Although she grew up near the ocean and fascinated by the power of nature, Sylvia Plath spent most of her life in the suburbs and in city. In July 1960, however, she and Ted Hughes went camping for a week at Rock Lake, Canada. Not only were she and her husband free from the constant pressures of writing and teaching, but she had never been so far removed from the civilized world she was accustomed to before. His reaction was therefore naturally intense. These feelings are reflected in “Two Campers in Cloud Country,” which describes the new world Plath discovered in Canada, entirely distinct from the respectable (and, some say, prissy) life she had previously led in the American suburbs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Plath's descriptions of the lake and the life behind it create two distinct worlds, as she differentiates between the tame city with its concrete details and the wild country with almost magical possibilities. The first line of the poem says, “In this land there is neither measure nor balance,” suggesting that the rules she is so accustomed to no longer apply. Rather than the usual restrictions that accompany being a woman in the mid-20th century, there is a profound sense of freedom. Instead of tiny “tagged elms,” the trees surrounding it are tall and wild enough to reach the “clouds that shame man” above. Back home, Plath is accustomed to walks in public gardens filled with "tame tea roses", but feels more invigorated surrounded by a boundless, undomesticated landscape where rocks and woods dominate. If his language describing his house is familiar and concrete, his new observations are more mystical. For example, she describes feeling small compared to the forest around her by saying that she cannot control the trees here "like local trolls under the spell of a higher being." Clearly, this strange new world is both more inspiring and more terrifying than Plath's orderly life at home. Despite the profound differences between the two places, the poem makes it clear that both are civilizations of sorts. Boston is full of “polite skies,” “plates and forks,” and “uncle-friendly” skies. The Canadian wilderness, however, is not yet so clearly formed. Instead, Plath imagines that the rocks and trees create a place where people are not entirely welcome – a “perfect cold dynasty.” As the meaning of civilization is transformed in the poem, the speaker's self-perception is also altered. Although she originally believed that she had the ability to fit in as she was in this place, she realizes, as the poem continues, that she must see herself as both more small and less important in order to fully understand its environment. Despite (or perhaps because of) Plath's perfectionism and self-importance, she responds, "It's comfortable, for a change, to want to say so little." Far from university stress, she is free to exist without being asked anything. As she begins to feel both smaller and less connected to the rigid societal rules of the house, she tells the reader, "A month from now, we'll be wondering what plates and forks are for." » Its loosening grip on the ties that bind it to human civilization are further represented in several historical references. She calls the wilderness “the final frontier of the great and impetuous spirit,” a.