So I posted this on my other account @twilightvanillasky but I figured I might aswell post it on this one too..
So this is my first tattoo. A quote from the book ‘the bell jar’ by Sylvia Plath. The book revolves around the protagonist’s journey with depression. Sylvia Plath herself, battled depression and committed suicide at the age of 31. To me, this quote is a reminder of my value. I am a daughter, I am a grandaughter, I am a sister, I am a niece, I am a cousin, I am a girlfriend, I am a friend, I am creative, I am clever, I am caring, etc. I am more than any bad feeling or bad situation that I have experienced/will experience in my life. As someone who faces anxiety, low mood and lack of confidence, this is an important thing to remember. Plath also uses this quote as a literary device, called Iambic Pentameter. If you say it out loud, it mirrors the sound of a heartbeat. As long as my heart is beating, I’ll be okay. With everything that’s happening in my life at the moment, I thought I’d share this with you all. It makes me sad that when people ask and I tell them that it’s a quote from one of my favourite books, they snigger. Love u all & thank you for reading this x
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”
Today marks the 59th anniversary of Sylvia Plath’s death! RIP!
(27 October 1932, Boston, USA – 11 February 1963, London, UK)
That is why I would like to finally share my own Sylvia Plath inspired tattoo!
After posting more than 1,000 tattoos on my tumblr and insta for more than 11 years, I finally followed Plath’s advice to “Wear your heart on your skin in this life.” and I finally welcomed myself to the “Sylvia Plath Ink” club last year!
I know it’s maybe not the most obvious choice for a Sylvia Plath inspired tattoo, but it refers to the epitaph on her grave that reads: “Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted.”
Her husband, Ted Hughes, used to recite it to her when she was feeling particularly low.
Initially, the quote was believed to come from the Hindu scriptures Bhagavad Gītā, however it is from the novel “Journey to the West”, often simply known as “Monkey”, written by the 16th century Chinese novelist and poet Wu Cheng'en.
In Eastern traditions, the lotus flower symbolizes enlightenment, purity, rebirth, and triumph over obstacles. It grows naturally in ponds and starts out rooted deep in mud. In order to blossom, it must make its way through the murky water until it finally breaks the surface to emerge and bloom in the sun, beautiful and whole.
For me, it also symbolizes strength: the lotus can be planted “amidst fierce flames”, it can grow through mud.
Sylvia Plath inspired fig tattoo by @sheilamarcello of Electric Tattoo in Asbury Park, NJ
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
My tribute to the patron saint of the depressed, the anxious, and the overthinkers…Sylvia Plath. My reminder that I have a reason to keep going. My heart is still beating.
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
I fancied you’d return the way you said, But I grow old and I forget your name. (I think I made you up inside my head.) _ “So, it was my first tattoo, and it’s from a Sylvia Plath poem called, ‘Mad Girl’s Love Song.’ I got it for literally no reason other than that I liked that poem, wanted a tattoo, and was going through a very ~ moody, brooding ~ time. I was like, 20.” — @kathrynfiona _ Comment your first tattoo story below. Photo: @beth_s_photo https://ift.tt/2JfG07c
Mad Girl’s Love Song
A Villanelle
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my lids and all is born again. (I think I made you up inside my head.)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red, And arbitrary blackness gallops in: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane. (I think I made you up inside my head.)
God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade: Exit seraphim and Satan’s men: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you’d return the way you said, But I grow old and I forget your name. (I think I made you up inside my head.)
I should have loved a thunderbird instead; At least when spring comes they roar back again. I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. (I think I made you up inside my head.)
–Sylvia Plath, written 1954, The Collected Poems, 1981
Today marks the 23rd anniversary of Ted Hughes’ death RIP!
(17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998)
***
In case you are wondering, Hughes is the author of The Iron Giant, the children’s book that has been adapted into the 1999 animation movie with the same title (The Iron Giant) featuring the famous quote: “You are who you choose to be. “ (enen though the quote does not come from the book).
Sylvia Plath meets René Magritte meets Princess Prazsky’s drawing
“How we need another soul to cling to, another body to keep us warm. To rest and trust; to give your soul in confidence: I need this, I need someone to pour myself into.”
Finally got around to mohawking my (awkwardly shaped) head and tattooing it. Couldn’t be more happy.
Idea for the fish patterned tattoo comes from the line “like a terrible fish” from Sylvia Plath’s poem “The Mirror” which I also have tattooed on my wrist.
Tattoo by Welt of Yama Tattoo Rome.
MIRROR
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. I am not cruel, only truthful- The eye of the little god, four cornered. Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers. Faces and darkness separate us over and over. Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me, Searching my reaches for what she really is. Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. I am important to her. She comes and goes. Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.
—written 23 October 1961, Sylvia Plath,The Collected Poems
Black Cobra Tattoo, 6505 Warden rd. Sherwood, Arkansas, USA
***
HAPPY 91st BIRTHDAY Ted Hughes! RIP!
(17 August 1930 - 28 October 1998)
***
In case you are wondering, Hughes is the author of The Iron Giant, the children’s book that has been adapted into the 1999 animation movie with the same title (The Iron Giant) featuring the famous quote: “You are who you choose to be. “ (although the quote does not come from the book).
