--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My thoughts are crabbed and sallow, My…" description: "\"My thoughts are crabbed and sallow, My tears like vinegar, Or the bitter blinking yellow Of an acetic star. Tonight the caustic wind, love, Gossips lat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/sylvia-plath-149_bitter_my-thoughts-are-crabbed-and-sallow-my-te_2608685.jpg" --- # My thoughts are crabbed and sallow, My tears like vinegar… ![“My thoughts are crabbed and sallow, My tears like vinegar, Or the bitter blinking yellow Of an acetic star. Tonight the caustic wind, love, Gossips late and soon, And I wear the wry-faced pucker of The sour lemon moon. While like an early summer plum, Puny, green, and tart, Droops upon its wizened…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/sylvia-plath-149_bitter_my-thoughts-are-crabbed-and-sallow-my-te_2608685.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/sylvia-plath-149_bitter_my-thoughts-are-crabbed-and-sallow-my-te_2608685.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/sylvia-plath-149_bitter_my-thoughts-are-crabbed-and-sallow-my-te_2608685.jpg) > “My thoughts are crabbed and sallow, My tears like vinegar, Or the bitter blinking yellow Of an acetic star. Tonight the caustic wind, love, Gossips late and soon, And I wear the wry-faced pucker of The sour lemon moon. While like an early summer plum, Puny, green, and tart, Droops upon its wizened stem My lean, unripened heart.” [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 likens emotional pain to sour, acidic imagery, conveying deep melancholy and self‑reflection. **In simple terms:** Pain feels sour and acidic. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and process inner turmoil. Themes melancholy self‑reflection imagery pain Mood poignant introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - mindfulness practices Key Concepts Poetic metaphor emotional expression Questions to Reflect On - What personal experiences fuel such imagery? - How can art aid emotional healing? A Different Perspective Poetic language may obscure practical coping. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Broken ; heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken-heart/) [Caustic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caustic/) [Gossip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gossip/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Lemons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lemons/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) [Yellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yellow/) ## Related quotes > [Life is sweeter than sugar but at the same time it is as sour as a lemon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curly/life-is-sweeter-than-sugar-but-at-the-same-time-it-is-as-sour-as-a/) [Curly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curly/) > [“for a large lemon moon was only just setting in the forest of high grass above their heads,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/for-a-large-lemon-moon-was-only-just-setting-in-the-forest-of-high/) [G.K. 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Agnew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spiro-t-agnew/) > [The bitter attacks I faced were far worse than any fighter I ever faced in the ring. The caustic remarks, the threats to injure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-johnson/the-bitter-attacks-i-faced-were-far-worse-than-any-fighter-i-ever/) [Jack Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-johnson/) > [The cynical, caustic, acid-tongued New York drama critic Addison De Witt introduces his protege/date of the moment, a bimbo date and so-called actress named…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sanders/the-cynical-caustic-acid-tongued-new-york-drama-critic-addison-de/) [George Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sanders/) > [I mean, sometimes we do do that, The National Anthem was a caustic satire and sometimes that's the way to go with the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-mean-sometimes-we-do-do-that-the-national-anthem-was-a-caustic/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [English audiences of working people are like an instrument that responds to the player. Thought ripples up and down them, and if in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/english-audiences-of-working-people-are-like-an-instrument-that/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [“...but I was not very good at hiding my displeasure at mental sleepiness and mediocrity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlene-bauer/but-i-was-not-very-good-at-hiding-my-displeasure-at-mental-sleepiness/) [Carlene Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlene-bauer/) > [ I always thought that Seth \[Rogen\] was a fun, caustic, bombastic, sweet, underdog-type of person that I would root for the way you used… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-apatow/i-always-thought-that-seth-rogen-was-a-fun-caustic-bombastic-sweet/) [Judd Apatow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-apatow/) > [Too caustic? To hell with the costs, we'll make the picture anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-goldwyn/too-caustic-to-hell-with-the-costs-we-ll-make-the-picture-anyway/) [Samuel Goldwyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-goldwyn/) > [Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open and that...may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/debate-on-public-issues-should-be-uninhibited-robust-and-wide-open/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [It was an axiom of "containment" that no part of the known world could be considered neutral. "Neutralism" was among the Cold Warriors' gravest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-was-an-axiom-of-containment-that-no-part-of-the-known-world-could/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ "Masters of War" \[of Bob Dylan\] wasn't peacenik, anti-war stuff. With its minor key and uncompromising final lines ("And I hope that you die/And… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/masters-of-war-of-bob-dylan-wasn-t-peacenik-anti-war-stuff-with-its/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. 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No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. 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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. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Bitter quotes > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. 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