Plath wrote a novel called The Bell Jar, which was published shortly before her death. She was married to another famous poet, Ted Hughes.
The next poem you will read, by Sylvia Plath, is called ‘Cinderella’, and like the poem ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ that you read earlier, it is quite different from the original fairy tale.
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In her poem, Plath has imagined the moments just before the clock strikes midnight, when Cinderella is dancing with the prince.
Cinderella by Sylvia Plath
The prince leans to the girl in scarlet heels, Her green eyes slant, hair flaring in a fan Of silver as the rondo slows; now reels Begin on tilted violins to span
rondo: a musical form
The whole revolving tall glass palace hall Where guests slide gliding into light like wine; Rose candles flicker on the lilac wall Reflecting in a million flagons’ shine,
flagon: a metal or pottery vessel for wine
And glided couples all in whirling trance Follow holiday revel begun long since, Until near twelve the strange girl all at once Guilt-stricken halts, pales, clings to the prince
As amid the hectic music and cocktail talk She hears the caustic ticking of the clock.
