Sylvia Plath and "Middlemarch"

Is it possible that Sylvia Plath’s poem “The Moon and the Yew Tree” is a reference to Middlemarch?

Specifically, an allusion to Mr. Casaubon’s walk in the yew trees shortly after getting a worrying prognosis from his doctor?

Middlemarch was written in 1871. Plath’s poem was written in 1961. But I think there may be a connection between the two works of art.

The passage in Middlemarch about yew trees and “diseases of the heart” sent me on a poetry tangent in a recent meeting of the Middlemarch book club.

The video above is excerpted from the March 30, 2024 session of book club.

Page 398 of Middlemarch — one of several passages about yew trees, Casaubon, and diseases of the heart.

Upcoming clubs

• The Mozart club led by Chris Lydgate starts May 13

• The Herman Melville club led by Rebecca Brown starts June 1

All clubs are Zoom classes. All meetings are recorded, and all recordings are sent to club members automatically. To join a club, just buy a ticket.

Sylvia Plath read Middlemarch multiple times. She even taught it once at Smith College. Art by Kathryn Rathke