The Heart of A Teacher

~Bismillah~

The child arrives like a mystery box...

with puzzles pieces inside

some of the pieces are broken or missing...

and others just seem to hide

But the HEART of a teacher can sort them out...

and help the child to see

the potential for greatness he has within...

a picture of what he can be

Her goal isn't just to teach knowledge...

by filling the box with more parts

it's putting the pieces together...

and creating a work of art

The process is painfully slow at times...

some need more help than others

each child is a work in progress...

with assorted shapes and colors

First she creates a classroom...

where the child can feel safe in school

where he never feels threatened or afraid to try...

and kindness is always the rule

She knows that a child

can achieve much more

when he feels secure inside

when he's valued and loved...

and believes in himself

... and he has a sense of pride

She models and teaches good character...

and respect for one another

how to focus on strengths... not weaknesses

and how to encourage each other

She gives the child the freedom he needs...

to make choices on his own

so he learns to become more responsible...

and he is able to stand alone

He's taught to be strong and think for himself...

as his soul and spirit heal

and the puzzle that's taking shape inside...

has a much more positive feel

The child discovers the joy that comes...

from learning something new...

and his vision grows as he begins

to see all the things that he can do

A picture is formed as more pieces fit...

an image of the child within

with greater strength and confidence...

and a belief that he can win!

All because a hero was there...

in the HEART of a teacher who cared

enabling the child to become much more... than he ever imagined... or

dared

A teacher with a HEART for her children...

knows what teaching is all about

she may not have all the answers...

but on this... she has no doubt

When asked which subjects she loved to teach,

she answered this way and smiled...

"It's not the subjects that matter...

It's all about teaching the CHILD."

Paula Fox 2008

p/s: I don't just wanna be a good teacher to my students but GREAT teacher to all of them.

;)

Ibu segala tipu

Dengan sanubari sequdus hasrat

lelangkah yang luhur sepadu hajat

kita berhimpun sepenuh harapan

sedia tentang inti kemungkaran.

Awalnya segala tersenyum ilham

cuaca dan hajat akrab bersalam.

Kita memangkahnya secekal qalbu

rindu memahat sejarah yang syahdu.

Iklim yang gusar tetiba meledak 

ketika kendera menyusup rahsia,

dan demokrasi sengaja dikocak

sebijak helah sekejam pendera.

Kertas undi yang terkumpul berbalam

sopan dan segan diusik khayalan,

sebaik senja disenyumi malam

sesenyapnya bermula pencemaran.

Malam debaran tersentap amarah,

cahaya bulan dikoyak-koyaknya,

rahsia gelap memulai dosanya,

berterbanganlah undi yang ditambah.

Kita berhimpun di padang sejarah

demi melawan kemungkaran baru;

demokrasi wajar dipelihara

daripada ibu segala tipu.

Oleh: A. Samad Said

Kenangan bersama sasterawan negara, Pak Samad

Perkongsian seorang sahabat

~Bismillah~

dalam banyak banyak api
api hati paling payah nak padam
dalam banyak banyak perang
perang jiwa paling degil nak hilang
berbaik-baiklah
berlembut-lembutlah
carilah sayang dalam benci
rendahkanlah diri bukalah hati
hormat cara orang
faham kita berbeza
biar orang jadi orang
dan kita jadi kita

"Mencari Sayang Dalam Benci"- Wani Ardy

En Siyah Muhammad
24/03/2013
06:13 pm

aku segan nak berkehendakkann orang
kalau orang tak berkehendakkan aku
apa guna aku bersiram lapan belas kolah
sembur segelen parfum mekah sekalipun
seganlah aku

-Wani Ardy-

En Siyah Muhammad
24/03/2013
06:52 pm

p/s: Terima kasih, sayang atas perkongsian puisi ini :)

My favorites

            i waited

               and i waited for your words

               letters that darken my pigeonhole,

               linger in worn-out trust.

               loving you is embracing silence,

               once warm in hand

               you are faint in the distance.

               you have taught me to forget,

               to prefer

               my fallen pride.

               i am now me

               standing raw at the conclusion

               of a long silence.

               i am a new man (woman, in my case),

               waiting for no one

               but myself.

               p/s: At some time, I waited. And now I'm still waiting but 'm not sure for how long...

