Two Sisters Of Persephone

The poem’s title alludes to the popular Greek myth of Persephone, daughter of the harvest goddess, and Persephone’s lover Hades, the god of the underworld. As a deity who spends half of the year below ground in the land of the dead and the other half in the brightly lit land of the living, Persephone is associated with the concept of duality. Therefore, the “two sisters” are the two competing identities of Persephone, which represent the paths and choices of women.

The poem contains short lines and clear, simple language. Plath uses enjambment (the continuation of an idea from one line to the next without using the absolute of end punctation, or easing the flow using commas) and caesura (a punctuated break in the middle of the line) to create a “hall of mirrors” effect in which each moment takes on multiple meanings. The opening lines, “Two girls there are: within the house / One sits; the other, without” (Lines 1-2), mean something different depending on where the punctuation guides the reader’s eye. The poem will straddle two worlds, which is shown in splitting the first line down the middle and directly referencing this duality in the following lines: “Daylong a duet of shade and light / Plays between these” (Lines 3-4).

The next stanza introduces the first “sister”—the first identity; the first path—and favors the hard, sharp sounds of the letters k, c, and t. These sounds suggest the tapping of a typewriter or similar device, or a ticking clock—a life compartmentalized by harsh, regular beats. Although the image is not a positive one, Plath refrains from using subjective language until the final lines of the third stanza: “Rat-shrewd go her squint eyes, / Root-pale her meager frame” (Lines 11-12). However, this language is not inherently negative. Instead of loudly championing an ideal, the poet uses the craft of language and subtle imagery to instill a perspective in the reader’s mind.

The fourth stanza introduces the second “sister,” “Bronzed as earth” (Line 13) and “lulled / Near a bed of poppies” (Lines 15-16). These images contrast the cold, dark imagery associated with the first sister. Here the poet uses keywords like “pollen,” “red silk,” “petalled blood,” “green altar” (Lines 15, 17, 18, 20). The word choices here project a sense of passion, warmth, and freedom. Once again, the poet refrains from subjective didacticism and instead uses sound and color to create an emotional response in the reader.

The next stanzas turn inward to the feelings of the two sisters. In childbirth, the second sister feels “labor’s pride” (Line 23) and “bears a king” (Line 24). While the temptation is to look for kings in the myth of Persephone, here it is more likely a reference to the deep bond of motherhood; a newborn son is a king who becomes the ruler of a mother’s very existence. This new child has become the focal point of the second sister’s world.

Stanza 6 mirrors the opening line and ends on an enjambed caesura: “She bears a king. Turned bitter / And sallow as any lemon” (Lines 24-25). Because Line 25 begins Stanza 7 (which focuses on the first sister, the one who hid away inside the “dark wainscotted room” [Line 5]), it appears to connect the opposing “sisters” via a shared feeling and outcome. The construction of this line has polarized many scholars who argue that the bitterness may be attributed to either sister, depending on where the punctuation lands. This is especially true if the poem is read out loud. Depending on where the vocal break happens, the poem may end in one of two ways. In one, the second sister lives a happy life of passion and freedom because she chose love over duty. In another, the sister gives birth and then turns bitter afterwards, arguing that both sisters meet the same fate no matter their choices. The stanza closes on the image of the first sister dying alone, “Worm-husbanded” (Line 28).