Two Sisters Of Persephone

Plath used poppies as a motif several times in her work, including in her poems “Poppies in October” and “Poppies in July.” In the Victorian language of flowers, poppies represented both extravagance and loss. To the Greeks, poppies were sacred to Morpheus, god of sleep, and China and Japan associated them with deep and passionate love.

Here in “Two Sisters of Persephone,” the poppies are notable for their shape and color: “their red silk flare / Of petalled blood” (Lines 17-18). This imagery conjures a billowing red skirt, as well as the blood of menstruation or making love for the first time. The choice of the word “silk” (Line 17) represents both freedom and luxury, conveying an image of loose silk against skin. The phrase “petalled blood” (Line 18) creates another layer of the image and a juxtaposition in tone. Normally blood is associated with violence, anger, passion, or fear, but here the adjective gives it an uncharacteristic softness. Here the poppies represent a transition from one state into another, as often distinguished by bloodshed of some type, but the transition is one of peace and beauty.