Talk:Lady Lazarus

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 27 August 2021 and 18 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Foucauldienspirit. Peer reviewers: Applesandbanana, JustBort.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 02:06, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Poem Copy-write
I'm going to go ahead and delete the poem as it is still copy-written and being posted here technically, illegally. You can post parts of it You can post up to one fourth of it at a time(according to some "fair use" doctrine) and discuss those parts as they connect to the rest of the poem, but you cannot post the entire thing.Ink Falls (talk) 02:02, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Addition Lines
Should this article include mention of the additional stanza and line included in the recording of her reading it? Aamackie 22:21, 7 November 2007 (UTC) Yes that would be a great idea169.231.109.41 (talk) 20:02, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Suicide Attempts?
Something that has been gnawing at me is the fact that this page says that the poem talks about her suicide attempts. This is not true for three reasons. First of all, the title suggests resurrection, not suicide. Second of all, her "talking about her suicide attempts" is really talking about her poetry. "The first time it happened I was ten" suggests that she accidentally discovered the art of poetry at ten - and she liked it. "The second time I meant to last it out and not come back at all." followed by "I rocked shut" means that the second time she tried poetry, she tried to simply block it out, but couldn't because it was so addictive. Third of all, the line "Dying is an art, like everything else" means that if anyone judges her wrongly, he or she is scapegoating. This is also an allusion to Nazi Germany and the concentration camps, since she was a Jew. This poem truly categorizes her as an unbreakable woman, not a suicidal woman. If you want to read the whole thing, go here: http://www.palace.net/~llama/poetry/ladylaz

Maclover100 (talk) 02:36, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for changing the article, Chris! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.253.237.40 (talk) 22:29, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

SYLVIA PLATH WAS NOT JEWISH!! her father was german, possibly involved with the Nazi party and she bore resentments towards him for this, it's referenced in many of her other poems. who is writing this nonsense? the poem is clearly about suicide, she famously tried to commit suicide in her early 20s. if you want to make your own inane analyses of this poem, take a high school english class. can someone revise this correctly? i might later...

Sarahtonin (talk) 00:12, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

This is all debatable. There is no clear way to know what, if anything, the author was describing. Be it sex, poetry, suicide attempts, doctors, dental visits, we may never know. The only consistent theme is Rebirth. Given the title and references to Flaming birds/red hair/ashes whathaveyou. Just post sources and we'll be good to go, then anyone can interpret away, educated in highschool or not. Bad grammar or no. Here's one, can I get another? http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/sylviaplath/1404# 152.121.19.61 (talk) 13:21, 12 October 2009 (UTC)-Idonthaveanaccount 0519/12OCT09


 * This is in no ways debatable as every critic acknowledges it references her suicide attempt. That's not interpreting the poem at all though, interpretation asks why she is referencing her suicide, not if she is referencing them(which she certainly is). and that link of yours is not valid for Wikipedia, it features just random posters posting what they think Lady Lazarus is about and is in no ways academic or even legitimate.

Ink Falls (talk) 01:59, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Date + Intro
This is a suicide poem! She killed herself two months after she wrote it. This poem is full of cynicism and detachment. Get a grip! I've been an English teacher for 12 years. This IS a suicide poem.

the date written is: 23-29 October 1962

"In a reading prepared for BBC radio, SP introduced this poem: 'The speaker is a woman who has the great and terrible gift of being reborn. The only trouble is, she has to die first. She is the Phoenix, the libertarian spirit, what you will. She is also just a good, plain, very resourceful woman.'" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Svcroller (talk • contribs) 02:00, 23 February 2008 (UTC)