The Full Text of “Cut”
The Full Text of “Cut”
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“Cut” Introduction
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“Cut” Summary
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“Cut” Themes
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Shock, Trauma, and Separation
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-28
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Self-Harm and Self-Hatred
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-40
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Cut”
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Lines 1-2
What a thrill— ...
... of an onion. -
Lines 3-8
The top quite ...
... that red plush. -
Lines 9-13
Little pilgrim, ...
... from the heart. -
Lines 14-17
I step on ...
... celebration, this is. -
Lines 18-21
Out of a ...
... are they on? -
Lines 22-26
O my ...
... Papery feeling. -
Lines 27-32
Saboteur, ...
... tarnishes and when -
Lines 33-37
The balled ...
... How you jump— -
Lines 38-40
Trepanned veteran, ...
... Thumb stump.
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“Cut” Symbols
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The Speaker's Thumb
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 2-16
- Lines 18-20
- Lines 22-23
- Lines 27-40
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“Cut” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 3-8: “The top quite gone / Except for a sort of hinge / Of skin, / A flap like a hat, / Dead white. / Then that red plush.”
- Lines 9-16: “Little pilgrim, / The Indian's axed your scalp. / Your turkey wattle / Carpet rolls / Straight from the heart. / I step on it, / Clutching my bottle / Of pink fizz.”
- Lines 18-20: “Out of a gap / A million soldiers run, / Redcoats, every one.”
- Lines 25-26: “The thin / Papery feeling.”
- Lines 29-34: “The stain on your / Gauze Ku Klux Klan / Babushka / Darkens and tarnishes and when / The balled / Pulp of your heart”
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Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 6: “A flap like a hat,”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 9-16: “Little pilgrim, / The Indian's axed your scalp. / Your turkey wattle / Carpet rolls / Straight from the heart. / I step on it, / Clutching my bottle / Of pink fizz.”
- Lines 18-20: “Out of a gap / A million soldiers run, / Redcoats, every one.”
- Lines 27-31: “Saboteur, / Kamikaze man— / The stain on your / Gauze Ku Klux Klan / Babushka”
- Lines 33-36: “The balled / Pulp of your heart / Confronts its small / Mill of silence”
- Line 38: “Trepanned veteran,”
- Line 40: “Thumb stump.”
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Irony
Where irony appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “What a thrill— / My thumb instead of an onion.”
- Line 17: “A celebration, this is.”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 2: “thumb,” “onion”
- Line 3: “top,” “gone”
- Line 4: “hinge”
- Line 5: “skin”
- Line 6: “flap,” “hat”
- Line 7: “Dead”
- Line 8: “red”
- Line 9: “Little,” “pilgrim”
- Line 16: “pink,” “fizz”
- Line 17: “this,” “is”
- Line 19: “run”
- Line 20: “one”
- Line 23: “ill”
- Line 24: “pill,” “kill”
- Line 25: “thin”
- Line 28: “man”
- Line 30: “Klan”
- Line 32: “Darkens,” “tarnishes”
- Line 33: “balled”
- Line 35: “small”
- Line 37: “jump”
- Line 38: “Trepanned,” “veteran”
- Line 39: “Dirty,” “girl”
- Line 40: “Thumb,” “stump”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “thrill”
- Line 2: “thumb,” “instead,” “an onion”
- Line 3: “gone”
- Line 4: “hinge”
- Line 5: “skin”
- Line 8: “plush”
- Line 9: “Little pilgrim”
- Line 10: “axed,” “scalp”
- Lines 11-12: “turkey wattle / Carpet rolls”
- Line 13: “Straight,” “heart”
- Line 14: “step”
- Line 15: “Clutching”
- Line 16: “pink fizz”
- Line 17: “celebration, this is”
- Lines 19-20: “soldiers run, / Redcoats, every one”
- Lines 22-23: “my / Homunculus”
- Line 23: “am ill”
- Line 24: “pill,” “kill”
- Line 28: “Kamikaze man”
- Line 29: “stain”
- Lines 30-32: “Ku Klux Klan / Babushka / Darkens”
- Line 32: “tarnishes”
- Lines 33-34: “balled / Pulp”
- Lines 35-36: “Confronts its small / Mill”
- Line 36: “silence”
- Line 37: “jump”
- Line 38: “Trepanned veteran”
- Line 39: “Dirty girl”
- Line 40: “Thumb stump”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 3-4: “gone / Except”
- Lines 4-5: “hinge / Of”
- Lines 11-12: “wattle / Carpet”
- Lines 12-13: “rolls / Straight”
- Lines 15-16: “bottle / Of”
- Lines 18-19: “gap / A”
- Lines 22-23: “my / Homunculus”
- Lines 24-25: “kill / The”
- Lines 25-26: “thin / Papery”
- Lines 29-30: “your / Gauze”
- Lines 30-32: “Klan / Babushka / Darkens”
- Lines 32-33: “when / The”
- Lines 33-34: “balled / Pulp”
- Lines 34-35: “heart / Confronts”
- Lines 35-36: “small / Mill”
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“Cut” 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.
- Hinge
- Plush
- Turkey wattle
- Bottle of pink fizz
- Redcoats
- Homunculus
- Saboteur
- Kamikaze man
- Gauze
- Ku Klux Klan
- Tarnishes
- Babushka
- Pulp
- Mill
- Trepanned
- Veteran
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(Location in poem: Lines 4-5: “Except for a sort of hinge / Of skin”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Cut”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Cut” Speaker
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“Cut” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Cut”
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More “Cut” Resources
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External Resources
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A Recording of the Poem — Listen to a recording of Plath reading "Cut."
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A Look at the Poet's Life — A biography of Plath, and additional poems, from the Poetry Foundation.
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Two Versions of Plath's Ariel — A 2004 Slate article discussing the controversy surrounding the ordering and re-ordering of Plath's Ariel manuscript, in which "Cut" was first published.
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An Introduction to Confessional Poetry — The Poetry Foundation breaks down what made confessional poetry—the mode Plath's work is most often grouped with—so fresh and compelling.
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The Poet's Process and Influences — A 1962 interview with the BBC in which Plath talks about what interests her as a poet.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
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