Sylvia Plath was a woman whose mind was a spectrum of creativity and accomplishment plagued with strong depression and hatred. Throughout her life, Plath began to see the goal of life as death, and neglected any true concept of true love and friendships. Her groundbreaking poems served as a confessional which shocked and puzzled readers with their pessimism and obsession with death and destruction. However, in some of her works, what seems to be poetry filled with visions of death and sorrow, a glimmer of hope appears. Although not always visible, Plath's poems are full of questions that she herself were tormented with throughout her sort life and ultimately chose death as the answer. Sylvia Plath uses stunning imagery to describe the return of hope and faith from her tormenting depression in her poem Mystic.
From the very beginning, Mystic is a poem about something that Plath is possibly trying to sort out and unable to grasp. "The air is a mill of hooks" is the first line of the poem and can be seen with many interpretations. Hooks are used by fisherman to trick fish and bait them. Also, hooks are in the shape of question marks. Therefore, the hooks are used as symbolism for the unknown and represent the questions Plath torments herself with. .
An allusion of Plath's childhood ca possibly is seen within the first stanza. This represents her love of the seashore and marine life and her summers while growing up. The line "whose kiss stings unbearably" possibly serves as a representation for her father who was a bee expert and the effects of his death on her. This stanza seems to portray an image of a peaceful relaxing summer home. However, Path believes it's a place of dangerous hooks and unbearable stings. Plath continues with her description of this summer place I the next stanza. For example, the line "The dead smell of sun on wood cabins" gives a feeling of dread and isolation.