--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not want a plain box, I want a…" description: "\"I do not want a plain box, I want a sarcophagus With tigery stripes, and a face on it Round as the moon, to stare up. I want to be looking at them when..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cf/sylvia-plath-149_baby_i-do-not-want-a-plain-box-i-want-a-sarco_2791591.jpg" --- # I do not want a plain box, I want a sarcophagus With… ![“I do not want a plain box, I want a sarcophagus With tigery stripes, and a face on it Round as the moon, to stare up. I want to be looking at them when they come Picking among the dumb minerals, the roots. I see them already-the pale, star-distance faces. Now they are nothing, they are not even…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cf/sylvia-plath-149_baby_i-do-not-want-a-plain-box-i-want-a-sarco_2791591.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cf/sylvia-plath-149_baby_i-do-not-want-a-plain-box-i-want-a-sarco_2791591.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cf/sylvia-plath-149_baby_i-do-not-want-a-plain-box-i-want-a-sarco_2791591.jpg) > “I do not want a plain box, I want a sarcophagus With tigery stripes, and a face on it Round as the moon, to stare up. I want to be looking at them when they come Picking among the dumb minerals, the roots. I see them already-the pale, star-distance faces. Now they are nothing, they are not even babies. I imagine them without fathers or mothers, like the first gods. They will wonder if I was important.” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker imagines alien beings, reflecting on insignificance and longing for recognition. **In simple terms:** Imagining distant beings reveals personal yearning. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and wonder. Themes existence loneliness creativity Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal reflection - science fiction writing Key Concepts existentialism imagination identity Questions to Reflect On - What does the “sarcastic sarcophagus” symbolize? - How does longing shape your self‑view? A Different Perspective The abstract imagery may obscure clear meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby/) [Boxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boxes/) [Distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distance/) [Dumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumb/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Faces Babies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces-babies-3383331/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Minerals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minerals/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Pale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pale/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Roots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roots/) [Sarcophagus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sarcophagus-934614/) [Sarcophagus Tigery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sarcophagus-tigery-3383330/) [Stare Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stare-want-1288083/) [Staring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Stripes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stripes/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Sarcophagus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-sarcophagus-3383329/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [“I stare at her above me and want her to pry me open, to crack my ribs, lick my heart, break my bones and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-hodkin/i-stare-at-her-above-me-and-want-her-to-pry-me-open-to-crack-my-ribs/) [Michelle Hodkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-hodkin/) > [“The fundamentals will cause us all to stand and stare; our want for material possessions, our possession and passing on of heirlooms, our want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pont/the-fundamentals-will-cause-us-all-to-stand-and-stare-our-want-for/) [Simon Pont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pont/) > [“Shakespeare told us precious little of the man whom he entombed in his linguistic sarcophagus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/shakespeare-told-us-precious-little-of-the-man-whom-he-entombed-in/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [SARCOPHAGUS, n. Among the Greeks a coffin which being made of a certain kind of carnivorous stone, had the peculiar property of devouring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/sarcophagus-n-among-the-greeks-a-coffin-which-being-made-of-a-certain/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“What on earth did you want with an early Christian sarcophagus, Elliot?" "To put myself in it, my dear fellow. It was of very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/what-on-earth-did-you-want-with-an-early-christian-sarcophagus-elliot/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“The sarcophagus was huge. Nearly a ton in weight and almost as wide as it was long. 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Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. 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