Sexton compares Plath's suicide to an old belonging in the couplet "what is thy death but an old belonging" (54-55). The couplet serves to convey that the speaker is getting over the initial shock of her friend's death. The comparison between Plath's death and an old belonging implies that the speaker had a strong emotional attachment and understanding of Plath's suicide, but it is now more of a memory that lingers than something that consumes her mind every day. Even so, Plath's death still had a profound impact on the speaker because Plath's death involuntarily forced her to contemplate and reflect on her own emotions and thoughts about suicide. She experiences an emotional journey that places her on the other side of the death she once fantasized about. The term “old belonging” illustrates how the speaker previously dreamed and desired death. However, after experiencing the emotional burden of being on the other side of the death he once desired, he reconsiders his wishes. The tone shifted from that of mourning and envy to something she longed for, an “old belonging” (55). The sharp left turn conveyed in the speaker's tone articulates the emotional journey he has endured. Therefore, the relationship between Plath's death and an old belonging shows how the speaker no longer wants that death, but still remembers what it feels like to be the person with thoughts of