Group Work (Final Test Poetry) 3B

Poetry (derived from the Greek poiesis, "making") is a form of literature that uses
aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound
symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, a prosaic ostensible
meaning. A poem is a literary composition written utilising this principle.

Poetry, literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience
or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning,
sound, and rhythm. Poetry is a style of writing that uses a formal organization and that is
often divided up into lines or stanzas, or it refers to something beautiful.

In other words, poem can be concluded as a way of a person to express their feeling
through words. Poem can be found in everyday life. Poem is not just about words but there
are many things behind them that make them special. For example, the poem which has
mother theme in it. With poem we can write our feeling to our mother or even all mother
around the world.

A mother is the female parent of a child. Mothers are women who inhabit or perform
the role of bearing some relation to their children, who may or may not be their biological
offspring. Thus, dependent on the context, women can be considered mothers by virtue of
having given birth, by raising their child(ren), supplying their ovum for fertilisation, or some
combination thereof. Such conditions provide a way of delineating the concept of
motherhood, or the state of being a mother. Women who meet the third and first categories
usually fall under the terms 'birth mother' or 'biological mother', regardless of whether the
individual in question goes on to parent their child. Accordingly, a woman who meets only
the second condition may be considered an adoptive mother, and those who meet only the
first or only the third a surrogacy mother.



Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Analysis by Budyman

Themes

In terms of subject, the poem might be seen as emphasizing the value of experience and
determination. As previously said, the speaker is a mom speaking to her kid. She is attempting to
convey to him what his life would be like by using the picture of the stairs. No matter how dark or
scary the stairwell becomes, one must keep "climbin'," as the mother does. It is also necessary to
evaluate the piece's historical background. Hughes was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance,
writing extensively about the injustice and prejudice that Black Americans suffer. With this in
mind, the speaker might be viewed as a generic image of an African American mother attempting
to convey the difficulties her black son would experience as he grows older.

Structure

Langston Hughes's 'Mother to Son' is a twenty-line poem contained inside one stanza of
text. Hughes wrote the poem in free verse. This signifies that there is no rhyme or rhythm pattern.
That is not to say that word choice is irrelevant. They are, in reality, poetic in nature. This is evident
in Hughes' careful selection of words that depict a distinct accent, as well as occurrences of half-
rhyme throughout the text.

Literary Devices

In 'Mother to Son,' Langston Hughes employs anaphora, dialect, imagery, and other literary
methods. Anaphora refers to the recurrence of words at the beginning of lines, as well as the
repetition of words throughout the poem. Lines 4-6 and 10-12 show the most anaphora. All of
these lines begin with "And." They also build on one another, leading up to touching and tragic
declarations regarding the son's future troubles.

Hughes' dialectic choices should also be noted by the reader. He abbreviates terms like
"reachin’" rather than "reaching," and "landin's" rather than "landings." This has the effect of
making the verses sound more like songs. It also refers to the narrator's personal upbringing,
leading one to believe that this individual is illiterate. She is a working-class lady speaking
candidly and on her own terms.

The crystal stair is one of the most essential imagery in this painting. Hughes employs the
staircase as an extended metaphor to illustrate the difficulties that life throws at us. The staircase,
according to his speaker, is not "crystal." Instead, it's hazardous, broken up, and covered in "tacks"
and "splinters." She also discusses the staircase's twists and turns, as well as the "landings" one
finally arrives at along the route.

Detailed Analysis

• Line 1-7

Hughes opens the first portion of lines with the speaker addressing her son. "Well, kid,
here's what I'll tell you:" establishes the tone of the discourse as casual but serious She definitely
has something important to tell him, and it won't be easy. The essential point that the mother
wishes to convey to her kid is that she is comparing her own life with one that is simple to navigate
(or up). Moving ahead indicates a stairway with "tacks" and "splinters" emerging from the wood
in her instance. The wood has also been ripped up in places, with entire boards gone. It's risky to
live her life, and each step usually brings something new to fear.

