Ariel

Name: Ariel
ISBN: 9787559439154

西尔维娅·普拉斯 / 包慧怡Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaDec 2021

4.5

Word count: 27K words
Chapters: 43
ISBN: 9787559439154

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Summary

◆ The pinnacle of 20th-century confessional poetry—Plath's struggling, desperate inner monologue

◆ The beloved book of Patti Smith, contemporary cultural icon and American rock poet

◆ Recommended by literary luminaries Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell, and George Steiner

In 1963, before her suicide in her London flat, Plath left on her desk a black spring binder containing manuscripts of 40 complete poems, initially titled Ariel and Other Poems. Her husband, Hughes, arranged and abridged the manuscripts according to their order (removing poems deemed too cruel or allusive, etc.), publishing separate British and American editions in 1965 and 1966.

Ariel is the most authentic presentation of the depressed inner world Plath inhabited before her death, and it adds further poignancy and authenticity to The Bell Jar, her semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel from a decade earlier. If The Bell Jar chronicles the rebellion and restlessness of her youth, Ariel is her more genuine "confession."

This restored edition of Ariel includes all 40 poems with composition dates and follows strictly the manuscript order Plath left behind, giving it irreplaceable significance compared with other editions. It presents the poet's spiritual journey in its original form—the truest confession of Plath's contradictory, struggling life. Translated by the authoritative Chinese literary translator and writer Bao Huiyi, with a long translator's afterword and nearly 40 notes, this is the first complete publication of the book in China.

Editor's review

Ariel is the forty poems Plath left on her desk before her death. This restored edition follows the manuscript order she left behind and includes composition dates, setting it against earlier, edited versions and giving it an irreplaceable textual significance. Plath is a representative figure of twentieth-century confessional poetry; these poems, in an urgent, sharp, almost scorching register, present the most authentic confession of her depressed inner world. If The Bell Jar records the rebellion and restlessness of adolescence, this book is a more direct and more unsettling inner monologue. Bao Huiyi's translation includes a long translator's afterword and nearly forty notes, which are helpful for understanding the imagery, background, and textual issues in the poems; it is the first complete edition published in China. Reading this book requires some psychological preparation: the pain in the poems is not softened, but it is transformed into art through extremely high linguistic intensity. It suits slow reading in quiet moments, a few poems at a time, with repeated attention to the notes and afterword—there is no need to rush.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Poetry lovers, especially readers interested in confessional and modern English-language poetry
Readers of Plath who want to understand Ariel fully by following the manuscript order
Literature students and scholars who need a reliable translation, notes, and textual commentary
Deep readers willing to read slowly and engage with intense emotional expression

Not a good fit for

Readers feeling low or in psychological crisis; the poems express pain in a direct way
Readers seeking light entertainment; the tone is heavy and dense
Beginners unused to modern poetic imagery and abrupt shifts, who may feel alienated

Reading tips

Read the translator's afterword first to understand the textual differences and manuscript order, then move on to the poems.
Read only three to five poems at a time, then revisit them with the notes, leaving time to process the emotions.
Read alongside The Bell Jar to see how confessional writing continues across both works.
Keep a pen to mark recurring images, then look back at how they develop after finishing.

About the publisher

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on literary publishing while also covering the humanities, social sciences, and books on art and daily life. Its approximately 1,535 titles in the database span social novels, world history, design, science fiction, classic works, and film and television: they include modern Chinese literary classics by Lu Xun such as A Madman's Diary: The Complete Short Stories of Lu Xun, Call to Arms, Four Generations Under One Roof, and Teahouse, as well as foreign literary memoirs like Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. In science fiction it offers Asimov's Galactic Empire series, while in architecture and art it publishes Liu Dunzhen's Classical Gardens of Suzhou and design titles from Phoenix Space. Its authors are concentrated among classic writers such as Lu Xun, Zweig, and Asimov, with translators including Liang Xijiang, Zhong Haonan, and Ye Lihua. Its overall character is built on classic works while embracing genre fiction and visual culture. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based on the titles in the database.

版权信息
晨歌
信使
捕兔人
沙立度胺
申请人
不孕的女人
拉撒路夫人
郁金香
秘密
狱卒
割 ——给苏珊·奥尼尔·洛
榆树 ——给露丝·费恩莱特
夜舞
侦探
爱丽尔
死亡合资公司
东方三博士
女儿岛
他者
戛然而止
十月的罂粟 ——给海尔德和苏赛特·马奇多
闭嘴的勇气
尼克与烛台
波克海滩
格列佛
抵达彼方
美杜莎
面纱
月亮和紫杉
生日礼物
十一月的信
失忆
对手
爹地
你是
高烧103℃
蜜蜂聚会
蜂盒送达
蜇
过冬
译后记
关于普拉斯

FAQ

How does this edition differ from earlier published versions of Ariel?

This restored edition follows strictly the manuscript order Plath left behind, includes all forty poems with composition dates, whereas earlier British and American editions, edited by her husband Hughes, cut some poems deemed too harsh or allusive and rearranged the order. This edition thus comes closer to the form the poet left, giving it special textual significance.

Can I read this directly without having read other works by Plath?

Yes. The poems stand on their own, and the translator provides a long afterword and nearly forty notes to help readers understand the background and textual issues. Reading the semi-autobiographical The Bell Jar first would give a more concrete sense of the experiences and emotions recurring in the poems. It is advisable to read at least the afterword before the poems to reduce the sense of distance.

Will reading this book add to my emotional burden?

It may. These poems are the truest rendering of the depressed inner world Plath inhabited before her death; the tone is sharp and the pain is not softened. If you are feeling low or in psychological crisis, consider postponing the reading or discussing it with someone you trust. Even if you are stable, read in sections and slowly, not all at once, and give yourself time to recover afterward.

How much do the translator's notes and afterword help in understanding the poems?

Quite a lot. The translation includes a long afterword and nearly forty notes covering textual differences, manuscript order, and the background of the imagery. Plath's poems are highly discontinuous and dense with private experience; the notes supply context, and the afterword explains the editorial principles of the restored edition. Read the afterword first, and check the notes wherever a passage puzzles you.

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About the author

西尔维娅·普拉斯 Author

Sylvia Plath is a major English-language poet of the twentieth century, and her work also has a wide readership in the Chinese-speaking world. Her writing often uses highly condensed imagery and an intensely confessional voice to address themes such as life, death, motherhood, and psychological struggle; her language is sharp and musical, with personal experience closely interwoven with literary imagination. The collection here includes six of her works, among them The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath (Revised Edition), Ariel: The Poems of Plath, Ariel, The Bell Jar, The Bell Jar, and The Future Is a Gray Seagull, covering both poetry and fiction and showing several sides of her creative output. These works are generally classified under literature and foreign literature. Public information about the details of her life is limited, so they are not elaborated here; the candor and force of her poetry continue to influence later writers and readers.

包慧怡 Author

Bao Huiyi is an author and translator active in contemporary Chinese literary circles. Public information about her is limited, and her dates of birth and death, nationality, and educational background are not reliably documented. Seven of her works are held in the collection, spanning translated foreign literature, prose essays, and literary criticism. Her representative translations include A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe, Ariel, Good Bones, The Crack-Up, and The Rose of Sharon, while her own books include The Emerald Isle Chronicle (Tenth Anniversary Revised Edition) and Everything Here Is Foreordained. Her writing centers on close readings of poetry and fiction, in a restrained and finely tuned prose that combines a scholar's rigor with a writer's sensitivity; in introducing foreign authors and works she attends closely to the texture of language and the grain of the text, earning her a following among literary readers.