               only poems

            only poems between us -

               reading words

               like spies of emotion,

               ready to feel

               to praise with recognition.

               oh what insight

               for him who wants to see,

               what understanding

               in reading the known.

               no critic,

               i am a partisan of the heart.

               p/s: Now, only poems can connect us. Others can't.

              before or after

              la vie est vaste, etant

                            ivre d' absence - valery

              this life is vast,

              too big for years

              before or after me,

              but to possess it whole

              is beyond ambition.

              i want the days as they come,

              with you.

              we shall stop them,

              new, with their minutes,

              smells, sweat and paths.

              p/s: Before or after me, life is life. To live in it is to feel the pain.

              words

           words began this -

              tedious promises,

              lies that held together

              the false sentence.

              between pain and lies

              i once chose to hear sweet words

              for they gave

              breath between cries.

              p/s: A few words started everything and a few words ended everything.

Prof. Muhammad Haji Salleh's poems feel so connected to me, to my life. They portray a lot of things that I've been through and they are truly inspiring. Now, I'm truly in love with poetry.

:')

Beautiful poetry written by Hassan bin Thabit in commemoration of Maulidur Rasul

                                             In praise of Muhammad SAW                         
                    
                                              When I saw his light shining forth,
                                               In fear I covered my eyes with my palms,
                                               Afraid for my sight because of the beauty of his form.
                                               So I was scarcely able to look at him at all.
                                               The lights from his light are drowned in his light
                                               and his face shines out like the sun and moon in one.
                                               A spirit of light lodged in a body like the moon,
                                               a mantle made up of brilliant shining stars.
                                               I bore it until I could bear it no longer.
                                               I found the taste of patience to be like bitter aloes.
                                               I could find no remedy to bring me relief
                                               other than delighting in the sight of the one I love.
                                               Even if he had not brought any clear signs with him,
                                               the sight of him would dispense with the need for them.
                                               Muhammad is a human being but not like other human beings.
                                               Rather he is a flawless diamond and the rest of mankind is just stones.
                                               Blessings be on him so that perhaps Allah may have mercy on us
                                               on that burning Day when the Fire is roaring forth its sparks.

*Hassan bin Thabit was one of Prophet Muhammad's companions. He was one of the trusted men whom Prophet would ask him to recite his poetry in order to fight the non-believers and defend the prophet SAW. Most of his poems were written in commemoration of Prophet Muhammad SAW, to show his love towards the Prophet SAW.

Salam Maulidur Rasul. Let's start following his sunnah and be consistent with it.

:)

Poem: Joy in Death

                                                               If tolling bell I ask the cause.

                                                              'A soul has gone to God,'

                                                               I'm answered in a lonesome tone;

                                                               Is heaven then so sad?

                                                              That bells should joyful ring to tell

                                                              A soul had gone to heaven,

                                                              Would seem to me the proper way

                                                              A good news should be given.

    

                                                              - Emily Dickinson

Kuasa Cinta

Salam.

Cinta Adalah...

Cinta adalah kekuatan
Yang mampu
Mengubah duri jadi mawar
Mengubah cuka jadi anggur
Mengubah malang jadi untung
Mengubah sedih jadi riang
Mengubah syaitan jadi nab
iMengubah iblis jadi malaikat
Mengubah sakit jadi sihat
Mengubah bakhil jadi dermawan
Mengubah kandang jadi taman
Mengubah penjara jadi istana
Mengubah amarah jadi ramah
Mengubah musibah jadi muhibbah

Itulah cinta.



Sekalipun Cinta...

Sekalipun cinta telah kuuraikan
Dan kujelaskan panjang lebar
Namun, jika cinta kudatangi
Aku jadi malu pada keteranganku sendiri

Meskipun lidahku telah mampu menguraikan
Namun tanpa lidah, cinta ternyata lebih terang
Sementara pena begitu tergesa-gesa menuliskannya
Kata-kata pecah berkeping-keping
Begitu sampai kepada cinta
Akal terbaring tak berdaya
Bagaikan keldai terbaring dalam lumpur

Cinta sendirilah yang menerangkan
Cinta dan percintaan.



