Parent-Child Relationships in the Poems Refugee Mother and Child, Poem at Thirty-Nine and Piano

In Refugee Mother and Child, the nature of relationship portrayed between a mother and child is very tender and personal. The title of this poem directly suggests a connection between a mother and child. The very first line elaborates on this idea, as seen in the metaphor; “No Madonna and child could touch, that picture of a mother's tenderness...” Here the sustained sacred love between the mother and child surpasses the iconography of Mother Mary and Jesus. This signifies that the refugee mother and child shared a distinctive kind of closeness and loving relationship, experienced by no other parent and child.

Achebe creates an image of sadness and grief in the line, “For a son she would soon have to forget”. This provokes a sense of sympathy in the reader. In spite of the grim environment the mother is forced to be in “the air was heavy with odours of diarrhoea of unwashed children”; her strong love is depicted in the phrase “a ghost smile between her teeth”. Figurative speech is used to convey the message to the audience. This instantaneously shows that the mother’s love is more powerful than the devastation around her.

The second stanza again touches upon the bonding between the refugee mother and child when it says “mothers there had long ceased to care, but not this one.” This line portrays that other mothers had lost hope in their child long ago, but this mother refused to give into misery. Hence, the mother’s strong commitment towards her dying child is clearly demonstrated here. Furthermore, unconditional love between the mother and child is shown in the line” as she combed the rust-coloured hair left on his skull” and “singing in her eyes”. Both lines brilliantly illustrate an act that is extraordinarily gentle and met...

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...” portrays a very secure relationship with his mother that he cherished.

The poet D.H. Lawrence's background also shows that he was extremely close to his mother as he grew up. When she was ill in 1910, he assisted her death by giving her sleeping medicine. This act shows he cared a lot for his mother and this is echoed throughout the poem, Piano.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, each nature of relationship is portrayed in a different way. Refugee Mother and Child shows the relationship between a mother and son. Poem at Thirty-Nine illustrates the relationship between a father and a daughter, and Piano portrays the relationship of a mother and son. I think Refugee Mother and Child shows the strongest nature of relationship between a parent and child because the each line has a huge impact on the reader. The nature of relationship keeps increasing as the poem begins.