Poem Analysis - Gold Mouths Cry

An Overview of "Gold Mouths Cry"

Sylvia Plath's "Gold Mouths Cry" is a short, evocative poem that juxtaposes the fleeting beauty of autumn with a sense of enduring, albeit blind, memory. The poem's tone is initially celebratory, embracing the "bright metal season," but it subtly shifts towards a recognition of mortality and the inevitable "doom of gold." The central image of the "bronze boy" provides a contrast to this fleeting beauty, anchoring the poem in a sense of timelessness, though tinged with a kind of melancholy.

The Unfolding of Fleeting Beauty and Timelessness

One major theme explored in the poem is the contrast between the ephemeral nature of beauty and the seemingly eternal quality of memory and art. The "gold mouths" and "goldenrod" represent the vibrant, fleeting beauty of autumn, a season associated with decay. This transient loveliness is explicitly linked to impending doom. However, the "bronze boy," a statue perhaps, embodies a timelessness. He "stands knee-deep in centuries," and remembers "a thousand autumns," suggesting an enduring presence that transcends the cycles of nature. Plath’s imagery underscores this contrast, placing the vibrant but temporary gold alongside the lasting, though potentially unfeeling, bronze.

The Allure and Peril of Remembrance

The theme of memory is central to the poem. The bronze boy's constant remembering is highlighted, creating a sense that the past is inescapable. He is defined by his recall of "a thousand autumns." The poem subtly implies that this constant remembering is not necessarily joyful; his "eyes gone blind with leaves" suggests a burden of the past, a loss of present sight due to the weight of memory. The "gold mouths cry," indicating a potential sorrow associated with the passage of time. Therefore, the poem poses a complicated question about the relationship between memory, beauty, and sorrow.

Symbolism and Sensory Overload

The poem employs potent symbolism, with gold and bronze acting as primary symbolic elements. The "gold" represents not only autumn's color but also its wealth and abundance, and its eventual decline. The "bronze boy," in contrast, symbolizes art, permanence, and historical memory. The image of leaves "sliding down his shoulder blades" is particularly striking, conveying a sensory experience of autumn. Further, the poem culminates in the bronze boy whose eyes are "blind with leaves," possibly reflecting the overload and obscuring power of past experiences.

Concluding Thoughts on "Gold Mouths Cry"

In conclusion, "Gold Mouths Cry" is a poem that meditates on the ephemeral beauty of autumn, the enduring power of art and memory, and the complex relationship between them. The poem’s imagery of gold and bronze, coupled with its exploration of memory and mortality, creates a sense of poignant contemplation. Plath masterfully captures the bittersweet nature of beauty and the burden of remembering, leaving the reader to consider the costs of both forgetting and recalling the past.