Kau Mencintaiku

Kau mencintaiku
Seperti bumi
Mencintai titah Tuhannya
Tak pernah lelah
Menanggung beban derita
Tak pernah lelah
Menghisap luka

Kau mencintaiku
Seperti matahari
Mencintai titah Tuhannya
Tak pernah lelah
Membagi cerah cahaya
Tak pernah lelah
Menghangatkan jiwa

Kau mencintaiku
Seperti air
Mencintai titah Tuhannya
Tak pernah lelah
Membersihkan lara
Tak pernah lelah
Menyejukkan dahaga

Kau mencintaiku
Seperti bunga
Mencintai titah Tuhannya
Tak pernah lelah
Menebar mekar aroma bahagia
Tak pernah lelah
Meneduhkan gelisah nyala.

(sumber: puisi-puisi ini dipetik daripada filem Ketika Cinta Bertasbih)


p/s: Saya ingin berterima kasih kepada Kekasih saya yang begitu agung cinta-Nya kepada saya, iaitu Allah 'azza wajalla (terima kasih, ya Allah). Juga saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih juga kepada junjungan Rasulullah s.a.w kerana mencintai saya sebagai umat baginda (terima kasih, Rasulullah). Tidak dilupakan kepada insan-insan ini yang begitu dalam cinta mereka terhadap diri saya dan insya Allah cinta mereka kekal di hati saya sampai bila-bila. Mereka adalah ayah, emak, kak long, abg long, angah, kak arsyi, abg nwar, kak aishah, kak uda, haifz, zaim, guru-guru, sahabat-sahabat terdekat, anak-anak murid dan semua sahabat baru saya yang tidak putus-putus doanya untuk saya. Puisi ini saya hadiahkan mereka semuanya. Semoga cinta antara kita semakin mekar dari hari ke hari.

Aku mencintaimu...


Wallahua'lam.

Sonnet of the day

Sonnet 102


My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming:
I love not less, though less the show appear
That love is merchandised whose rich esteeming
The owner's tongue doth publish everywhere
Our love was new, and then out in the spring
When I was wont to greet it with my lays;
As philomel in summer's front doth sing
And stops his pipe in growth of riper days.
Not that the summer is less pleasant how
Then when her mournful hymns did hush the night
But that wild music burdens every bough
And sweets grown common lose their dear delight

Therefore, like her, I sometime hold my tongue
Because I would not dull you with my song.



With love,
Qamar Purnama

Pasrah

TUHAN...
PadaMu aku pasrah
Akur, alah dan menyerah
Seluruhnya sudah pudar
Cintaku kian tercalar
Senjaku semakin dekat
Di sumur dosa aku melarat
Di hujung umur kupasti kembali
Sedang hatiku tak suci lagi.

TUHAN...
Langkahku entahkan mati
Mendaki kasihMu nan tinggi
Namun cintaku bukan palsu
Walaupun sering terganggu
Kekadang terasa sayangMu
Bersama kurnia hidayah
Kekadang terasa murkaMu
Seiring patahnya mujahadah.

TUHAN...
Terlerai ribuan taubatku
Terungkai semua janjiku
Kataku sering mungkir
CintaMu sering terpinggir
Namun, Aku masih setia
Mengemis di jendela usia
Terus mencari wajah diri
Menadah keampunanMu, ILAHI...



(Sumber: Dipetik daripada buku "Di Mana Dia Di Hatiku," m/s: 122)




Salam sayang,
Qamar Purnama

Special Poems on Teacher's Day

Why God Made Teachers
By Kevin William Huff

When God created teachers,

He gave us special friends

To help us understand His world

And truly comprehend

The beauty and the wonder

Of everything we see,

And become a better person

With each discovery.

When God created teachers,
He gave us special guides
To show us ways in which to grow
So we can all decide
How to live and how to do
What's right instead of wrong,
To lead us so that we can lead
And learn how to be strong.

Why God created teachers,

In His wisdom and His grace,

Was to help us learn to make our world

A better, wiser place.

Wonderful Teacher

With a special gift for learning

And with a heart that deeply cares,

You add a lot of love

To everything you share,

And even though You mean a lot,

You'll never know how much,

For you helped To change the world

Through every life you touched.

