Editing Sylvia Plath (section)

===''The Colossus''===
{{Main|The Colossus and Other Poems}}
{{Quote box |align=right |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
 |quote =<poem>
Nights, I squat in the cornucopia
Of your left ear, out of the wind,

Counting the red stars and those of plum-color.
The sun rises under the pillar of your tongue.
My hours are married to shadow.
No longer do I listen for the scrape of a keel
On the blank stones of the landing.
</poem>
 |source =from "The Colossus", <br>''[[The Colossus and Other Poems]], 1960''
}}

By the time [[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]] published her first collection, ''The Colossus and Other Poems'' in the UK in late 1960, Plath had been short-listed several times in the [[Yale Series of Younger Poets|Yale Younger Poets]] book competition and had her work printed in ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]]'', ''[[The Spectator]]'' and ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]''. All the poems in ''The Colossus'' had been printed in major U.S. and British journals, and she had a contract with ''The New Yorker''.<ref name="Wagner">{{harvnb|Wagner-Martin|1988|pp=2–5}}</ref> It was, however, her 1965 collection ''Ariel'', published posthumously, on which Plath's reputation essentially rests. "Often, her work is singled out for the intense coupling of its violent or disturbed imagery and its playful use of alliteration and rhyme."<ref name="poets1"/>

''The Colossus'' received largely positive UK reviews, highlighting Plath's voice as new and strong, individual and American in tone. [[Peter Dickinson]] at ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' called the collection "a real find" and "exhilarating to read", full of "clean, easy verse".<ref name="Wagner"/> [[Bernard Bergonzi]] at the ''Manchester Guardian'' wrote the book was an "outstanding technical accomplishment" with a "virtuoso quality".<ref name="Wagner"/> From the point of publication, she became a presence on the poetry scene. The book was published in America in 1962 to less-glowing reviews. While her craft was generally praised, her writing was viewed by some critics at the time as more derivative of other poets.<ref name="Wagner"/>