The fact that boards are missing from the stairs reflects her lack of support or the gaps in
her own knowledge of what she should do next. The final paragraphs add to the already painful
and frightening climb she has detailed. Some of the boards that remain on the stairs and the
landings she will reach in the next lines do not have "carpet." Again, she is expressing the
deplorable conditions she has had to endure and how difficult it has been and continues to be for
her to survive.

• Line 8-13

Despite everything that has been said in the first seven lines, the speaker is still moving
forward. She wants to make certain that her son learns this lesson above everything else. She
has been "a-climbin' on" up the figurative stairs of her life "all the while" she has been fighting.She
places landings onto the staircase to represent different stages of her life. These are points when
the stairs may take a bend or where she may be able to rest. She moved ahead and turned the
bend once she reached these "landin's." Even while she was into the "black," the speaker was not
terrified of what may be on the other side. This is another quality she wishes to instill in her son.
Despite knowing how horrible things may go, she is fearful, or at least strong enough, to confront
them.

The locations she is compelled to travel are not just dark, but there has never been any
light there. This suggests she is either the first person to arrive or one of many who have been
through the same dismal hallways of existence.

• Line 14-20

The speaker addresses her son directly again in the concluding line of 'Mother to Son.' She
says "boy" to get his attention and make sure he's still listening to her. The mother reminds her
son that he cannot "turn back" no matter what he is going through now or in the future. There is
nothing down the stairs that will assist one in overcoming an impending difficulty.

She also warns him not to "sit on the steps." Any hesitancy or anxiety will simply
exacerbate the problem. He must endure, particularly beyond the most tough sections. The
speaker also tells her son not to "fall[ing]." The steps must be handled with caution due to the
presence of broken boards, tacks, and splinters. These difficulties, which are not of one's own
creation, are only accentuated by those brought on by one's own decisions. Depending on how
one conducts their own life, the staircase becomes increasingly challenging. In the next three
lines, the speaker emphasizes that even if life is difficult, she will persevere. She is "still climbing"
despite the difficulties.

Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of “Mother,”
Therefore by that dear name I long have called you—
You who are more than mother unto me,
And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you
In setting my Virginia’s spirit free.
My mother—my own mother, who died early,
Was but the mother of myself; but you
Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,
And thus are dearer than the mother I knew
By that infinity with which my wife
Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life

Analysis by Budyman

Structure

Edgar Allan Poe's 'To My Mother' is a fourteen-line Shakespearean sonnet. This poem
adheres to the standard rhyme system of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The poem is divided into two
quatrains, or four-line sets, and one final sestet, or six-line set, the last two lines of which
constitute a couplet.

Poe used half-rhyme in addition to the conventional rhyme system in 'To My Mother.' Slant
rhyme, sometimes known as incomplete rhyme, is visible through the recurrence of assonance
or consonance. This signifies that a vowel or consonant sound is repeated inside a single line or
across numerous lines of poetry. Throughout the text, examples may be found. For example, in
line three, the recurrence of the "n" consonant sound with the phrase: "Can find, among their
burning terms of love." Line six is a good place to start if you're looking for assonance. It says,
"You who are more than a mother to me." The "o" vowel sound may be heard in the phrases
"who," "more," and "mother."

Poethic Techniques

Poe employs a number of poetic approaches in 'To My Mother.' Alliteration, enjambment,
anaphora, and exaggeration are examples of these. The first is alliteration, which happens when
words are used in sequence or appear near together and begin with the same letter.

For example, in line nine, "my mother—my own mother," and in line
thirteen, "with which my wife." Poe also employs anaphora, which is the
repeating of a word or phrase at the start of numerous lines, generally in
sequence. For example, the word "mother" comes at the beginning of
several lines in this poem, including lines nine through eleven. Hyperbole is
a purposefully exaggerated description, comparison, or outburst intended
to enhance the writer's essential topics or make a specific effect on the
reader. The most apparent example comes near the end of the poem, when
the poet claims that his wife is dearer to his soul than life itself.