You sparked the creativity

In the students whom you taught,

And helped them strive for goals

That could not be bought,

You are such a special teacher

That no words can truly tell However much you're valued

For the work you do so well.

Teacher's ABC

(Tricia Stoddard)

A is for the Abundance of questions and yearning
B is for the Beauty I
C in your learning
D is for Doing it over til it's right
E is for the Effort you pour into learning each night
F is for watching how Far you can go
G is for watching you blossom and Grow
H is for reaching for that star so high
I is for Imagination, for the courage to try
J is for Joy in touching a child's life in a meaningful way
K is for the Kindness children bring to each day
L is for the Love of teaching we see
M is for the "Me" you're helping me to be
N is for Never being too weary to stay
O is for Overcoming the desire to stray
P is for the Positives you bring to each
Q is for showing the Quintessential way to teach
R is for the ability to power and Reason
S is for teaching to appreciate each Season
T is for Touching those that sit before you
U is for Understanding their fear of what's new
V is for the Vitality you bring to every day
W is for every Wonderment you bring their way
X is for the Xtra Special Teacher that You've become
Z is not for the Zoo! - but the wonderful job that you've done.

Poetry: Villanelle

Example of Villanelle: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Note: In the last semester, during the last classes before our final examination, Miss Sheena gave us a lecture about the types of closed form in poetry. In this entry, I'll recall her lecture regarding one type of closed form which have attracted me the most and unconsciously I was encouraged to create my own one. It's a villanelle. As I tried to memorise with the help of the notes given by our beloved teacher, a villanelle is the form that we have inherited today, which comes from 16th ce French pastoral (adj: describes a piece of art, writing or music that represents the pleasant and traditional features of the countryside) poetry. Originally, pastoral poetry dealt with the lives of shepherds and shepherdesses. A villanelle was primarily used for light verse (for entertainment and isn't complex in its meaning). Features of a villanell are as follows:

1. consists of odd numbers of tercets (3 lines with end rhyme) - usually 5;
2. followed by one quatrain (4 rhymed or unrhymed lines) - called an ENVOI;
3. the rhyme scheme is aba for the tercets and abaa for the quatrain;
4. the first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated alternately as the last line of the following tercets and also make up the third and fourth lines of the quatrain.

And that will make it as a complete villanelle. Above is an example of a villanelle written by Dylan Thomas.


With love,

Qamar

Poetry: Figures of Speech (part 2)

Continued...

Hyperbole & Understatement

Hyperbole is a kind of an exaggeration, while understatement is deliberately describing something as being less than what it actually is. Examples for hyperbole are, "The dress is whiter than white," " His smile can make women's heart melt" and "That boy runs faster than a speeding bullet." Some sentences are provided here to illustrate the meaning of understatement; "His love could make women blind, but it could comfort them" and "This room is as cold as the ice in the fridge, but it's rather warm."


Metonymy & Synecdoche

Both of them are carrying the same function as figures of speech. They are used in poetry to replace certain words with the others.

Metonymy is replacing the name of a thing for something else that is closely related to it. It sounds similar to transferred epithet, but they actually differ from each other. If we recall back, transferred epithet is when we transfer the human or animal quality into abstract quality that is closely related to it. As for metonymy, it has nothing to do with so-called human or animal quality, otherwise it is more towards nouns, verbs or anything other than 'adjective.' For example, "He loves the bottle so much." Rather than saying, "He loves to drink a bottle of milk everyday, this is when poets come to use metonymy, to replace the word 'milk' with the word 'bottle.' Other example will be "She works with the press."

Synecdoche is when poets use the only significant part of a thing to represent the whole part of it. For instance, "Will you give me a hand?" The word 'hand' here refers to the person's help which had been requested by the the other person who asked for it. The same goes to "Nice wheels!" instead of "Nice car!" and "Her face is getting older" instead of "She's getting older."


Paradox & Oxymoron

Paradox is a statement that at first glance seems to contradict itself, but then shows a deeper logical meaning. If we found any statements in any poems that we're learning, which contain paradox in it, our first judgment toward those sentences might be, 'this sentence is nonsense!' or we might say 'How can a poet wrote such sentence which seems so impossible!" However, this is what poetry all about. The sentence contained paradox in it might seems impossible in our eyes, but if we not just reading it, but really looking deeply at it, automatically our perception would change as well. Later on, we'll find that the sentence seems illogical at the first sight, but then it will turn into something that is more make sense and not impossible at all! For example, "The child is father of the man." At first, we'll think how come a child be a father of a man, but when we think back, in the future, he'll be. The second example is "A chick comes from an egg."

