Ariel, first published in 1965, contains many of Sylvia Plath`s best-known poems, written in an extraordinary burst of creativity just before her death in 1963. Including poems such as `Lady Lazarus`, `Edge`, `Daddy` and `Paralytic`, it was the first of four collections to be published by Faber & Faber. Ariel is the volume on which Sylvia Plath`s reputation as one of the most original, daring and gifted poets of the twentieth century rests. `Since she died my mother has been dissected, analysed, reinterpreted, reinvented, fictionalized, and in some cases completely fabricated. It comes down to this: her own words describe her best, her ever-changing moods defining the way she viewed her world and the manner in which she pinned down her subjects with a merciless eye.` - from Frieda Hughes`s introduction to Ariel