Crossing the Water

"Crossing the Water, a collection of poems written just prior to those in Ariel, . . . is of immense importance in recording [Plath's] extraordinary development. One senses on every page a voice coming into its own, the chaos of a lifetime at last getting ready to assume its final, triumphant shape."  — Kirkus Reviews

Sylvia Plath's extraordinary poetry collection pushes the envelope between dark and light, between our deep passions and desires that are often in tension with our duty to family and society. In these powerful poems about identity, water becomes a metaphor for the surface veneer that many of us carry, but Plath explores how easily this surface can be shaken and disturbed.

What lies beneath that fragile surface?

• Confessional Poetry: Experience the raw, intimate poems that bridge the gap between The Colossus and the legendary Ariel, capturing a voice on the verge of its final, triumphant shape.
• Poems about Nature: From the bleak horizons of ‘Wuthering Heights’ to the haunting allure of ‘Blackberrying,’ discover a natural world that mirrors the soul’s own landscape.
• Unforgettable Imagery: Venture into a world of black lakes, silver mirrors, and white hospitals, where everyday objects are infused with startling, and often unsettling, significance.
• A Pivotal Work: A must-read collection from one of the most important and influential women writers of the 20th century, exploring the tensions between desire, duty, and identity with fierce intelligence.

"Of immense importance in recording her extraordinary development. One senses on every page a voice coming into its own, the chaos of a lifetime at last getting ready to assume its final, triumphant shape." - Kirkus Reviews

"These poems are uniquely transitional. The intense control and the maturity found here are not matched in the earlier, youthful Colossus or in the later, tortured Ariel. This short middle period gives us Plath at her most sophisticated and skilled." - Antioch Review