"Metaphors" By Sylvia Plath

In this poem, the narrator is describing her pregnancy in metaphorical language, exploring an ambivalence about it. She views herself as simply a “means," a carrier for a child. She is merely a “stage,” a hardworking “cow in calf.” She believes she looks as though she has eaten a large bag of green apples. Ultimately, since there is nothing she can do about her pregnancy, she sees herself as having boarded a train which she cannot leave.