George Eliot once said, "All meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation." In Sylvia Plath's poem, "Metaphors," she gives metaphors that can be interpreted many different ways depending on the person. Many different website's interpretations of the poem differ from the intended interpretation of the poem, but most places go along with the actual subject it speaks of, the cycle of pregnancy. Plath's poem gives a lot of metaphors and allusions that describe the path a woman goes through while being pregnant (www.shmoop.com).

In the first line of Plath's poem, she speaks of the time frame, which tells the reader the length of a woman's pregnancy and the struggles that come along with it. "I'm a riddle " which tells the reader that she needs to be figured out and analyzed like a riddle. The " nine syllables" is really talking about the 9 months that a woman carries a child. This line essentially is opening up the poem by explaining that "I'm" a riddle that she is making fun of herself. She is telling the reader that she needs to be figured out like a riddle with nine syllables. This line gives the reader a basis for what the rest of the poem is going to be like (genius.com).

The next line is the kicker for the pregnancy argument because it describes this thing as "An elephant " which is telling the reader that the women is gaining weight and walks heavy like a large animal. The " ponderous home" describes her like the clumsiness of her home because she is pregnant and cannot get all of her work done. She is larger than she used to be, so she is not used to all of the extra weight that she is carrying. The reader sees the humorous side to the situation because most people can picture a fat pregnant woman wondering through the house, knocking things over and not being used to her new size just yet. It's easily relatable to when a young kid is taller than the rest of his peers, so he is clumsy and awkward because he hasn't grown into his body yet (genius.com).

"A melon strolling " refers to the woman's large stomach that is shaped like a melon. The " two tendrils" are her legs that are skinny appendages that support her large melon-like stomach. A tendril is long skinny appendage that is usually related to a plant. Plath uses this metaphor to explain that, like a plant grows, the woman has something growing inside of her. Since she has skinny arms and legs, it fits well with the line above, showing that she is large and her legs don't support her, so she is awkward (genius.com). 

"O red fruit..." indicates her off spring and how the skins red and new to this world. The "ivory" that she is alluding to her purity and how she was once a virgin and so innocent. Lastly the word "timber" alludes to the wood like crucifixion because she killed all of her time and now has to devote all of it to her new child. Red is also the color of love and fruitfulness, love, and care; these are all things involving pregnancy (genius.com).

The belly of the mother is compared to "This loaf's big " or bread that is " yeasty rising." This line speaks about how a mother's belly gets bigger and rises like yeast in bread because she is getting closer to labor.  When a person is making bread the yeast in the bread rises so that someone knows that the bread is almost done. The bread rising is also a metaphor for a women's stomach getting larger the further she is along in the pregnancy cycle. The bread being almost done is an allusion for the mother about to go into labor. 

Like a " fat purse" the woman carries something valuable, for instance like purse can hold gold, diamonds, or money; a woman carries a baby which is also high in value according to Plath. Plath is only referring to herself as the purse because all her job is to carry the baby, cherishes it, and do anything to protect the child. She feels that she is being used by another party, she feels like she is being controlled. She is a little bitter in this part of the poem because she doesn't enjoy being pregnant and the baby is controlling her wife in a way (genius.com).

The woman feels like she is a "means" for someone else in other words she is just there to carry the baby. She is a "stage" which is telling the reader that she does not think that her body is her own. The "calf" is an idiom that's shows the reader that she carries a baby like a cow carries a calf. She is also probably swollen and embarrassed because she is pregnant. When a woman is pregnant her ankles get all swollen because of all of the weight that is on them (genius.com).

She talks about how she has "eaten a bag of green apples" which can be interpreted as a reference to Adam and Eve. The desire/temptation to do the wrong thing is great because she has had to carry a child for nine months and has not been able to do a lot of activities that she is used to doing. The green apples are sour and is a metaphor for her having a sour taste in her mouth because she is tired of having her baby inside of her. In other words, she has a sour attitude because she is sick and tired of all the work that comes along with having a child (genius.com).

When a woman is pregnant she has "Boarded the train " of pregnancy and she needs to understand that " there's no getting off." In the last line of the poem Plath tells the reader that she has become pregnant and she needs to stick with it and go through with the decision she has made. She is so far along with the pregnancy that she can't abort it, it is her child and her responsibility. She is taking full care of this child that is now inside of her (genius.com).

Plath's poem is interpreted as the cycle of pregnancy. The metaphors used in Plath's poem clearly explains to the reader the process people go through pregnancy because when she was writing the poem, she was pregnant. Even though the poem can be interpreted many different ways, Plath only has one meaning for it. (gradesaver.com)

