The Sow by Sylvia Plath Analysis

In the poem, Sow, by Sylvia Plath the fascinated narrator describes his neighbor's amazing sow. This animal brings the neighbor a lot of respect by winning the admiration of the townsfolk. The owner of the sow, however, hides it away in his barn most of the time. The mysterious great sow captivates the narrator, who seems to be a child, until the neighbor finally answers his pleas, hoping to learn how his neighbor bred his sow.

The poem begins by explaining the neighbor's perception about the sow. The imagery in this part suggests that the neighbor does not seem to be proud of his accomplishment. "He kept the sow - impounded from public stare, prize ribbon and pig show." This line suggests that the neighbor was proud of his sow. The simple diction and the lack of sound devices suggests the secrecy surrounding the sow.

As he examines the sow for the first time, the sow does not meet his expectations. He continues with a list of his guesses about the sow that turn out to be wrong, repeating "nor.." and implying the wonder which he experiences. The graphic metaphor contrasting the sow with a "rose-and-larkspurred china" implies the imperfections the narrator finds in the sow. Neither does the narrator find the sow proper for consumption, nor for breeding. " nor even one of the common barnyard sows, mire-smirched, blowzy... ." The plentiful punctuation suggests the careful inspection of the sow by the narrator.

As he begins describing the sow itself, the narrators tone changes from wonder to admiration and pity. He starts by alluding to Swift's Gulliver and the land of giants, specifically, in order to express the size of the sow. "This vast Brobdingnag bulk...," exclaims the narrator at the first sight of the pig. The narrator finds the sow pitiful, unable to move, slowly rotting "on that black compost, fat-rutted eyes dream filmed." The diction begins speeding up, due to alliterations such as "belly-bedded on that black compost" and "the great grandam" display the new image of the sow forming formed by the narrator. The author uses an extended metaphor, comparing the sow to a knight, its fat to an armor, and its scars to battle wounds. "...our marvel blazoned a knight, helmed, in cuirass, unhorsed and shredded in the grove of combat by a grisly-bristled boar... ."

Finally, as the neighbor slaps the sow on the neck, the behemoth rises, to the greater awe of the narrator. The language describing the sow contains powerful imagery, such as "green-copse-castled," "letting legend like dried mud drop," and "a monument." This signifies the sow's strength and power in narrator's eyes, and by the end of the poem, the sow gains Biblical proportions in his eyes. He describes the fatness of the pig as "prodigious gluttonies," one of the seven deadly sins. Furthermore, the author