by Sylvia Plath
We’ve already gotten two of your packages---a big one which is faithfully unopened, & the small one of cookies which, when Ted saw the label, couldn’t be kept till Christmas. The lovely little angel hangs up over our livingroom mirror & we christened the wonderful steak knives that very night. I do hope that we will get some presents on our arrival home; I shudder to think of items like pots & pans, sheets, towels, blankets & silver ware. We bought ourselves a huge cutting knife for bread & meat and a great Shorter Oxford Dictionary* which is now our favorite book---for our own Christmas presents.
I’m enclosing a check from dear Mrs. Prouty for $25 as an Xmas present to deposit in my account. Did you tell her I’m married & all? I just wrote her a long Christmas letter, and am finishing the last of those today. How did the TV program go? It is this coming Saturday, isn’t it? Or was. Ted & I are sending you, or have sent, a Christmas present which we hope will vividly remind you of some of the things you saw this summer; and a silly trifle to amuse Warren in another package. They may be late, but our thoughts are there.
The Rice’s* sent us the strangest Christmas card! Did you get one like it? Bilious green with oriental waves & an ominous rhyme of sorts full of mixed metaphors! Well, no doubt they have the best intentions!
It is wonderful for both of us to be on vacation at last; we are just relaxing after the rigors of this past term. Ted is going for an interview in London in the first week in January about a job teaching two nights a week at an American Army Air Base near here which would double his salary. I hope it works out. We sure need the money. It should help his applications to teach in America too. We are hoping to get our grim scabrous hole-ofcalcutta kitchen painted this week too; I won’t shudder aesthetically every time I enter it then, even if it’s frigid. Oh, how I secretly hope that Ted finds America the wonderland I feel it is and wants eventually to settle there---we’d both like a year writing in sunny Italy after one or two teaching, but I would never want to live in England or bring up children here; it is a dead, corrupt country. How I long to get home!
We have gone out twice this week---once to a nice sherry part given by Wendy Christie,* a very sweet mother of two children* who listens in at my moralist supervisions; her husband* died while they were here & she is South African, but staying on because of the good schools; Ted met several old dons of his from Pembroke who were evidently surprised at his change in circumstances---he was considered a wild ruffian in those old days, I guess. Tuesday night we went again to Wendy’s for the most delectable dinner imaginable with my dear lovely Dr. Krook, whom Ted met for the first time---just the 4 of us. We ate, drank wine, sherry, tea & coffee, feasted on chicken, rice & nut casserole, feathery breads, chocolate mousse & talked till 3 am. Then Wendy drove us all home in a dense wet blue moon-fog. Our manuscripts all hang fire. Best love to you & dear Warrie & grampy this Christmas. Next Christmas, joy of joys, Ted & I will be with you at last to celebrate. How I love your newsy letters---they’re good as plum-cakes! Take good care of yourself. I want to come home to a fat, rosy mummy!
Love,
Sivvy
The cookies are delectable! What’s your recipe for oatmeal & raisin cookies?
TO Warren Plath
Thursday 20 December 1956
TLS (photocopy), Indiana University
December 20th
Dearest Warren . . .
Best (and probably belated) Christmas wishes. I really felt how much I miss you when I heard the the thunder and crackle of your voice over the phone on the 9th---about all we could manage to hear of you; you seemed to be murmuring something about “up the street” & we are still dying of curiosity to know what it was. Ted & I sent you a trifle to cheer exam period, but it will now no doubt arrive next month sometime.
I was so proud of the announcements* of your Phi Beta Kappa award. It simply means much more convenience in writing for applications---you just need to mention that & fine records are assumed. Let us know the minute you hear about your fellowship results. I know the Fulbright prefers people who have not been abroad before, so don’t think it’s anything but that if it doesn’t work out; with your record, I don’t see how they can refuse you!
