Jul 2013
A black force erupted into your sight;
male, small and wet, it would be the last.
The candlestick kid at five to midnight.
Nurse came around nine, you felt some delight,
ready to relive the pain from the past:
a black force erupted into your sight.
Time dribbled by and then with all your might
cried for the child to arrive and fast:
the candlestick kid at five to midnight.
Years before, a thought, ‘Will mine be alright?’
Like Christmas Eve, a present in the post:
a black force erupted into your sight.
No wave of love upon him in the light,
what you wanted now here, but at what cost?
The candlestick kid at five to midnight.
Come morning the daughter, intrigued and bright
meets your son, awake after his first rest.
A black force erupted into your sight,
the candlestick kid at five to midnight.
male, small and wet, it would be the last.
The candlestick kid at five to midnight.
Nurse came around nine, you felt some delight,
ready to relive the pain from the past:
a black force erupted into your sight.
Time dribbled by and then with all your might
cried for the child to arrive and fast:
the candlestick kid at five to midnight.
Years before, a thought, ‘Will mine be alright?’
Like Christmas Eve, a present in the post:
a black force erupted into your sight.
No wave of love upon him in the light,
what you wanted now here, but at what cost?
The candlestick kid at five to midnight.
Come morning the daughter, intrigued and bright
meets your son, awake after his first rest.
A black force erupted into your sight,
the candlestick kid at five to midnight.
Written: July 2013 and January 2014.
Explanation: A villanelle poem written in my own time, and another one for consideration into my third year dissertation for university regarding Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes (and as such, likely to be edited a lot in the near future.) On Wednesday 17th January 1962, at home, SP gave birth to her second child and only son, Nicholas Farrar Hughes. The scene is described at length in her collected journals. Nicholas was referred to in Plath's poem 'Nick and the Candlestick' and also in Hughes's poem 'Life After Death.' Nicholas went on to become a successful fisheries biologist, but sadly took his own life in March of 2009 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Many critics have noted how his life was defined not primarily by his career achievements, but by the lives of his literary parents.
Explanation: A villanelle poem written in my own time, and another one for consideration into my third year dissertation for university regarding Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes (and as such, likely to be edited a lot in the near future.) On Wednesday 17th January 1962, at home, SP gave birth to her second child and only son, Nicholas Farrar Hughes. The scene is described at length in her collected journals. Nicholas was referred to in Plath's poem 'Nick and the Candlestick' and also in Hughes's poem 'Life After Death.' Nicholas went on to become a successful fisheries biologist, but sadly took his own life in March of 2009 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Many critics have noted how his life was defined not primarily by his career achievements, but by the lives of his literary parents.