Enjambment is another essential technique utilized in poetry. It
happens when a line is severed before it reaches its natural end point.
Enjambment pushes a reader to swiftly move on to the next line, then the
next. To easily resolve a phrase or sentence, one must go on. There are a
few instances in this poem, such as the transitions between lines 7 and 8,
and ten and eleven.

Detailed Analysis

• Line 1-4

Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,

The angels, whispering to one another,

Can find, among their burning terms of love,

None so devotional as that of “Mother,”

The speaker expresses his sentiments concerning the word "mother" in the opening verse
of 'To My Mother.' It is quite important to him. It is so obvious and "devotional" that it could only
have been devised by the "angels." The speaker can "feel" and envision a scene in which all of the
angels are gathered around "whispering." They're talking about love words and can't think of
anything more "burning [or]... devotional" than the word "Mother." This picture is not only
powerful, but it also directly connects motherhood to the holy. Poe clearly cares about individuals
who take on this duty, especially the ladies he mentions in his poem.

At this point in 'To My Mother,' the reader is probably under the notion that the essay would
be about Poe's sentiments for his long-dead mother. However, this is not the case. At the
conclusion of the eighth line, a turn alters one's views of the text.

• Line 5-8

Therefore by that dear name I long have called you—

You who are more than mother unto me,

And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you

In setting my Virginia’s spirit free.

The speaker turns to address someone else at the opening of this
quatrain. It's a lady he's referred to as "mother" for as long as he's known
her. This "mother" figure is more than just a mother to him; she is the one
who fills his "heart of hearts." The mother he's referring to is not his own,
but the mother of his cousin's and Virginia's young bride.

He adores her in her own right, but he is much more committed to
her since she gave him his genuine love. "Virginia's spirit" was released via
her hands. Mothers, in Poe's opinion, have the potential to create love not
just within one's own heart, but also outside of it. Virginia was created by
her mother, and as a result, Poe earned the greatest love of his life from
her.

• Line 9-14

My mother—my own mother, who died early,

Was but the mother of myself; but you

Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,

And thus are dearer than the mother I knew

By that infinity with which my wife

Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life

In the last six lines of 'To My Mother,' the speaker recounts his feelings for his original
mother and how they interact with his feelings for Virginia's mother. Poe's parents died while he
was quite young, and he spent his childhood in foster care. It seems natural that he would seek
out a mother figure somewhere in his life, as he was missing a bond.

Poe refers to his mother as "the mother of myself" in the second sentence of this section.
She gave birth to him, but Virginia's mother is far more significant. She is the "mother of the one
I loveds o dearly." 'To My Mother' becomes much more heartbreaking when the reader discovers,
or knows, that Virginia is no longer alive. Poe and Virginia were married for several years until
Virginia died of Tuberculosis. This melancholy brought on by "Death" strengthens his feelings for
Virginia's mother. She is "dearer" to him than the mother he just met briefly. This feeling is derived
from the word "infinity." His feelings for Virginia's mother are linked to his feelings for his "wife,"
who was "dearer to [his] soul than its soul-life."

Halfway through an afternoon
Of coca cola bottles sweating rings
On veneered tabletops and the steel drone
Of window fans above the silence
In each darkened room, I open a stiff drawer
And find the old hot combs, black
With grease, the teeth still pungent
As burning hair. One is small, fine toothed
As if for a child. Holding it,
I think of my mother’s slender wrist,
The curve of her neck as she leaned over
The stove, her eyes shut as she pulled
The wooden handle and laid flat the wisps
At her temple. The heat in our kitchen,
Made her glow that morning I watched her
Wincing, the hot comb singeing her brow,
Sweat glistening above her lips,
Her face made strangely beautiful
As only suffering can do.

