Mushrooms Lyrics
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly
Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.
Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.
Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,
Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,
Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We
Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking
So many of us!
So many of us!
We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,
Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:
We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.
About
This poem from Sylvia Plath’s first collection, The Colossus and Other Poems, explores the idea that the oppressed will quietly rise up, or the “meek shall inherit the earth”, as in Mathhew 5:5. The over-arching metaphor is of women, as an oppressed group, represented by the characteristics of mushrooms — growing quietly and unobtrusively, but nonetheless emerging.
Many argue that, given Plath’s history with men (see “Daddy”), she is suggesting that women will eventually overtake the opposite sex. However, the poem has potential for giving a voice to any number of voiceless people.
Structure
The poem is technically very controlled, in syllabic form, that is, where the meter is determined by the number of syllables per line; in this case five, with two or three stresses. The eleven three-lined stanzas, known as tercets, are typical of Plath.
She makes powerful use of enjambment, where a clause is split at the line or even stanza break to maintain the syllable count. The metronomic effect that comes from this conveys the poem’s sense of a quiet but relentless build-up to revolution.
For comparison see The Applicant by Sylvia Plath.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
A poem
- 3.Night Shift
- 4.Sow
- 5.The Eye-Mote
- 7.Faun
- 8.Departure
- 9.The Colossus
- 10.Lorelei
- 11.Point Shirley
- 14.Aftermath
- 15.The Thin People
- 17.Mushrooms
- 18.I Want, I Want
- 21.A Winter Ship
- 22.Full Fathom Five
- 23.Blue Moles
- 24.Strumpet Song
- 25.Man in Black
- 26.Snakecharmer
- 29.Medallion
- 31.Moonrise
- 32.Spinster
- 33.Frog Autumn
- 38.Sculptor
- 40.The Stones