Sylvia Plath's "Ariel" was first published posthumously in a 1965 collection of the same title, which Plath had completed not long before her death in February 1963. In this free verse poem, a speaker sheds her inner burdens on a morning horseback ride, becoming one with the natural force she feels in her horse and the landscape. The speaker's liberating but dangerous ride has often been read as a metaphor for writing, female empowerment, and/or psychological instability—all subjects Plath understood intimately.

• Read the full text of “Ariel”

• “Ariel” Summary

• “Ariel” Themes

  • 

    Liberation and Transcendence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-31

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Ariel”

  • Lines 1-3

    Stasis in darkness. ...
    ... tor and distances.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-6

    God’s lioness, ...
    ... heels and knees!—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-9

    The furrow ...
    ... I cannot catch,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-14

    Nigger-eye ...
    ... Shadows.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 15-18

    Something else ...
    ... from my heels.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-21

    White ...
    ... hands, dead stringencies.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 22-25

    And now I ...
    ... in the wall.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 26-31

    And I ...
    ... cauldron of morning.

    

    

    

    

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• “Ariel” Symbols

  • 

    The Horse

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “God’s lioness”
    • Line 5: “How one we grow,”
    • Lines 8-9: “The brown arc / Of the neck”
  • 

    Darkness and Light

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Stasis in darkness.”
    • Lines 10-14: “Nigger-eye / Berries cast dark / Hooks— / Black sweet blood mouthfuls, / Shadows”
    • Lines 19-20: “White / Godiva”
    • Lines 30-31: “the red / Eye, the cauldron of morning”

• “Ariel” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “God’s lioness”
    • Lines 19-20: “White / Godiva, I unpeel—”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “Pour,” “tor”
    • Line 6: “heels,” “knees”
    • Line 7: “Splits,” “sister”
    • Line 9: “cannot,” “catch”
    • Line 13: “Black”
    • Line 14: “Shadows”
    • Line 19: “White”
    • Line 20: “Godiva,” “I”
    • Line 22: “I”
    • Line 23: “wheat,” “seas”
    • Line 24: “child’s,” “cry”
    • Line 26: “I”
    • Line 28: “dew,” “flies”
    • Line 29: “Suicidal,” “drive”
    • Line 31: “Eye”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “How one we grow, / Pivot of heels and knees!”
    • Lines 9-11: “I cannot catch, / Nigger-eye / Berries”
    • Lines 13-14: “blood mouthfuls, / Shadows”
    • Lines 17-18: “Thighs, hair; / Flakes”
    • Line 21: “Dead hands, dead stringencies”
    • Line 23: “Foam to wheat, a glitter of seas”
    • Lines 27-28: “the arrow, / The dew”
    • Lines 30-31: “the red / Eye, the cauldron”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “substanceless,” “blue”
    • Line 5: “How,” “we,” “grow”
    • Line 7: “Splits,” “passes,” “sister”
    • Line 8: “arc”
    • Line 9: “neck,” “cannot,” “catch”
    • Line 10: “Nigger-eye”
    • Line 11: “Berries,” “cast,” “dark”
    • Line 12: “Hooks”
    • Line 13: “Black,” “blood”
    • Line 14: “Shadows”
    • Line 16: “Hauls”
    • Line 18: “Flakes,” “heels”
    • Line 21: “Dead,” “hands,” “dead”
    • Line 23: “wheat,” “glitter”
    • Line 25: “Melts,” “wall”
    • Line 29: “drive”
    • Line 30: “red”
    • Line 31: “cauldron,” “morning”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “darkness.”
    • Line 3: “distances.”
    • Line 4: “lioness,”
    • Line 5: “grow,”
    • Line 9: “catch,”
    • Line 12: “Hooks—”
    • Line 13: “mouthfuls,”
    • Line 14: “Shadows.”
    • Line 16: “air—”
    • Line 17: “hair;”
    • Line 18: “heels.”
    • Line 20: “unpeel—”
    • Line 21: “stringencies.”
    • Line 23: “seas.”
    • Line 25: “wall.”
    • Line 27: “arrow,”
    • Line 31: “morning.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “blue / Pour”
    • Lines 6-7: “furrow / Splits”
    • Lines 7-8: “to / The”
    • Lines 8-9: “arc / Of”
    • Lines 10-11: “Nigger-eye / Berries”
    • Lines 11-12: “dark / Hooks”
    • Lines 15-16: “else / Hauls”
    • Lines 19-20: “White / Godiva”
    • Lines 22-23: “I / Foam”
    • Lines 24-25: “cry / Melts”
    • Lines 26-27: “I / Am”
    • Lines 28-29: “flies / Suicidal”
    • Lines 29-30: “drive / Into”
    • Lines 30-31: “red / Eye”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3
    • Line 6
    • Lines 6-9
    • Lines 10-14
    • Lines 17-18
    • Lines 20-21
    • Lines 22-23
    • Lines 24-25
    • Lines 27-28
    • Lines 29-31

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “the substanceless blue / Pour of tor and distances”
    • Line 4: “God’s lioness”
    • Line 5: “one we grow”
    • Lines 7-8: “sister to / The brown arc”
    • Lines 10-14: “Nigger-eye / Berries cast dark / Hooks— / Black sweet blood mouthfuls, / Shadows.”
    • Lines 19-21: “White / Godiva, I unpeel— / Dead hands, dead stringencies”
    • Lines 22-23: “I / Foam to wheat, a glitter of seas”
    • Lines 24-25: “The child’s cry / Melts in the wall”
    • Lines 26-29: “I / Am the arrow, / The dew that flies / Suicidal”
    • Lines 29-31: “the drive / Into the red / Eye, the cauldron of morning”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “dark”
    • Line 5: “one”
    • Line 6: “heels”
    • Line 10: “eye”
    • Line 11: “dark”
    • Line 18: “heels”
    • Line 21: “Dead,” “dead”
    • Line 29: “one”
    • Line 31: “Eye”

• “Ariel” 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.

  • Stasis
  • Substanceless
  • Tor
  • Furrow
  • Nigger-eye
  • Godiva
  • Unpeel
  • Stringencies
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Stasis in darkness.”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Ariel”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Ariel” Speaker

• “Ariel” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Ariel”

• More “Ariel” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Life and Legend of Lady Godiva — Learn more about Lady Godiva, whose mythology "Ariel" references.

    • Sylvia Plath Reads "Ariel" — Listen to the author read the poem aloud.

    • The Life (and Afterlives) of Sylvia Plath — Read a detailed overview of the Plath's life, including a discussion of her career and legacy.

    • Plath's Manuscript — Take a look at Plath's manuscript of "Ariel," which she gave to her friend and editor Al Alvarez.

    • Plath On Air — Listen to a 1962 interview with the author from the British Council.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath

    • Cut

    • Daddy

    • Edge

    • Fever 103°

    • 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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