I saw the years of my life spaced along a road in the form of telephone poles threaded together by wires. I counted one, two, three... nineteen telephone poles, and then the wires dangled into space, and try as I would, I couldn't see a single pole beyond the nineteenth. Sylvia Plath
About This Quote

This poem expresses the sense of loss that comes with living for so many years. The speaker sees his life as if it were a telephone pole, one pole after another, with the years running between them. When he reaches the end of his life, he sees that if it had been put together correctly, his life would have stretched out in long lines. He counted the years, and there seemed to be so many, but because of the way they were strung together, he could not count beyond the nineteenth. Even though he wants to see what lies beyond the nineteenth pole (his final years), it is unclear if he can or not.

Source: The Bell Jar

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