How about oxymoron? Well, it is derived from a Greek word, means 'pointedly foolish.' Thus, it is a kind of compressed paradox, in which combining two contradictory terms. For example, "Bittersweet," "We could hear the sound of silence in the empty room," "His smile is too much alive to be dead," etc.


Periphrasis & Euphemism

Poets include periphrasis when they want to say something in a roundabout manner. For example, "The finny tribe....," "My mother's sister's daughter," instead of saying "my cousin" and "The pair of watery sight" instead of saying "The teary eyes."

Euphemism is a kind of periphrasis, in which it's a delicate or improper term is described in a roundabout manner. For example, instead of saying "Her father died last night," we should rather say, "Her father passed away last night." If we want to describe our friends body size, we always say, "My friend loves to eat. That's why now she's fat." Well, don't you think that it sounds a little bit delinquent to address our friend in such manner? To improve our speech, let's just say, "That's why now she's horizontally-challenged." This might avoid a big fight between you and your friend, don't you thin? :)


Pun

Lastly, pun. Pun is a play on words, which the poets use a word with two meanings or two words that sound alike or are spelled alike. Pun is usually committed for humorous effect. Example of pun is "A baker's wife, Alberta Smith, had loads and loads of fun. For every time she did her hair, she put it in a bun."


Previous article: Definition of figures of speech, metaphor & simile, personification & transferred epithet and apostrophe & allusion.


Wallahua'lam.

Poetry: Figures of Speech (part 1)

Salam.

I still remember my poetry lecturer, Miss Sheena, explained about figures of speech in poetry class. All her lectures are still fresh in my memory and I don't know why suddenly I want to recall everything that she had taught us (but today I'm only intended to talk about the figures of speech). Maybe it's because I don't want to just learn something for the sake of exams. Do you know that learning or studying for the sake of getting good grades in examinations will bring you nowhere. You'll just stand or sit at the same point without moving anywhere. It shows that how valuable knowledge are and it's our job to grab it, treasure it and utilize it for the betterment of our life. For my BENL friends, let's recall what had been taught by Miss Sheena, so that it might help us to be more appreciative towards the beauty of English literature as we had learned during the past semester 2.

What are figures of speech?

Figures of speech are intentional departure from straight-forward, literal use of language for the purpose of clarity, emphasis or freshness of expression. Based on what I understand from Miss Sheena's lectures is that, usually, poets tend to include (not all) figures of speech in their poetry because they want to make their poems looked more attractive and interesting to be read by people. In addition, including figures of speech in their poetry, poets will be able to catch the readers' attention other than trying to convey the hidden messages inside their poems.

Basically, in poetry, there are as many as 15 figures of speech used by poets in their poems. They encompass metaphor, simile, personification, transferred epithet, apostrophe, allusion, hyperbole, understatement, metonymy, synecdoche, paradox, oxymoron, periphrasis, euphemism and pun.

Let's take a look at them one by one!


Metaphor & Simile

Although metaphor and simile are different from each other, but they are actually the same thing. This is because they share the same function as the figures of speech in poetry, which is comparing two different things.

The obvious thing that they are appeared to be different from each other is that, metaphor is an indirect comparison between two things. The things which are compared in a poem could be either a thing, idea or even an action as it refers to as being something else which it shares a common quality. For example, "He is a tiger" to indicate that he is as brave as a tiger. Another examples are, "You are my sunshine" and " Emily is the rose who attracted men."

How about simile? Simile is a direct comparison between two different things, actions or feelings, with the use of a connective word such as 'like,' 'as,' 'resembles' and 'then.' Beware, if you find a statement that comparing two things with the absence of these connectors, they are no longer a simile, but a metaphor! Examples for simile are, "The surface of the table is whiter than a sheet," "She's like the moonlight during the night" and "John is as slow as a snail."


