In this poem Sylvia Plath is talking about her invincibility in the face of the suicide attempts that she made.
The title ‘Lady Lazarus’ suggests that she is most probably referring to herself, and that even after all her suicide attempts she is still alive, and came back from the dead numerous times.
The first stanza is talking about her first suicide attempt. ‘One year in every ten’ – it could mean that death happens in her life every 10 years. First was her fathers death when she was 10 years old, and then her suicide attempt at 20…and so on.
In the second stanza she is showing off the fact that she is still alive ‘A sort of walking miracle’. She once again links in herself with the holocaust, and compares herself to the Jews. The third stanza is also just comparing herself to the Jews and what they went through during the holocaust. The fourth stanza it seems like she wants to uncover something ‘O my enemy’ – this could be referring to herself or perhaps her father.
In the next two stanzas she is describing a decomposing body and talking about death.
‘Like the cat I have nine times to die’ – she talks about herself like she is a cat that had nine lives, an
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