Ariel Plath, Sylvia Poetry

First edition of Sylvia Plath's iconic second book of poetry, published two years after her death - a dark and personal collection. ARIEL - largely penned during a sharp uptick in productivity after her separation from Ted Hughes - crystalizes Plath's struggles with mental illness, depression, and abuse. Her vivid use of imagery heightens the confessional nature of the poems, sometimes twisting into the surreal and horrific. "ARIEL is not easy poetry to criticize. It is not much like any other poetry. It is her," notes the February 1965 issue of the POETRY BOOK SOCIETY BULLETIN; the Society named it their Spring Choice of that year. This is a particularly clean copy, with a copy of the relevant BULLETIN loosely laid in. 8.5'' x 5.25''. Original red cloth boards. Original unclipped (12s 6d) yellow, blue, and red typographic dust jacket. 86 pages. Poetry Book Society Bulletin from February 1965 loosely laid in. Spine mildly toned, touches of shelfwear overall. Slight lean. Else a clean, sharp copy.