Personification & Transferred Epithet

As for these two, they are put under the same umbrella in which addressing attributes of something. Personification is when poets are transferring human qualities to an object, animal or abstract quality such as justice or love. Other than that, any inanimate objects which are given animal characteristics also known as personification. For example, "The singing birds cheer up her day" and "The moon is smiling at her."

Transferred epithet is when poets attributing a characteristic of one thing to another that is closely related to it. For example, "The angry bus honked at us as we crossed the busy street." The "angry bus" here doesn't indicate that the car is angry, instead the bus driver itself is angry with us. So, this is when transferred epithet occurs; when the attribute of an animate object (usually human's) is transferred to an inanimate object (like the bus in the above example).


Apostrophe & Allusion

Apostrophe is when poets addressing a thing or quality or even an absent (or dead) person as if it were present or alive and could reply. For example, "O Wild West Wind!" "O my dear roses!" and "O wake up all of you, dead people!"

Allusion is also used to address a thing. But the difference is it is a reference to another work of literature, an incident or a person (or character in a work of fiction). *Sorry, no specific examples for allusion. But I will include in here as soon as I've found the best example to illustrate allusion.


Next article: Hyperbole & understatement, metonymy & synecdoche, paradox & oxymoron, periphrasis & euphemism and pun.


To be continued...

Poem of the day~"Daddy" by Sylvia Plath

You do not do, you do not do
Any more, black shoe
In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.

Daddy, I have had to kill you.
You died before I had time ----
Marble-heavy, a bag full of God,
Ghastly statue with one gray toe
Big as a Frisco seal

And a head in the freakish Atlantic
Where it pours bean green over blue
In the waters off the beautiful Nauset.
I used to pray to recover you.
Ach, du.

In the German tongue, in the Polish town
Scraped flat by the roller
Of wars, wars, wars.
But the name of the town is common.
My Polack friend

Says there are a dozen or two.
So I never could tell where you
Put your foot, your root,
I never could talk to you.
The tongue stuck in my jaw.

It stuck in a barb wire snare.
Ich, ich, ich, ich,
I could hardly speak.
I thought every German was you.
And the language obscene

An engine, an engine,
Chuffing me off like a Jew.
A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.
I began to talk like a Jew.
I think I may well be a Jew.

The snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna
Are not very pure or true.
With my gypsy ancestress and my weird luck
And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack
I may be a bit of a Jew.

I have always been scared of you,
With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.
And your neat mustache
And your Aryan eye, bright blue.
Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You ----

Not God but a swastika
So black no sky could squeak through.
Every woman adores a Fascist,
The boot in the face, the brute
Brute heart of a brute like you.

You stand at the blackboard, daddy,
In the picture I have of you,
A cleft in your chin instead of your foot
But no less a devil for that, no not
Any less the black man who

Bit my pretty red heart in two.
I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.

But they pulled me out of the sack,
And they stuck me together with glue.
And then I knew what to do.
I made a model of you,
A man in black with a Meinkampf look

And a love of the rack and the screw.
And I said I do, I do.
So daddy, I'm finally through.
The black telephone's off at the root,
The voices just can't worm through.

If I've killed one man, I've killed two ----
The vampire who said he was you
And drank my blood for a year,
Seven years, if you want to know.
Daddy, you can lie back now.

There's a stake in your fat black heart
And the villagersnever liked you.
They are dancing and stamping on you.
They always knew it was you.
Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through.


Daddy: Shoe Imagery

Within the first lines, Plath refers to herself as a foot, and her father as the black shoe in which she has lived for so long. When one thinks of a shoe, usually the association is made that the shoe is worn as a kind of protection. The imagery of her father in this way would imply that she has felt protected living in his memory.

The color black is thought of as the absence of light, darkness, and desolation – obviously the nemesis of purity, light and protection. Assuming that the association between the two is accurate, it would be safe to attribute the speaker’s depressive thoughts, and haunting images, to feelings that she is bound to her father’s memory despite the anger and resentment that she feels. Using this type of association one can feel the animosity with which Plath writes of her father, as distinct from her father in the flesh. On an unconscious level, Plath could blame her father for leaving she and her mother alone.

Read more at Suite101: Sylvia Plath's "Daddy": An Examination of a Father's Influence over Brilliant Poet