We’ll also be so interested to hear about your summer plans---ideally, Ted & I would like to spend the months of July & August on the Cape, but as mother says, it is so expensive it is prohibitive. If we could get in the Spaulding’s* place, we’d have to have a car or two bikes. Unless we sell Ted’s book of children’s fables (which is a real possibility if the Atlantic Monthly Press likes the re-write he is working on this vacation) or I sell a story to a Woman’s magazine, we’d have to make other plans. I’d like to stay at home for a couple of weeks maybe, but no more than that. We’re so used to living independently now, it’s a strain not being ourselves---our program is so rigorous & depends on our own idiosyncrasies. Perhaps, if we both by then have got teaching jobs---ideally, again, Ted teaching creative writing at Harvard (he’s applying on the off-chance---they don’t require Phds for that) & me somewhere like Tufts, or maybe even Smith-Amherst---lord knows now---we could move into our new house, wherever it is, & get settled there. I’ll be so relieved when that’s worked out.
Our front room is really comfortable now---it is big with 3 windows, a cot, comfortable couch, large working table, small bookcase & fruit stand & our monumental homemade bookcase which covers half of one wall; all dark brown woods, light blue walls & sunshiny yellow pillows, lampshades, etc. Even the coal fire won’t warm the whole room, though, on coldest days & nights, so I keep on the movable electric fire by my blue toes & fingers while I work. The kitchen, a little dank cell smelling suspiciously of mushrooms (which no doubt sprout in the pots overnight) is a hole-in-the-wall full of drafty doors to the hall, pantry, coal-shed & outside backyard; it is always freezing, except when I cook a roast dinner, & then the steam warms it a bit. If we scrub it and paint walls & ceiling a light airy blue & I cover surfaces with red & white checked oilcloth I should at least enjoy working in it; we hope to get it done before Christmas. I sometimes feel like taking a hatchet & going out like the old foolish knights to slay the Cold. I picture a transparent bluish villainous character with a blowtorch of ice, a north windy voice & numerous instruments of contracting torture. When you walk from room to room without wincing & chattering at home, count your blessings! But it is amazing what the human frame can weather. I wear several sweaters, wool socks & slippers & slacks continually. Funny, how one discounts America’s material conveniences when living in the midst of them with a lordly intellectual air---oh, I’m above such things! I know I did. But here it wastes so much energy just coping with Cold and Dirt. Dust is older & thicker than British history. Poor Ted gets such sneezing fits in the morning---like yours---I’m sure it’s an allergy of some sort. But in spite of these rough conditions, we work hard & thrive. My whole life has a purpose now, and even when I’m tired or going through a barren spell writing, I can have the pleasure & comfort of sharing Ted’s kindness & work. We are growing more and more curious about the 20 manuscripts we have out---they seem out much longer than usual & suspense is mounting. At last I have found someone else who is pathologically avid to hear the gate-latch click & who recognizes the mailman’s steps a mile off! Wish us luck. We are looking so forward to sailing June 20th & I hope the 4 of us can be close together most of the summer.
Do write! We long to hear from you!
Much love –
Sivvy
1957
TO Aurelia Schober Plath
Wednesday 2 January 1957
TLS (aerogramme), Indiana University
January 2, 1957
Wednesday
Dearest darling mother . . .
