Exploring Parent-Child Relationships in Poetry In 'Before you were mine' by Carol Ann Duffy, '*Mother…' by Simon Armitage, 'On my First Sonne' by Ben Jonson and 'The Song of the Old Mother' by WB Yeats the theme of parent-child relationships is explored. However, each poem makes a different comment about this relationship and the tensions it can create. Parent-child relationships can bring joy and security but also pain and restrictions. The title of the poem 'Before you were mine' instantly tells the reader that the relationship here may be unbalanced. The speaker of the poem is somewhat possessive, the word 'mine' suggesting ownership. The relationship between mother and daughter is explored further by the speaker's reference to her mother's life before her birth: I'm ten years away from the corner you laugh on with your pals, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duff. (ll.1-2) The poem is divided into four stanzas, the first two deal with events before the speaker's birth. This surprising idea implies a certain inevitability; the way the mother lived was bound to end. However, these first two stanzas could also portray a closeness between the two, as the child has knowledge of her mother's earlier life, knowing her friends names. There is the sense in 'Before You were mine' that the mother holds certain regrets: The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh? This line not only evokes the crying of a newborn child but also suggests what their relationship will become. The word 'possessive' creates the idea that the child has a hold on its mother, the reverse of what you might expect. The descriptions of the mother as 'Marilyn' in the 'ballroom with the thousand eyes' before the child's birth imply that the mother had a glamorous life and certain aspirations which were put aside for the child. Similarly, '*Mother…' suggests that parent-child relationships can be restrictive, but here it is the child who struggles to choose between freedom and security, whereas in 'Before You Were Mine' the mother
Stanza three again shows doubtfulness about the mother’s love. We see how the mother locks her child in because she fears the modern world. She sees the world as dangers and especially fears men. Her fear of men is emphasized by the italics used. In the final line of the stanza, the mother puts her son on a plastic pot. This is somewhat symbolic of the consumeristic society i.e. manufactured and cheap.
When writing poetry, there are many descriptive methods an author may employ to communicate an idea or concept to their audience. One of the more effective methods that authors often use is linking devices, such as metaphors and similes. Throughout “The Elder Sister,” Olds uses linking devices effectively in many ways. An effective image Olds uses is that of “the pressure of Mother’s muscles on her brain,” (5) providing a link to the mother’s expectations for her children. She also uses images of water and fluidity to demonstrate the natural progression of a child into womanhood. Another image is that of the speaker’s elder sister as a metaphorical shield, the one who protected her from the mental strain inflicted by their mother.
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
There is no greater bond then a boy and his father, the significant importance of having a father through your young life can help mold you to who you want to become without having emotional distraught or the fear of being neglected. This poem shows the importance in between the lines of how much love is deeply rooted between these two. In a boys life he must look up to his father as a mentor and his best friend, the father teaches the son as much as he can throughout his experience in life and build a strong relationship along the way. As the boy grows up after learning everything his father has taught him, he can provide help for his father at his old-age if problems were to come up in each others
... The mother's approach is a source of terror for the child, written as if it is a horror movie, suspense created with the footsteps, the physical embodiment of fear, the doorknob turns. His terror as he tries to run, but her large hands hold him fast, is indicative of his powerless plight. The phrase, 'She loves him.' reiterates that this act signifies entrapment as there is no reciprocation of the ‘love’.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
Poems are often designed to express deep feelings and thoughts about a particular theme. In Theodore Roethke’s poem, My Papa’s Waltz, and Ruth Whitman’s poem, Listening to grownups quarreling, the theme of childhood is conveyed through their details, although we can neither see a face nor hear a voice. These poems are very much alike in their ideas of how their memories pertain to the attitudes of their childhood; however, the wording and tones of the two poems are distinct in how they present their memories. The two poems can be compared and contrasted through the author’s use of tone, imagery, and recollection of events; which illustrate each author’s memories of childhood.
In the essay I hope to explain why I picked each poem and to suggest
Every parent in this world loves their children more than anything. Even the children can’t stay away from their parents for so long. Nothing in this world could be more precious than the love of a parent has for his/her children. Our parents are always with us no matter what happens. Often in life we make mistakes, but our parents give us supports and teach us to learn from those mistakes and move on with our lives. They also try to teach us from their experience. Parents always make sacrifices to provide for their family. In the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Huges and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, the poets talk about how the parents are always making sacrifices to make their children’s life a little bit easier. Both of these poems reveal the struggle the parents go through in order to provide for their family.
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
"Harlem" was written by Langsatn Hughes. This poem is focusing on the American-African neighborhood "Harlem" in New York City in mid-twenties while the society was filling with discriminations and racism. "My Father as A Guitar" was written by Martin Espada. In the poem, the speaker is comparing his father, who has a heart problem, with a guitar. "Charon 's Cosmology" was written by Charles Simic in 1977. This poem is mainly about a ferryman, whose job is to transfer souls of dead. These three poems have different themes, however, the speaker all used some literary devices to express their thoughts to readers.
The poem I have created was a personal event that has happened to me in my life. I described my feelings towards my mom and dad using positive and negative connotative words. The reason I used positive connotative words to describe my mom was because she means the world to me and has raised four boys all on her own. The opposite was true about my dad who abandoned us, thus I tried to describe him using negative connotative words. One of the connotative words I used to describe my mom was “mom.” The effect of using this word is if I would have just put mother to me it doesn’t show that you love her it just means she is just the women who gave birth to you. However, using mom to me shows that I actually love her and she actually cares for me.
With time poems may have lost their voice, but not their importance. Up to this day, poetry is still one of the greatest forms of artistic expression; Poems speak to emotions and capture feelings. There is no right format of a poem, but yet a world of possibilities. Instead being unchangeable poems are innately open to interpretation; they should be spoken out loud in order to be “heard”, convey truth and cause impact. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot is an extremely meaningful poem; it is one of Elliot’s best-known works and without a doubt a masterpiece (Hillis). T.S. Eliot introduces the poem with a quote from Dante's Inferno (XXVII.61-66), and with that sparks our curiosity. He then makes statements and questions that perhaps everyone has done, or will do at some point in life (Li-Cheng, pp. 10-17). The poem is a legitimate work of the modernist movement, the language used is contemporary; the verses are free and the rhythm flows naturally.
Alfred Tennyson gifted the Victorian Era, and the literary world with two iconic poems. The author explored the themes of personal development and culture clash in one of his most famous poems, “Ulysses”. Tennyson also discovered and analyzed the themes of love and death through his renowned and eminent poem, “Tears Idle, Tears”. The poet was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire in 1809 in the East Lindy district of England. Tennyson experienced numerous amounts of difficulties in his childhood and growing adolescent phases that spilled into his adult life. These trials and tribulations became a foundation and source of inspiration for Tennyson, who used them as a stimulus and catalyst to aide his literary progress and ideas. Two of the most prominent poems that Tennyson wrote were “Ulysses “and “Tears Idle, Tears”. These poems defined the peak of his literary endeavor and symbolized the struggles that Tennyson had experienced in his life. Throughout time readers have been able to distinguish a direct correlation between his life journey and the poems he crafted.
Poetry unlike fiction is solely based on the author’s personal take on a certain subject. The tone, diction, syntax, and mood of a poem are all determined by the author of the poem. For some readers, to interpret a poem or explain the plot can be a difficult task. Other forms of literature such, as fiction is much easier to understand and discuss.