"The Moon and the Yew Tree" was written by the American poet Sylvia Plath in October 1961. Like much of Plath's writing, this is a deeply ambiguous poem that has been interpreted in a number of different ways. Most clearly, it expresses a disillusionment with religion (and more specifically the Catholic church), a deep and overwhelming sense of despair, and an ambivalent attitude towards the traditional expectations of motherhood and femininity. Many readings of the poem also draw on Plath's own difficult relationship with her parents, treating the moon and the yew tree as direct symbols of Aurelia and Otto Plath. That said, the poem benefits from not being confined to a purely autobiographical interpretation.

• Read the full text of “The Moon and the Yew Tree”

• “The Moon and the Yew Tree” Summary

• “The Moon and the Yew Tree” Themes

  • 

    Religion, Nature, and Death

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-28
  • 

    The Nature of Despair

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3
    • Lines 5-7
    • Lines 8-11
    • Lines 15-18
    • Line 22
    • Lines 27-28
  • 

    Motherhood and Femininity

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-11
    • Lines 16-21
    • Lines 22-23
    • Line 27

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Moon and the Yew Tree”

  • Lines 1-4

    This is the ...
    ... of their humility.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-7

    Fumy, spiritous mists ...
    ... to get to.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-11

    The moon is ...
    ... I live here.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-14

    Twice on Sunday, ...
    ... out their names.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 15-18

    The yew tree ...
    ... bats and owls.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-21

    How I would ...
    ... its mild eyes.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 22-26

    I have fallen ...
    ... stiff with holiness.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 27-28

    The moon sees ...
    ... — blackness and silence.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Moon and the Yew Tree” Symbols

  • 

    Blue

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “blue”
    • Line 18: “blue”
    • Line 23: “Blue”
    • Line 24: “blue”
  • 

    The Moon

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-11: “The moon is no door. It is a face in its own right, / White as a knuckle and terribly upset. / It drags the sea after it like a dark crime; it is quiet / With the O-gape of complete despair.”
    • Lines 16-18: “The eyes lift after it and find the moon. / The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary. / Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls.”
    • Line 27: “The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.”
  • 

    The Yew Tree

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “Fumy, spiritous mists inhabit this place / Separated from my house by a row of headstones.”
    • Line 15: “The yew tree points up. It has a Gothic shape.”
    • Line 28: “And the message of the yew tree is blackness — blackness and silence.”
  • 

    Mary

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 17: “Mary”
    • Lines 19-21: “tenderness —— / The face of the effigy, gentled by candles, / Bending, on me in particular, its mild eyes.”
    • Lines 24-26: “Inside the church, the saints will all be blue, / Floating on their delicate feet over the cold pews, / Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.”

• “The Moon and the Yew Tree” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “This is the light of the mind”
    • Line 12: “Twice on Sunday, the bells”
    • Line 13: “the Resurrection”
    • Line 17: “Mary”
    • Line 18: “blue garments”
    • Line 20: “the effigy”
    • Line 24: “Inside the church, the saints will all be blue,”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Line 2
    • Line 3
    • Line 4
    • Line 5
    • Line 6
    • Lines 8-9
    • Lines 10-11
    • Lines 12-13
    • Line 14
    • Lines 15-16
    • Line 18
    • Lines 20-21
    • Lines 22-26
    • Line 27
    • Line 28

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “The grasses unload their griefs on my feet as if I were God”
    • Line 10: “It drags the sea after it like a dark crime”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 3-4
    • Line 5
    • Lines 8-9
    • Line 10
    • Lines 10-11
    • Lines 12-14
    • Lines 17-18
    • Lines 22-23
    • Lines 24-27