Happy New Year! I hope the reason we haven’t heard from you since Christmas isn’t the same as ours for not writing---Ted and I bo
th caught miserable winter colds on the long gruelling trip back here from Yorkshire---a nasty series of short train trips, two hour waits in unheated stations, and stiff sitting. First he came down, then me, and I just stopped the wet sneezy excruciating stage this morning and am now convalescing & feeling much much better; Ted went to get me a nosedrop prescription yesterday---all the care one finds here is a prescription for weak useless drops, an inhaling fluid Sue Weller* (who is staying at Cambridge a week or two) says they prescribed in 1890, less help, & the suggestion to come back in a week if not feeling better. Ha. Sue & I reminisced yesterday about dear Smith infirmary* with their three-pill quick cure, which immediately dries the nose-tissues, cuts pain & twitching, and gives a buoyant surge out of depression. Well, enough griping; the next three months are the grimmest, but at least I have the house all fixed up & the heating relatively good; heat & food are the two things I refuse to economize on. Now, I have got my Anglo-phobia out, for the brighter side:
First: if only you could have seen Ted & me opening our presents! It is, we feel, as if you had been secretly listening to all our out-loud wishes this past month & filled them to the letter! I was debating whether to write you about a warm nightgown (you can imagine what the atrocities are like here!) & I can hardly bear to get out of the warm silky lovely aqua robe which matches our walls---I swish around in the luxurious full-length skirts feeling very grand. I think the package with all the many presents was our very favorite! I have been dancing around the house, using the polishing-duster, the dish cloths, the oven regulator thermometer (a blessing especially for baking) & the marvelous meat-thermometer, which did a shoulder of lamb perfectly over the weekend---Sue came Sunday, is staying in a rooming house nearby & studying; she is engaged to be married to a nice boy Whitney Bolton,* a Princeton Phd & former Fulbright, Ted’s age (but very nervous & rather weak in health) who is finishing his navy stint now; I am so glad, for it makes it easier to talk to Sue; his mother* is one of the associate editors at Doubleday, his father* a well-known New York play critic, his stepmother* a Broadway actress; and with all this, Sue’s stupid family won’t approve or come to a wedding because he is half Jewish! Well. I am so happy about Ted’s just fitting into our family so naturally. Ted is overjoyed about the shaving set; I myself have never seen anything so beautiful---& the sumptuous monograms. He just threw away all his old things & is using it daily. The darling one has just never had anything nice; I got him some beautiful brown felt wool-lined slippers, a fountain-pen, socks,& ourselves some books & two giant pottery coffee mugs good for soup etc. He gave me a lovely scented powder & the most gorgeous big black mohair shawl-stole which feels warm as feathery-fur. We went up to Yorkshire the day before Christmas, bringing a duck & some sweets & scarves for Ted’s parents; Ted’s mother had a heart-attack a month ago because of high blood pressure due to overweight, but looked fine. Ted & I cooked the Christmas dinner---my first roast duck, which I stuffed with mashed potatoes ‘& onion & basted with orange juice; very good. Dear thoughtful Ira Scott* sent us a huge SS Pierce* box of delicacies---I was delighted: maple sugar (which Ted had never tasted & made me homesick it was so delicious), jams, pickled peaches & sweet watermelon pickle, cheese crackers, & even a tin of crepe suzettes! I felt like a refugee marvelling over a Care package. Both Dot & grampy sent $10 each (do thank them so---I’ll write a note soon), Mrs. Prouty the $25 check I sent you to deposit; dear Aunt Helen* $2. I’ll write them all, but do thank them if you see them. How did the TV program go? I hope you got our card in time, & Warren. Have our presents to each of you come yet? Let us know if you like any of the pictures. I spent the whole week before Christmas shopping & writing about 25 Christmas letters. Whew. Now, after this cold, I hope to have no hindrance for the next two weeks of intense writing & study before term begins. I am gradually coming to cope with practical business without too much effort---a grocer delivers stock supplies once a week; we have our own butcher (only regular customers get the good cuts), milk is delivered every day, & I have just started to use a laundry service for sheets & Ted’s shirts; it’s a 3-mile round-trip bike ride to the one town Bendix laundromat in town & nothing dries in our kitchen & ironing takes too much time with my academic schedule; so it will be a load off my work---I still take all little things, towels, socks, underwear etc. to the laundromat. I just discovered that the British currency is simply not exchangeable into dollars---it is almost a dictatorial prohibition for Britishers to travel to the USA---we’re going to find out how much Ted is allowed to bring over. But with all our big bills---visa (£9), ship-fare (£72), packing costs, etc., we shouldn’t have to worry about anything left over in pounds; however, we don’t want to lose any precious dollars by changing them in ££ here & so will send all checks post haste to you to deposit. How much have I in my little bank account now? I’ve written letters to (continued next letter→)
xx
Sivvy
(continued)
Hello again!
As I was saying, I’ve written letters to ask if there would be a chance for us to apply for a position teaching freshman English next year---I’ve written for Ted to Harvard & Amherst (& I think may also try Brandeis & Tufts) & for myself to Smith, Radcliffe, Jackson* & Brandeis. I do hope something works out; I realize what competition one is in for Phd candidates with teaching experience are increasing yearly; will you suggest any other places in Massachusetts? If Ted could be considered for the Harvard job teaching creative writing, I wouldn’t care where I taught thereabout! The first year is more or less expendable; I’ll consider us lucky if we get anything together!
