Rating: 
Summary: Collection Tracks the Course of a Genius's Rise and Fall
Review: Anyone who has not discovered Plath's poetry-- distinctly superior to her prose-- would be greatly served to seek out a slim volume called "Crossing the Water." This haunting collection features most of her greatest poems from what I think to be her most creative years: 1957-1959. If these don't grab you, then give up on her altogether. However, the Collected Poems are the inevitable place to continue since they include her early promising works, as well as those dark pithy gems that characterize her bitterly twisted slide into the furthest reaches of her capacity for cynicism and despair. A superb collection.
Rating:
Summary: Collection Tracks the Course of a Genius's Rise and Fall
Review: Anyone who has not discovered Plath's poetry-- distinctly superior to her prose-- would be greatly served to seek out a slim volume called "Crossing the Water." This haunting collection features most of her greatest poems from what I think to be her most creative years: 1957-1959. If these don't grab you, then give up on her altogether. However, the Collected Poems are the inevitable place to continue since they include her early promising works, as well as those dark pithy gems that characterize her bitterly twisted slide into the furthest reaches of her capacity for cynicism and despair. A superb collection.
Rating:
Summary: Flora in the vast windless threadwork of a tapestry.
Review: Beautiful, fluent, expressive, touching, sad, cynical, bitter, angry, pensive, thoughtful,witty, dark, humane, reflective, poignant. Mere words do not suffice for the glorious work Plath has left behind. The legacy of Sylvia Plath's poetry extends beyond the realms of literature. It is as important a part of our lives as anything else. And more importantly, for all our lives Sylvia Plath still matters and always will. This beautifully compiled edition of poetry, shows us life through the eyes of a woman who was truly one of her kind.
Rating:
Summary: Deep,profound,and delightfully disturbing
Review: By reading this book you are entering the world of Sylvia Plath.Her happiness and her depression.Poems like "The Ghosts Leavetaking","Daddy",and "Ariel" are filled with beautiful language with some of the most energetic language with a disturbing message.It will leave ytou satisfied and slightly chilled.
Rating:
Summary: All Any Fan Should Need
Review: For any fan of Plath's work, this is a must have. Collecting all her major work, this edition, though not collecting every poem, still collects all anyone could hope to have in one collection without having a complete edition, which doesn't exist yet. Don't waste time with the smaller editions of her work. Go for the whole motion with this one. Sure Ted Hughes put it together. Don't hold it against him. Whether you like him or not, Plath's work surpasses his work as an editor.
Rating:
Summary: There is just something about Sylvia Plath
Review: Gosh, I love Sylvia Plath's prose and poetry. I could read and reread some of her poems again and again. This is a great collection of her poems. I keep this book loose on my bookshelf when I feel like getting shivers up my spine before I go to sleep. There are some poems that I can just read and reread over and over again that make me feel... oh, mysterious, anxious, happy, perplexed... and Sylvia Plath is one of the poets who has written multiple poems that give me those feelings. Most people who like poetry are familiar with Mirror or Daddy, but there are other poems that people don't know about. I loved the sonnet "To Time" and the poem "Mystic." It is interesting to read her poems knowing what she was going through... reading the poems that coincide with certain events in her life, like her marriage to Ted Hughes, and poems that she wrote about her attempted suicides. I suggest this collection to anyone who is interested in this woman... and I also recommend that you read The Bell Jar as you read her poems, or maybe a few of her journal entries. Sylvia Plath is one of those poets that writes about herself, and knowing background on her life is crucial in understanding these poems. Well, you can decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Must-have for Plath Fans
Review: I became interested in Sylvia Plath after writing a research paper on her in 11th grade. This collection of poems is tremendous. I am so impressed with the number of poems Plath wrote during her short life. My favorite poems are the ones from "Arial." Many of the poems I don't understand, but I still enjoy them. They're just so well written. I think she was one of the best female writers of the 20th century. Readers not familiar with Plath may want to read one of her earlier collections before purchasing this book. Her style is not for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Most poems fall short
Review: I first came across Sylvia Plath in an anthology of modern poetry. Her poems "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus" blew me away. The former may well be, in my opinion, the best poem ever written by a woman, and one of the five best written by anyone in the last two centuries. Buying this book, I expected more of the same. Unfortunately, I found most of her early work to be dissapointingly typical. The reason Plath is so controversial is that her greatness is linked inextricably to her darkness. Before the latter manifested during her divorce and subsequent depression, there just wasn't that much to her. In other words, much of her early poetry is that of a reasonably intelligent woman- entertaining, even a little intriguing, but lacking the fury of "Lady Lazarus", the darkness of "A Birthday Present", or the fatalistic beauty of "Ariel". And while there are some glimmers of the genius that is to come (The Colossus, I Am Vertical), they aren't many. My advice to any prospective reader is to save some time and money and pick up her collection "Ariel", which contains 90% of her essential work.
Rating:
Summary: Most poems fall short
Review: I first came across Sylvia Plath in an anthology of modern poetry. Her poems "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus" blew me away. The former may well be, in my opinion, the best poem ever written by a woman, and one of the five best written by anyone in the last two centuries. Buying this book, I expected more of the same. Unfortunately, I found most of her early work to be dissapointingly typical. The reason Plath is so controversial is that her greatness is linked inextricably to her darkness. Before the latter manifested during her divorce and subsequent depression, there just wasn't that much to her. In other words, much of her early poetry is that of a reasonably intelligent woman- entertaining, even a little intriguing, but lacking the fury of "Lady Lazarus", the darkness of "A Birthday Present", or the fatalistic beauty of "Ariel". And while there are some glimmers of the genius that is to come (The Colossus, I Am Vertical), they aren't many. My advice to any prospective reader is to save some time and money and pick up her collection "Ariel", which contains 90% of her essential work.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: I have been reading Plath ever since middle school. Now that I am in college, I bought this book so I would have all of her poetry. My favorite is "Pursuit." If you love reading poetry then you must get this book.
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