Analysis by Tri Ambarwati

Title and Speaker. The title of this poem is “Hot Combs” which related to the content
of the poem about the hot comb that the speaker’s mother always used and she had a
flashback about her mother through the hot combs. And the meaning behind “hot combs”
is even the smallest thing can be a memory. The speaker of this poem is “I” proven in some
lines, such as “In each darkened room, I open a stiff drawer” (line 5) and “I think of my
mother’s slender wrist” (line 10). “I” in this poem refers to the writer herself, Natasha
Trethewey. So, in conclusion, this poem is written and inspired from the memory of the
writer’s mother.

Subject and Themes. The main subject of this poem is about the nostalgia memories
that was experienced by the speaker about her mother when she found the old hot combs
that her mother always used in an old drawer in one afternoon. The theme in this poem is
engaged with memories and loss.

Structure. This poem has only one stanza with 19 lines. This poem also does not
have any specific rhyme scheme. But the length of each line is similar. Several lines
contain 8 syllables and some are 7-10 syllables.

Diction and Tone. Some words in this poem have behind meaning. Such as “sweating
rings” (line 2) is described as melted water from cold bottle, “a stiff drawer” (line 5) refers
to old drawer, and “the teeth still pungent” (line 7) refers to the hot combs was still in a
good condition. There are also alliterations in this poem. They are the same repetition of
the same consonant, “darkened” and “drawer” (line 5) and “stove” and “shut” (line 12). The
tone which is used in this poem is engaged with nostalgic, loss, and sorrowful.

Figurative Language and Imagery. There is simile in line 8 “As burning hair” which
compares the condition of a good hot combs with burning hair. There are personifications in
line 2, “Of coca cola bottles sweating rings” which refers to bubble water of a cold bottle, line
16 “the hot comb singeing her brow” which refers to when her mother brushing her brow with
the hot comb, and line 14-15 “The heat in our kitchen, made her glow that morning”. The visual
imageries in this poem are “the steel drone” (line 3), “the old hot combs, black with grease”
(line 6-7), and “The wooden handle” (line 13). There is also tactile imagery, such as “a stiff
drawer” (line 5).

When it was bitter in New York City,
I would go out with my mother
Past the icy buildings,

Stay against her, just behind her
So, she would stop the wind and snow,
And bury my face in her coat,

Just there under her arm.
All winter like her walk-in closet,
Its yellow light, I would walk into her,

Shake out my raw thoughts.
I didn’t know who or what we were passing
Or even if the city was still there,

The long radiant hairs against my face
Like my grandmother’s stole
With a fox’s head that lay on her breast,

Me clinging to my mortal mother,
Our slow progress down that black, warm street.

Analysis by Tri Ambarwati

Title and speaker. The title is ‘coat’ which is related to the poem, about the speaker who
hide under her mother’s coat when the cold came. This poem’s speaker is ‘I’ which referenced to
the writer herself, Jane Duran. It can be identified in some lines. For example, in the first stanza
line 2, “I would go out with my mother” and in the third line in second stanza, “And bury my face in
her coat”. If this poem’s speaker is Jane Duran herself, then this poem is written from her memory
with her mother when it was winter in her childhood.

Subject and Themes. The main subject in this poem is the memories of the writer with her
mother in a road-walk in New York City when it was winter. When the cold air came, the writer
hid under her mother’s coat which was warm and comfy that she could seek comfort form her
mother whenever she felt the need. The theme is love and motherhood.

Structure. This poem has six stanzas with free verse. Stanza 1-6 contains 3 lines and the
last stanza only consists 2 lines. This poem does not have specific rhyme scheme.

Diction and Tone. Jane Duran chose the words that easy for the reader to understand. There
is repetition word “my face” in line 6 and 13 that share the same meaning which is her head is
under her mother’s coat. In line 2, icy building can refer to 2 meaning, either it is a building made
of ice or a building that covered by snow. In first stanza, the speaker described the cold in New
York City as the word “bitter”, the taste of the bitterness which means she did not like the weather.
The tone is used in this poem is nostalgic.