Just before Christmas, Ted & I banded forces for two days to attack the kitchen, which made me shudder each time I walked into it, it was so filthy dirty; we heated tons of hot water, gingerly threw all the filthy dishes & useless trash from the pantry (discovering, o horror, countless spiders) & scrubbed ceiling (where plaster flaked like leprousy), walls, cold stone floors (no basements, so you can imagine how cold!) & got the years accumulation of dirt silted in corners out with a knife. We painted ceiling & walls a lovely light blue, & I got red & white checked oilcloth for all the shelves; with my pots & marvelous new utensils from you hanging up it all looks beautifully hygenic now; we are seeing about a paraffin heater to keep going in it all day.
Now for something very important: we’re getting to work on Ted’s visa form, which is a terrible nuisance because all documents have to be original with two duplicates, so we have to write off for all of them.. The thing is, will you please be Ted’s sponsor? It involves a good deal of red-tape, but I’ll copy it all here.
He has neither personal funds nor yet an assured job to prove he won’t be a “charge” on America, so the only alternative is to have an American sponsor. Here are the items to be included, everything IN DUPLICATE:
Affidavits of Support: “There is no prescribed form for an affidavit of support other than that it be a statement (IN DUPLICATE) sworn to before a notary public. However, in order to assist the sponsor, there is suggested below the information he may wish to include in his affidavit. Each item should be FULLY covered, using complete sentences.
1. Sponsor’s full name and address, place and date of birth, present marital and citizenship status and number of dependents.
2. Applicant’s name and address. (Ted’s)
3. Sponsor’s statement guaranteeing the applicant’s support, should the need arise, until the applicant becomes an American citizen or permanently departs from the United States, whichever is sooner, & giving the reason why he is willing to undertake such obligation (relationship, friendship, etc.)
4. Information concerning the sponsor’s occupation & salary, & value of real estate, bank deposits, bonds, insurance policies & other assets such as car, furniture, etc.
5. If the sponsor is planning to marry the applicant he should state that the is legally free to marry. (Not applicable!)
Also: EVIDENCE OF SPONSOR’S FINANCIAL RESOURCES Important: The sponsor, in additio
n to the affidavit, should furnish evidence of the value of his assets as proof that he is financially able to support the applicant if the need arises. Such evidence should be in DUPLICATE & should preferably be of the types described below:
Types of Assets: prefered evidence, in DUPLICATE:
1) Income: Certified copy of latest income tax return, or employer’s statement indicating salary and length and permanency of employment
2) Bank deposits, stock & bonds: Bank official’s or stock broker’s statement indicating bank balance and when account opened & present market value of any bonds or stocks.
3). Real estate: Real estate agent’s statement indicating value of equity in real estate.
4). Insurance: Insurance agent’s statement indicating policies cash surrender value.
Whew! That’s that! We realize it’s a terrible bother, but would appreciate it so if you would help us out on it as soon as possible. Remember to write Ted’s name fully as EDWARD JAMES HUGHES the whole time. (He is not a junior; his parents are The William Hughes).
Actually, I am most happy at last, settled down, in spite of my eagerness to be back in my beloved New England; how lucky I am to be married to such a kind, handsome wonderful person, though; I don’t know what I would have done through this 2nd year alone! We share our thoughts continually on our most intense interests, all we read, write & think; how much closer we must be than couples where the man has a business job he wants to forget when he comes home, or one the woman understands nothing about! Ted is so appreciative about my cooking it makes kitchen work a joy; we have steak fish-in-milk; rich vegetable stews; marvellous Italian spaghetti with meat-sauce; pork & sweet breads, fruit all the time heaped on the sideboard (we take your super-vitamins religiously). But I can’t wait to make him cakes, feathery pies, broiled chicken, parfaits etc etc. Do write; I hope you are well after the strain of Christmas preparations; take good care of yourself; we look so forward to coming home.
