Sylvia Plath

Born to middle class parents on October 27, 1932, in Jamaica Plain, Massachusettes, Sylvia Plath began her life. A smart, sensitive, and talented child, Sylvia wrote her first poem at age eight. She was, on the surface, a model daughter, popular, and compelled toward perfection. By the time she had entered Smith College on a scholarship in 1950 she already had an impressive list of publications, and while at Smith had writted over 400 poems.

Sylvia's surface perfection did not reflect in the slightest the troubled young woman that lay beneath. During the summer following junior year at Smith, having returned from a stay in New York City where she had been a student "guest editor" at Mademoiselle Magazine, she nearly killed herself by swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills. Plath later described that experience in her autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, published in 1963. After a period of time using electroshock and psychotherapy, Sylvia resumed her pursuit of academic and literary success. After graduating from Smith, she packed her bags and moved to England to continue her education at Cambridge.

In England, she met the poet and husband to be, ed Hughes, whom she married in 1960. The marriage lasted for only two years before it broke apart and Sylvia moved with her two children to a flat in London. During her marriage to Hughes, her first book of poetry was published. 'Colossus' only began to show the extent of her talent that would be seen in her work later on.

On February 11, 1963, Plath was found dead. She died by suicide. After her death, Plath left some of the most powerful and haunting poetry to this day, showing to the rest of the world the true person inside. She showed her physical and mental pain in such a way that it was almost tactile, and, posthumously, she became one of the greatest poets of the century.