Poem "You're": what do these lines mean?:- A common-sense / thumbs-down on the Dodo's mode- Trawling your dark as owls do- Farther off than...

The poem is indeed a complex one, and there will be more
interpretations out there, I'm sure.

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- A common-sense / thumbs-down on the Dodo's
mode

Here I think Plath is
recognising the innate instinct and zest for survival that a young child has. She would
marvel at this as, particularly for someone who harbours suicidal tendencies herself, it
is a blessing. The child as a human will not follow the 'Dodo's mode' and will be a
survivor.

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-Trawling your dark as owls
do

This works as a reference
to the fact that babies do not have regular sleep and may seem nocturnal. They are alert
at unusual times, seeking attention. Of course this could also be the baby in the
womb.

- father
off than
Australia

 represents the
boundary of understanding which still exists between mother and child, although it is
usually the closeness of this relationship which is celebrated. The child is another
being, complex in its motivations and not clear in its communication. A frustrating
distance can be perceived in a mother trying to understand her young child's demands and
being unable to do so. This could also be seen as an exaggeration of the physical
distance which a pregnant mother can feel from her child before it is
delivered.