Analysis Of To A Daughter Leaving Home By Linda Pastan

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There is a special bond between parents and children, but there is always uncertainty, whether it’s with the parents having to let go or the children, now adults, reminiscing on the times they had with their parents. The poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Pastan is a very emotional poem about what you can assume: a daughter leaving home. Then the poem “Alzheimer 's" by Kelly Cherry is about the poet’s father, a former professional musician who develops the disease. These are only two examples that show the ambivalence between the parents and the children.
The speaker in “To a Daughter Leaving Home” is a parent who seeks to enlighten how special times can be, and how easily it is to loose a daughter. In this case, the special time was when the parent was teaching the 8-year-old daughter how to ride a bike in the park. The hidden meaning tells the reader about the daughter and how quickly her life went until they say goodbye. The poems, poetic devices help create the story into a message. …show more content…

This example of imagery has created an image of the daughter and how she isn’t in full control of the bicycle. As the daughter continues to go down the path the parent is surprised to see that she has gone down a “curved path of the park” (8-10). Poet Linda Pastan used the “curved path” as a symbol to represent life. Life is thrillingly dangerous, tremendously unpredictable and most of all it never goes in one nice straight line. “I kept waiting/ for the thud/ of your crash” (11-13) with this quote we feel the parent’s uneasiness and discomfort about not having control over the daughters bike and for this instant we all feel for what the parent is going though. Having to let go of your child so they can be

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