Figurative Language and Imagery. The coat itself is a symbol of warmth of love where the
writer sought for a comfy place to place her head when it was cold and found it at her mother’s
coat. It also symbolizes her mother as the source of her love and safe place. There are 4 visual
imageries. First is “Past the icy buildings” (line 3), “All winter like her walk-in closet” (line 8) this
refers to the spaciousness within the coat that was a little bit small but warm, “Our slow progress
down that black, warm street” (line 17), and “Its yellow light, I would walk into her” (line 9) There
are also 2 similes, first is “All winter like her walk-in closet” (line 8) and “Like my grandmother’s
stole” (line 14).

Who sat and watched my infant head
When sleeping on my cradle bed,
And tears of sweet affection shed?
My Mother.

When pain and sickness made me cry,
Who gazed upon my heavy eye,
And wept for fear that I should die?
My Mother.

Who taught my infant lips to pray

And love God-s holy book and day,

And walk in wisdom-s pleasant way?

My Mother. And can I ever cease to be

Affectionate and kind to thee,

Who wast so very kind to me,

My Mother?

Ah, no! the thought I cannot bear,
And if God please my life to spare
I hope I shall reward they care,
My Mother.

When thou art feeble, old and grey,
My healthy arm shall be thy stay,
And I will soothe thy pains away,
My Mother.

Analysis by Suci Jumiati Islami

Title and The Speaker. The poem "My Mother" was written by Ann Taylor. Ann Taylor (30
January 1782 – 20 December 1866) was an English poet and literary critic. Some of his works
include: A True Story. About the Little Girl that Beat Her Sister. She is also very well known
for her lyrical poetry. In this poem he uses very simple diction. This poem is entitled "My
Mother" which contains expressions of deep love for a mother. She also shared that when she
was a child, her mother took very good care of her and was patient. When we as readers read
this poem "My Mother", I think in this poem we can feel the atmosphere or situation that is
built on each lyric and stanza in this poem. Because the diction used is not difficult to
understand, the message that the poet wants to convey and describe reaches us as readers
well. The speaker of this poem is the poet, namely Ann Taylor. Ann Taylor chooses to write
about everything her mother has done for her since she was born until now. Because in this
poem she expresses her love for her mother. She remembers how her childhood was with
her mother.

Diction. The diction in the poem "My Mother" can also show the mixed feelings of the
author in the poem, how she express his feelings of affection to her mother through poetry.
This poem used a simple diction and easy for readers to understand. The poet uses lexical
repetition to emphasize significant images; my, and, to, i are repeated. The poet uses anaphora
at the beginning of some lines. The same and repeated words, such as; who, when. In the poem
there is also an epiphora, namely repeating the same word at the end of adjacent stanzas as
the poet repeats the same word Mother at the end of several adjacent stanzas. "My Mother"
by Ann Taylor is a lyric poem. It is written in rhyme scheme aaaB cccB cccB cccB dddB. Where
this poem asks a question in each stanza, and ends with My Mother's answer at the end of
each stanza.

Structure. In the first stanza of the poem about how things were when she was a child in
her mother's cradle, her mother cared for her patiently and lovingly. In the second stanza when
she was sick her mother took care of her and the person who was most worried about herself.
The third stanza tells how her mother taught her, taught her how to talk, worship and how to
play. The fourth stanza describes how good a mother is that is unmatched by other virtues. The
fifth stanza describes a hope if she wants to spend more time with her mother. And in the sixth
stanza she promised herself that when her mother would grow old and weak, she would serve
her. Because it is her responsibility to take care of her mother like her mother did to her in her
childhood.

Figurative Language. In Ann Taylor's poem My Mother, there are several figurative
languages used, such as; Personification: “And tears of sweet affection shed?” (stanza 1). Tears
personified. It was given and described as love which is described by the sincere cry of a mother.