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “spiritous,” “mists,” “this,” “place”
    • Line 6: “Separated,” “house,” “headstones”
    • Line 7: “simply,” “see”
    • Line 12: “Twice,” “Sunday,” “startle,” “sky”
    • Line 23: “mystical,” “face,” “stars”
    • Line 24: “Inside,” “saints”
    • Line 26: “faces,” “stiff,” “holiness”
    • Line 27: “sees,” “this”
    • Line 28: “message,” “blackness,” “blackness,” “silence”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “light,” “mind”
    • Line 3: “griefs,” “feet”
    • Line 5: “spiritous,” “mists,” “inhabit,” “this”
    • Line 8: “right”
    • Line 9: “White”
    • Line 13: “Eight,” “great”
    • Line 18: “blue,” “unloose”
    • Line 20: “effigy,” “gentled”
    • Line 21: “Bending,” “mild eyes”
    • Line 22: “fallen,” “long,” “Clouds,” “flowering”
    • Line 24: “blue”
    • Line 25: “pews”
    • Line 26: “stiff with”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “light,” “cold,” “planetary”
    • Line 2: “black,” “light,” “blue”
    • Line 3: “grasses,” “griefs,” “God”
    • Line 4: “Prickling,” “ankles,” “murmuring,” “humility”
    • Line 5: “Fumy,” “spiritous,” “mists,” “this,” “place”
    • Line 6: “Separated,” “my,” “house,” “headstones”
    • Line 7: “simply,” “see”
    • Line 8: “It,” “its,” “right”
    • Line 9: “White,” “knuckle,” “terribly,” “upset”
    • Line 10: “It,” “after,” “dark,” “crime,” “it,” “quiet”
    • Line 11: “complete”
    • Line 12: “Twice,” “Sunday,” “bells,” “startle,” “sky”
    • Line 13: “Eight,” “great,” “tongues”
    • Line 14: “soberly,” “bong”
    • Line 15: “points,” “up,” “shape”
    • Line 16: “lift,” “after,” “find”
    • Line 17: “moon,” “my,” “mother,” “Mary”
    • Line 18: “blue,” “garments,” “unloose,” “small,” “bats,” “owls”
    • Line 19: “believe,” “tenderness”
    • Line 20: “face,” “effigy,” “gentled,” “candles”
    • Line 21: “Bending,” “me,” “mild”
    • Line 22: “fallen,” “long,” “Clouds,” “flowering”
    • Line 23: “Blue,” “mystical,” “face,” “stars”
    • Line 24: “Inside,” “saints,” “will,” “all,” “be,” “blue”
    • Line 25: “Floating,” “delicate,” “feet,” “cold”
    • Line 26: “faces,” “stiff,” “holiness”
    • Line 27: “sees,” “this,” “bald,” “wild”
    • Line 28: “message,” “blackness,” “blackness,” “silence”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “black,” “blue”
    • Line 3: “grasses,” “griefs,” “God”
    • Line 5: “spiritous”
    • Line 6: “Separated,” “house,” “headstones”
    • Line 7: “simply,” “see”
    • Line 10: “crime,” “quiet”
    • Line 11: “complete”
    • Line 12: “Sunday,” “startle,” “sky”
    • Line 16: “moon”
    • Line 17: “moon,” “my,” “mother,” “Mary”
    • Line 21: “me,” “mild”
    • Line 22: “fallen,” “flowering”
    • Line 23: “face”
    • Line 24: “be,” “blue”
    • Line 25: “Floating,” “feet”
    • Line 26: “faces”
    • Line 27: “bald”
    • Line 28: “blackness,” “blackness”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “light,” “of the mind”
    • Line 2: “of the mind,” “light”
    • Line 16: “the moon”
    • Line 17: “The moon”
    • Line 28: “blackness,” “blackness”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “The grasses unload their griefs on my feet as if I were God, / Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility.”
    • Lines 8-11: “It is a face in its own right, / White as a knuckle and terribly upset. / It drags the sea after it like a dark crime; it is quiet / With the O-gape of complete despair.”
    • Lines 12-14: “the bells startle the sky —— / Eight great tongues affirming the Resurrection. / At the end, they soberly bong out their names.”
    • Line 15: “The yew tree points up.”
    • Lines 17-18: “The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary. / Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls.”
    • Line 27: “The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “place / Separated”
    • Lines 10-11: “quiet / With”
    • Lines 22-23: “flowering / Blue”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “planetary.”
    • Line 2: “blue.”
    • Line 3: “God,”
    • Line 4: “humility.”
    • Line 6: “headstones.”
    • Line 7: “to.”
    • Line 8: “right,”
    • Line 9: “upset.”
    • Line 11: “here.”
    • Line 12: “sky ——”
    • Line 13: “Resurrection.”
    • Line 14: “names.”
    • Line 15: “shape.”
    • Line 16: “moon.”
    • Line 17: “Mary.”
    • Line 18: “owls.”
    • Line 19: “tenderness ——”
    • Line 20: “candles,”
    • Line 21: “eyes.”
    • Line 23: “stars.”
    • Line 24: “blue,”
    • Line 25: “pews,”
    • Line 26: “holiness.”
    • Line 27: “wild.”
    • Line 28: “silence.”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “mind, cold”
    • Line 2: “black. The”
    • Line 5: “Fumy, spiritous”
    • Line 8: “door. It”
    • Line 10: “crime; it”
    • Line 11: “despair. I”
    • Line 12: “Sunday, the”
    • Line 14: “end, they”
    • Line 15: “up. It”
    • Line 17: “mother. She”
    • Line 20: “effigy, gentled”
    • Line 21: “particular, its”
    • Line 22: “way. Clouds”
    • Line 24: “church, the”
    • Line 27: “this. She”
    • Line 28: “blackness — blackness”

• “The Moon and the Yew Tree” 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.

  • Planetary
  • Humility
  • Fumy
  • Spiritous
  • Headstones
  • O-gape
  • The Resurrection
  • Bong
  • Yew tree
  • Gothic
  • Mary
  • Effigy
  • Mystical
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “planetary.”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Moon and the Yew Tree”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Moon and the Yew Tree” Speaker

• “The Moon and the Yew Tree” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Moon and the Yew Tree”

• More “The Moon and the Yew Tree” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poetry of Sylvia Plath — A short video introduction to Sylvia Plath's work by author John Green via CrashCourse. 

    • Poetry and Feminism — A map of resources for tracing the evolution of feminism through poetry. 

    • ASL Translation of "The Moon and the Yew Tree" — The poem translated into American Sign Language by Crom Saunders.

    • Beneath the Yew Tree's Shade — A little background on the significance of yew trees in the form of an excerpt from a book by Thomas Lacquer.

    • A Reading of the Poem — A reading of "The Moon and the Yew Tree" produced by the BBC, originally broadcast in September 1962 as part of their New Poetry series. 

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath

    • Ariel

    • 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 Munich Mannequins

    • The Night Dances

    • Tulips

    • Words

    • You're

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