,” “hanging ,” “in ”
    • Line 22: “Devilish ”
    • Line 23: “Radiation,” “it ”
    • Line 24: “killed it in”
    • Line 25: “Greasing ”
    • Line 26: “Hiroshima ,” “ash,” “and,” “eating ,” “in.”
    • Line 27: “sin,” “sin”
    • Line 30: “heavy ,” “lecher’s ”
    • Line 34: “too,” “pure,” “you”
    • Lines 38-39: “skin / Infinitely delicate”
    • Line 39: “infinitely expensive.”
    • Line 41: “by,” “ myself I”
    • Line 42: “Glowing ,” “going”
    • Line 43: “I ,” “think I ,” “going ”
    • Line 44: “I think I ,” “rise”
    • Line 45: “fly,” “ I ,” “ I”
    • Line 49: “kisses,” “cherubim”
    • Line 50: “these,” “pink ,” “things ,” “mean”
    • Line 51: “him”
    • Line 52: “him,” “him”
    • Line 53: “dissolving”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 43: “I think I”
    • Line 44: “I think I”
    • Line 49: “By,” “ by”
    • Line 50: “By ”

  • Diacope

    

    

    

    

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    Where diacope appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “dull ”
    • Line 4: “dull”
    • Line 21: “Hanging ,” “hanging ”
    • Line 29: “off, on, off, on.”
    • Line 31: “Three ,” “Three ”
    • Line 32: “water”
    • Line 33: “Water”
    • Line 36: “Hurts ,” “hurts ”
    • Line 39: “Infinitely ,” “infinitely ”
    • Line 42: “flush ,” “flush”
    • Line 45: “ I,” “ I”

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Line 11: “Love, love, ”
    • Line 28: “Darling”
    • Line 34: “you ”
    • Line 35: “Your body”
    • Line 40: “you”
    • Line 51: “Not you”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “hell / Are ”
    • Lines 3-4: “triple / Tongues”
    • Lines 4-5: “Cerberus / Who”
    • Lines 5-6: “Incapable / Of ”
    • Lines 9-10: “smell / Of ”
    • Lines 11-12: “ roll / From”
    • Lines 12-13: “ fright / One ”
    • Lines 14-15: “smokes / Make”
    • Lines 16-17: “globe / Choking”
    • Lines 18-19: “weak / Hothouse ”
    • Lines 20-21: “orchid / Hanging ”
    • Lines 23-24: “white / And ”
    • Lines 25-26: “adulterers / Like ”
    • Lines 28-29: “night / I”
    • Lines 32-33: “chicken / Water”
    • Lines 35-36: “body / Hurts ”
    • Lines 37-38: “moon / Of ”
    • Lines 38-39: “ skin / Infinitely”
    • Lines 41-42: “camellia / Glowing”
    • Lines 45-46: “I / Am ”
    • Line 46: “acetylene”
    • Lines 47-48: “Virgin / Attended”
    • Lines 51-52: “ him / Nor”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Pure? What ”
    • Line 3: “dull, dull ”
    • Line 4: “dull, fat ”
    • Line 5: “gate. Incapable”
    • Line 7: “tendon, the sin, the”
    • Line 11: “Love, love, the ”
    • Line 12: “scarves, I’m”
    • Line 15: “element. They”
    • Line 27: “ sin. The”
    • Line 28: “Darling, all”
    • Line 29: “ flickering, off, on, off, on”
    • Line 31: “ days. Three”
    • Lines 32-33: “water, chicken / Water, water ”
    • Line 36: “God. I ”
    • Line 38: “paper, my ”
    • Line 40: “you! And ”
    • Line 42: “going, flush”
    • Line 45: “fly, and,” “love, I”
    • Line 49: “kisses, by”
    • Line 51: “you, nor”
    • Line 52: “him, nor”
    • Line 53: “dissolving, old ”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “tongues ,” “hell”
    • Line 3: “dull,” “dull,” “triple”
    • Line 4: “Tongues ,” “dull,” “fat ”
    • Line 5: “at,” “gate,” “Incapable”
    • Line 6: “licking,” “clean”
    • Line 7: “tendon”
    • Line 8: “tinder ”
    • Line 9: “indelible smell”
    • Line 10: “candle”
    • Line 11: “Love, love,,” “low ,” “smokes,” “roll”
    • Line 12: “like,” “Isadora’s scarves,,” “fright”
    • Line 13: “scarf ,” “will,” “catch ,” “anchor ,” “wheel”
    • Line 14: “Such ,” “yellow,” “sullen smokes”
    • Line 15: “Make ,” “element,” “will”
    • Line 16: “trundle round,” “globe”
    • Line 17: “Choking ,” “meek”
    • Line 18: “weak”
    • Line 19: “Hothouse,” “crib”
    • Line 20: “ghastly orchid”
    • Line 21: “Hanging,” “hanging,” “garden”
    • Line 22: “Devilish ,” “leopard”
    • Line 23: “Radiation ,” “turned”
    • Line 24: “And ,” “killed ”
    • Line 25: “bodies ,” “adulterers”
    • Line 26: “Hiroshima ash ,” “in”
    • Line 27: “sin,” “sin”
    • Line 28: “night”
    • Line 29: “been,” “flickering, off,” “on,” “off,” “on”
    • Line 30: “sheets ,” “lecher’s,” “kiss”
    • Line 33: “make me”
    • Line 36: “Hurts ,” “hurts ”
    • Line 37: “head ”
    • Line 38: “beaten skin”
    • Line 39: “Infinitely,” “infinitely”
    • Line 41: “camellia”
    • Line 42: “Glowing ,” “coming ,” “going”
    • Line 43: “am ,” “going ”
    • Line 44: “may ”
    • Line 45: “metal ”
    • Line 50: “these ,” “things ”
    • Line 53: “selves dissolving,” “petticoats”
    • Line 54: “Paradise”

• “Fever 103°” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Pure
  • Tongues
  • Cerberus
  • Aguey
  • Tinder
  • Indelible
  • Isadora's Scarves
  • Element
  • Trundle
  • Meek
  • Hothouse
  • Ghastly
  • Orchid
  • Hiroshima
  • Lecher
  • Camellia
  • Flush
  • Acetylene
  • Cherubim
  • Petticoats
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Pure”; Line 34: “pure ”; Line 46: “pure ”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Fever 103°”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Fever 103°” Speaker

• “Fever 103°” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Fever 103°”

• More “Fever 103°” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Sylvia Plath's Life and Work — A detailed yet accessible introduction to Plath's life and career.

    • Reconstructing Plath's Original Vision for Ariel — Plath's own daughter discusses the controversy over Ted Hughes's version of Ariel, and how Plath's own version was reconstructed.

    • Sylvia Plath reading "Fever 103°" — Listen to the author read the poem for the BBC.

    • Interview with Plath and Hughes — A rare recorded interview with the two poets.

    • Carol Ann Duffy on Sylvia Plath — The UK's former poet laureate describes her relationship with Plath's work.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath

    • Ariel

    • Cut

    • Daddy

    • Edge

    • Kindness

    • Lady Lazarus

    • Mad Girl's Love Song

    • Metaphors

    • Mirror

    • Morning Song

    • Nick and the Candlestick

    • Poppies in July

    • Poppies in October

    • Sheep in Fog

    • Sow

    • The Applicant

    • The Arrival of the Bee Box

    • The Moon and the Yew Tree

    • The Munich Mannequins

    • The Night Dances

    • Tulips

    • Words

    • You're

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