The Full Text of “Edge”
The Full Text of “Edge”
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“Edge” Introduction
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“Edge” Summary
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“Edge” Themes
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Death and Suicide
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-20
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The Trials of Womanhood and Motherhood
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-20
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Edge”
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Lines 1-3
The woman is ...
... smile of accomplishment, -
Lines 4-5
The illusion of ...
... of her toga, -
Lines 6-8
Her bare ...
... it is over. -
Lines 9-11
Each dead child ...
... milk, now empty. -
Lines 12-16
She has folded ...
... the night flower. -
Lines 17-20
The moon has ...
... crackle and drag.
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“Edge” Symbols
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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.”
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“Edge” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Metaphor
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.”
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Assonance
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”
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Personification
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.”
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Enjambment
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”
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Allusion
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.”
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“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
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “The woman is perfected.”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Edge”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Edge” Speaker
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“Edge” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Edge”
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More “Edge” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of "Edge."
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Plath's Final Letters — A portrait of Plath's final years as revealed through her letters. (CW: abuse, suicide.)
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Plath's Life and Work — Read a biography of the poet at the Poetry Foundation.
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The Confessional Poets — An introduction to the "Confessonal" movement with which critics have often linked Plath's work.
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An Interview with Plath — Listen to a 1962 interview with the poet.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
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