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Sylvia Plath: A life in photographs: 1957-1959

In June 1957, Plath and Hughes returned to New York, and then spent time in Eastham on Cape Cod. They wrote and explored the area. By September, they were in Northampton and Plath prepared for her classes. Teaching was hard and prevented Plath from having the energy to really write, and by Spring 1958, they made plans to leave academia and live as full-time writers. They moved to Beacon Hill in Boston; Plath took odd jobs and both found productivity in their freedom. Plath resumed seeing Dr. Ruth Beuscher, and in the spring of 1959, audited a writing course with Robert Lowell, and befriended Anne Sexton. Plath & Hughes travelled across the US and Canada in the summer and then spent the autumn writing at Yaddo, in Saratoga Springs, NY. At this time Plath was also pregnant. Plath and Hughes sailed for England in December. The next photograph gallery covers the period of 1960-1963, when Plath & Hughes lived in London and North Tawton, England.

Please contact me regarding use of the photographs on this website. No photographs may be used without my consent.



Caption:
Eastham
Cape Cod

Reference:
Plath & Hughes honeymooned in a cottage much like this.


Caption:
Nauset Light Beach
Eastham
Cape Cod

Reference:
"Where it pours bean green over blue
In the waters off beautiful Nauset."
(from "Daddy").


Caption:
Nauset Light Beach
Cape Cod

Reference:
Sand cliffs, looking north.



Caption:
Rock Harbor
Cape Cod

Reference:
See Plath's first New Yorker poem "Mussel Hunter at Rock Harbor".


Caption:
A cluster of mussels at Rock Harbor.

Reference:
See Plath's poem "Mussel Hunter at Rock Harbor"


Caption:
337 Elm Street
Northampton, Mass.


Reference:
Plath & Hughes lived here whilst from 1957-1958.


Caption:
Child's Memorial Park
Northampton, Mass.

Reference:
See Plath's poem "Child's Park Stones".


Caption:
Stones in Childs Memorial Park. Northampton, Mass.

Reference:
See Plath's poem "Child's Park Stones".


Caption:
A stone in Child's Park
Northampton, Mass.

Reference:
Child's Park has stones like this throughout.


Caption:
Stone lion head founntain
Child's Memorial Park

Reference:
See Plath's poem "Fable of the Rhododendron Stealers" and Journals, pages 393-5.


Caption:
The rose-beds in Child's Memorial Park

Reference:
See "Fable of the Rhododendron Stealers".


Caption:
The path leading from Paradise Pond

References:
See Journals, pages 386-391.


Caption:
9 Willow Street
Boston, Mass.

Reference:
Plath & Hughes lived on the sixth floor of this building.


Caption:
A view over the Boston Public Garden, Boston Common, and Beacon Hill.

Reference:
The red arrow designates 9 Willow Street.


Caption:
Fassett Recording Studio
24 Chestnut Street
Boston, Mass.

Reference:
Just around the corner from 9 Willow Street, Plath recorded her poetry here for the Woodberry Poetry Room.


Caption:
The Ritz (now the Taj)
Boston, Mass.

Reference:
Plath, Sexton, and others came here to drink after attending Robert Lowell's class at Boston University.


Caption:
15 Agawam Road
Waban, Mass.

Reference:
The home of Dr. Ruth Beuscher in the late 1950s.


Caption:
The gate at Yaddo
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Reference:
Plath & Hughes spent the fall of 1959 here. Plath wrote the majority of poems from The Colossus here.


Caption:
The rose garden at Yaddo.

Reference:
See Plath's poem "The Manor Garden".


Caption:
The Manor House
Yaddo.

Reference:
Plath resided in West House off the left hand side of this photograph.


Caption:
Woods at Yaddo.

Reference:
A quiet place for inspiration.


Caption:
Pond at Yaddo.

Reference:
See Plath's poem "Dark Wood, Dark Water".