Mad Girl’s Love Song

Mad Girl’s Love Song by Sylvia Plath is a poem about a girl who spent her whole life waiting for a man she gave herself to, against her beliefs, who was never to return. The most visible device the author used in this book is repetition. One phrase the narrator repeats is “(I think I made you up inside my head).” The emphasis repetition puts on this quote is that the narrator is wishing that this man is made up, and trying to convince herself of it. The quotes signify that these are thoughts to her, and not out loud, which means she is trying to convince herself it is true. The narrator also repeats the line, “I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.” This, along with the reference to God, Satan, and Seraphim, mean that getting “into bed” with the man the narrator was speaking to was a sin, and therefore they never married. When the narrator tries to sleep, “All the world drops dead,” which could represent nightmares and visions of hell because she feels guilty for her sin. Plath uses repetition to emphasize certain phrases so the reader can decipher the true meaning.

Another device the author uses is personification. In the second stanza the narrator describes “the stars go waltzing out in blue and red, And arbitrary blackness gallops in.” Clearly, stars can not waltz and blackness can’t gallop. Stars “waltzing out” and blackness galloping in are used to describe how they are leaving her without a second thought, self-assured, easily, and quickly, as the man who left her might have done. The narrator continues to say “I should have loved a Thunderbird instead; At least when spring comes they roar back again.” The narrator is giving a car, Thunderbird, the personification of being able to love and return to its lover, as she wished her man had done. The narrator is also relaying the message that the car is a better man and companion than her lover is.

The title has two underlying meanings. One, the girl is mad, or angry, about the love in her life. This is true, because the narrator is very upset that she gave herself to a man who left her. Also, that the girl is mad, or insane, over convincing herself that this lover is “made up” and does not exist. The second thing about this poem that caught my attention is the author, Sylvia Plath, who is extremely emotional and troubled.

A villanelle is often used, and properly used, to deal with one or another degree of obsession. This is demonstrated when she is having to repeat the line I think I made you up inside my head. That also backs up the idea that she is crazy and possibly insane.