by Sylvia Plath
Of an Eskimo.
A North-Pole Bed
Is made of fur.
It’s fine if you’re
An ex-plor-er,
Or if you just
Have a very cold nose.
There’s a built-in oven
To warm your toes.
O who cares much
If a Bed’s big or small
Or lumpy and bumpy –
Who cares at all
As long as its springs
Are bouncy and new.
From a Bounceable Bed
You bounce into the blue –
Over the hollyhocks
(Toodle-oo!)
Over the owls’
To-whit-to-whoo,
Over the moon
To Timbuktoo
With springier springs
Than a kangaroo.
You can see if the Big Dipper’s
Full of stew,
And you may want to stay
Up a week or two.
These are the Beds
For me and for you!
These are the Beds
To climb into:
Pocket-size Beds
And Beds for Snacks,
Tank Beds, Beds
On Elephant Backs,
Beds that fly,
Or go under water,
Bouncy Beds, Beds
You can Spatter and Spotter,
Bird-Watching Beds,
Beds for zero weather –
Any kind of Bed
As long as it’s rather
Special and queer
And full of surprises –
Beds of amazing
Shapes and sizes,
NOT just a white little
Tucked-in-tight little
Nighty-night little
Turn-out-the-light little Bed!
About the Author
Sylvia Plath (1932–63) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and studied at Smith College. In 1955 she went to Cambridge University on a Fulbright scholarship, where she met and later married Ted Hughes. She published one collection of poems in her lifetime, The Colossus (1960), and a novel, The Bell Jar (1963). Her Collected Poems, which contains her poetry written from 1956 until her death, was published in 1981 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
Copyright
This collection first published in 2001 by
Faber & Faber Ltd, Bloomsbury House,
74–77 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2014
The Bed Book was first published in 1976
The It-Doesn’t-Matter Suit was first published in 1996
Mrs Cherry’s Kitchen was first published in 2001
All rights reserved
The Bed Book © Frieda and Nicholas Hughes, 1976
The It-Doesn’t-Matter Suit © Frieda and Nicholas Hughes, 1996
Mrs Cherry’s Kitchen © Frieda and Nicholas Hughes, 2001
Illustrations © David Roberts, 2001
Cover design by Faber; illustration by David Roberts
The right of Sylvia Plath to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
The right of David Roberts to be identified as illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–31465–2
