"Edge" is thought to be the final poem Sylvia Plath ever wrote. Dated February 5, 1963, six days before her death, "Edge" has been read by many critics (though not all) as a reflection of her despair and suicidal thoughts. It depicts an eerie scene in which a mother and her two children lie dead beneath a staring, indifferent moon. Though the speaker claims the deaths are "nothing to be sad about"—from the moon's perspective, at least—the poem's hints of exhaustion, depression, and family conflict lend it a disturbing, tragic atmosphere. "Edge" was first collected in Plath's posthumous volume Ariel (1965).

• Read the full text of “Edge”

• “Edge” Summary

• “Edge” Themes

  • 

    Death and Suicide

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20
  • 

    The Trials of Womanhood and Motherhood

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20

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

  • Lines 1-3

    The woman is ...
    ... smile of accomplishment,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-5

    The illusion of ...
    ... of her toga,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-8

    Her bare ...
    ... it is over.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-11

    Each dead child ...
    ... milk, now empty.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-16

    She has folded ...
    ... the night flower.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    The moon has ...
    ... crackle and drag.

    

    

    

    

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• “Edge” Symbols

  • 

    The Moon

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 17-20: “The moon has nothing to be sad about, / Staring from her hood of bone. / She is used to this sort of thing. / Her blacks crackle and drag.”

• “Edge” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “Her dead / Body wears the smile of accomplishment,”
    • Lines 4-5: “The illusion of a Greek necessity / Flows in the scrolls of her toga,”
    • Lines 9-11: “Each dead child coiled, a white serpent, / One at each little / Pitcher of milk, now empty.”
    • Lines 12-13: “She has folded / Them back into her body”
    • Lines 18-20: “Staring from her hood of bone. / She is used to this sort of thing. / Her blacks crackle and drag.”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “perfected”
    • Line 2: “dead”
    • Line 5: “Flows,” “scrolls,” “toga”
    • Line 7: “Feet seem,” “be”
    • Line 10: “little”
    • Line 11: “Pitcher,” “milk”
    • Line 14: “rose close”
    • Line 15: “odors,” “bleed”
    • Line 16: “sweet,” “deep,” “throats”
    • Line 20: “blacks crackle,” “drag”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-8: “Her bare / Feet seem to be saying: / We have come so far, it is over.”
    • Lines 17-20: “The moon has nothing to be sad about, / Staring from her hood of bone. / She is used to this sort of thing. / Her blacks crackle and drag.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “dead / Body”
    • Lines 4-5: “necessity / Flows”
    • Lines 6-7: “bare / Feet”
    • Lines 10-11: “little / Pitcher”
    • Lines 12-13: “folded / Them”
    • Lines 13-14: “petals / Of”
    • Lines 14-15: “garden / Stiffens”
    • Lines 15-16: “bleed / From”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “The illusion of a Greek necessity / Flows in the scrolls of her toga,”
    • Lines 9-11: “Each dead child coiled, a white serpent, / One at each little / Pitcher of milk, now empty.”
    • Lines 17-20: “The moon has nothing to be sad about, / Staring from her hood of bone. / She is used to this sort of thing. / Her blacks crackle and drag.”

• “Edge” 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.

  • Perfected
  • Greek necessity
  • Toga
  • Scrolls
  • Serpent
  • Stiffens
  • Her blacks
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “The woman is perfected.”)

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

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Edge” Speaker

• “Edge” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Edge”

• More “Edge” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of "Edge."

    • Plath's Final Letters — A portrait of Plath's final years as revealed through her letters. (CW: abuse, suicide.)

    • Plath's Life and Work — Read a biography of the poet at the Poetry Foundation.

    • The Confessional Poets — An introduction to the "Confessonal" movement with which critics have often linked Plath's work.

    • An Interview with Plath — Listen to a 1962 interview with the poet.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath

    • Ariel

    • Cut

    • Daddy

    • 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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