''Ariel'' is

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...

's second collection of poetry. It was first released in 1965, two years after her death by suicide. The poems of ''Ariel'', with their free-flowing images and characteristically menacing psychic landscapes, marked a dramatic turn from Plath's earlier ''

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue; colossal statues, are generally taken to mean a statue at least twice life-size ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * ...

'' poems.

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

, Plath's widower and the editor of ''Ariel'', made substantial changes to her intended plan for the collection by changing her ordering of the poems, dropping some pieces, and adding others. The first American edition was published in 1966 and included an introduction by the poet

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

. This was appropriate, since, in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

interview, Plath had cited Lowell's book ''

Life Studies ''Life Studies'' is the fourth book of poems by Robert Lowell. Most critics (including Helen Vendler, Steven Gould Axelrod, Adam Kirsch, and others) consider it one of Lowell's most important books, and the Academy of American Poets named it on ...

'' as having had a profound influence over the poetry she was writing in the last phase of her writing career. In the same interview, Plath also cited the poet

Anne Sexton Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey; November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional poetry, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book ''Live or Die (book ...

as an important influence on her writing during that time, since Sexton was also exploring some of the same dark, taboo, personal subject matter that Plath was exploring in her writing. In 2004, a new edition of ''Ariel'' was published which for the first time restored the selection and arrangement of the poems as Plath had left them. The 2004 edition also features a foreword by

Frieda Hughes Frieda Rebecca Hughes (born 1 April 1960) is an English-Australian poet and painter. She has published seven children's books, four poetry collections and one short story and has had many exhibitions. Hughes is the daughter of Pulitzer Prize win ...

, the daughter of Plath and Hughes.

Contents (1965 version)

Poems marked with an * were not in Plath's original manuscript, but were added by Ted Hughes. Most of them date from the last few weeks of Plath's life.

Contents (Manuscript version / Restored 2004 version)

Poems marked with an ** were included in Plath's original manuscript, but were removed by Ted Hughes.

Reception

American poetry scholar

Marjorie Perloff Marjorie Perloff (born Gabriele Mintz; September 28, 1931 – March 24, 2024) was an Austrian-born American poetry scholar and critic, known for her study of avant-garde poetry. Perloff was a professor at Catholic University, the University of ...

said in her article "The Two Ariels: The (Re)making of the Sylvia Plath Canon" that "The fact remains that Plath herself had arranged the future ''Ariel'' poems 'in a careful sequence,' plotting out every detail including the first and last words of the volume." Another critic remarked that "her poetry would have been valuable no matter what she had written about". In 2016, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' ranked ''Ariel'' as the 16th best nonfiction book of all time.

Awards

* 1982

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not ment ...

References

External links

Slate.com article about publication of restored ArielAfter Ariel: Celebrating the poetry of the women's movement
by Honor Moore in the ''

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

''
''Ariel''
at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

The Complete working papers for poem 'Sheep In Fog'
at the British Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariel (Book) American poetry collections 1965 poetry books Books by Sylvia Plath Faber & Faber books Books published posthumously Poems published posthumously