Please give an explanation of the poem "Mushrooms."

This is a great poem by Sylvia Plath that really forces us
to reconsider mushrooms once again and to look at them in a new way, which is of course
the sign of a great poem. In the poem, Plath personifies fungi and talks from their
perspective, focusing on how they grow so quietly and
secretly:

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Nobody sees
us,

Stops us, betrays us;

The
small grains make room.

Note
the way in which the mushrooms talk about nobody "betraying" them: the element of
secrecy and betrayal adds a somewhat sinister element to their otherwise benign and
"bland-mannered" presence. Again we see another hint that their quiet, subtle growth is
something sinister with the repetition of the phrase "So many of us!" reinforcing the
sheer number of mushrooms and how quickly they can grow and replace. The tone at the end
of the poem becomes very sinister. Consider the last two stanzas and what they
say:

Nudgers and
shovers

In spite of
ourselves.

Our kind
multiplies:

We shall by
morning

Inherit the earth.

Our
foot's in the door.

The
steady, quiet and subtle growth of the mushrooms gives them the surety of their final
dominance, as nothing can stop their strength of
numbers.

Critics seem divided about the meaning of this
poem by Plath, but most seem to agree that the mushrooms stand as a symbol for the way
that steady banality and petty ambition (as symbolised by the mushrooms) are shown to
triumph and be an unstoppable force.