Eternity bores me: An analysis of Sylvia Plath’s Rejection of Divinity in “Years”
A literary analysis written in a random brainwave after watching Sinners at 10.30 pm. Link to “Years” by Sylvia Plath: https://allpoetry.com/poem/8498387-Years-by-Sylvia-Plath
Is eternity really all that it’s cracked up to be? In “Years”, Sylvia Plath challenges conventional notions of eternity, immortality, and divinity. Spanning six stanzas of free-flowing verse, the poem delivers a pointed critique of Christianity and its promise of everlasting life.
In stanza 1, Plath utilizes zoomorphism to portray “years” as “animals”, turning a concept of the cyclical movement of time into something familiar and seemingly sentient to the readers. However, she then juxtaposes this by ascribing them descriptions as “from the outer” and “space of holly”. This distances readers from the “years” and paints them instead as exotic and seemingly out of this world – the diction of “space” and “outer” contributes to this idea of unfamiliarity. Plath then states that they are “not the thoughts (she) turns on”. We can understand this to mean that the “years” are not something that can be flipped on and off like a light switch or stopped; rather, they are fluid and constantly in motion. This, again, aligns with the earlier zoomorphism, evoking themes of wildness, an uncontrollable quality, and fluidity of movement. Furthermore, she writes in lines 4-5 that “they freeze and are”, showing that she sees years as an absolute idea; an axiom of the universe. The tone here is also almost reverent and worshipful in portraying it as “so pure,” carrying connotations of divinity and virtue, seemingly out of the reach of human understanding. As readers, we know what “years” are – stanza 1 seeks to defamiliarize and reimagine the construct in a new light.
However, in stanza 2, Plath addresses God himself, writing that “O God, I am not like you”. She separates herself from God, and in doing so, rejects the concept of divinity and the religious ideology that comes with it. She taunts him: "I am not like you / In your vacuous black”. The word vacuous has two denotations: the first being empty; the second an adjective referring to a lack of thought or intelligence, of the state of mindlessness. This is humorous for the reasons of irony: Plath labels God, a figure commonly associated with all-knowing wisdom, as a thoughtless idiot. Moreover, in describing God with the colour black, she associates him with a colour widely used as a motif for evil and sin, the very opposite of the virtue that God symbolizes. Furthermore, in keeping with the motif of outer space, she writes that God has “stars stuck all over (him)”. Conventionally, “stars” are seen as beautiful, otherworldly objects carrying religious connotations (read: the “star” of Jerusalem”, the identification of seven stars as the angels of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation). Plath subverts this by painting them as “bright stupid confetti”, showing that these “stars” are but a poor imitation of the real spheroids of plasma. In stating in the last two lines of the stanza that “Eternity bores me / I never wanted it”, Plath challenges the promise of everlasting life offered by God by repudiating its legitimacy; simultaneously, she questions the sustainability of “eternity” and believes that she personally would not want it for herself.
In contrast, what deeply appeals to Plath – “What (she) love(s)” – is “the piston in motion”, “their merciless churn”, and “the hooves of the horses”. The “churn” of the “piston” and “hooves” alludes to sublime movement; more precisely, it alludes to the repeated, continuous movement of both machine and flesh. This is reminiscent of the pattern of “years” as a cyclical, repeating process. Compared to these, the “great Stasis” offered by eternity and god appears deeply lacking. She wonders if this is indeed the year of the tiger and wonders if that’s the source of the roar at their door. Or perhaps it is Christ, his “awful / God-bit” eager to leave his body and “be done with it” (i.e., his crucifixion/death). In questioning, “What is so great in that!”, she further rejects divinity and imbues the concept of eternity with negative connotations of stagnation. Moreover, the stanza break and the use of enjambment between “awful” and “god-bit” is a visual allusion to the “breaking” of Jesus’s body, both literal and metaphorical.
The poem ends abruptly. Plath speaks assertively – “the hooves will not have it” / In blue distance the piston hiss”. Thus, in “years”, Plath expresses a deep disdain for the stagnant, monolithic eternity offered by God in favor of the dynamism of life. To live is to embrace uncertainty and change; undoubtedly, Plath would agree.