Theme and message. The theme of this poem is about memories, happiness, sadness
associated with a mother and child. The message in the poem is how the poet expresses as well
as reminds that mothers have infinite services so that we as children should be dutiful children
and always be grateful for what mothers do for us. So in conclusion, the poem contains advice
as well as the expression of a child to his mother. How we as a child should glorify a mother.

Abortions will not let you forget.
You remember the children you got that you did not get,
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.
You will never neglect or beat
Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.
You will never wind up the sucking-thumb
Or scuttle off ghosts that come.
You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh,
Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye.

I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children.
I have contracted. I have eased
My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck.
I have said, Sweets, if I sinned, if I seized
Your luck
And your lives from your unfinished reach,
If I stole your births and your names,
Your straight baby tears and your games,
Your stilted or lovely loves, your tumults, your marriages, aches, and your
deaths,
If I poisoned the beginnings of your breaths,
Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate.

Though why should I whine,
Whine that the crime was other than mine?—
Since anyhow you are dead.
Or rather, or instead,
You were never made.
But that too, I am afraid,
Is faulty: oh, what shall I say, how is the truth to be said?
You were born, you had body, you died.
It is just that you never giggled or planned or cried.

Believe me, I loved you all.
Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you All.

Analysis by Anita Anastasya Tanjung

Summary of the mother

The mother by Gwendolyn Brooks is an emotional poem that conveys the
thoughts of a woman who has had abortions and regrets them. Throughout the lines
of ‘the mother,’ the speaker remembers her past experiences and the children that
she’s now never going to actually “get”. She wonders about the people that they
could’ve grown up into and even speaks directly to them, a technique known as
apostrophe. The poem ends with the speaker saying that she “loved” all the children
she almost had.

Structure of the mother

The mother by Gwendolyn Brooks is a three-stanza poem that is separated
into an uneven sense of lines. These stanzas range in length from three lines up to
twenty. The poem is written in free verse. This means that there is not a single rhyme
scheme or metrical pattern that unifies the lines. But, there are a few rhymes
scattered through the poem (for instance “hair” and “air” at the ends of lines three
and four of the first stanza). Brooks also makes use of anaphora, or the repetition
of a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple lines, usually in succession. This
technique is often used to create emphasis. A list of phrases, items, or actions may
be created through its implementation. It is seen in the final lines with the repetition
of “Believe me, I” and throughout the poem with the resume of words like “The” and
“I” at the beginning of multiple lines.

Apostrophe is an arrangement of words addressing someone,
something, or creature, that does not exist, or is not present, in the
poem’s immediate setting. The exclamation, “Oh,” is often used at the
beginning of the phrase. The person is spoken to as though they can
hear and understand the speaker’s words. The poet has her speaker
talk directly to the aborted fetuses in the middle section of the poem.
She acknowledges them as children who were never really children.

On Mother's Day it isn't smart
To give your mom a broken heart.

So here are thing you shouldn't say
To dear old mom on Mother's Day:

Don't tell here that you'll never eat
A carrot, celery, bean, or beet.

Don't tell her you think smoking's cool.
Don't tell her you've dropped out of school.

Don't tell her that you've drowned the cat.
Don't tell her that she looks too fat.

Dont't tell her when you're grown you'll be
A starving poet—just like me.

Analysis by Suci Jumiati Islami

Title and The Speaker. The title poem 'On Mother's Day' by Bruce Lansky is a
humorous poem that presents a sort of do-not-do list for a child to avoid on Mother's Day.
So the title describes Mother's Day. When we as readers read the poem "On Mother's
Day", I think in this poem we can get a different impression from poetry in general,
because this poem presents something serious but seems humorous and cheerful, such
as remembering memories from childhood. The speaker of this poem is the poet who is
addressed to children as readers. Where this poem presents a truth that remains hidden
from humor. Children's distaste for organic food, lack of interest in constructive activities,
together with their dearth of affection, is what makes adult readers or parents think.

The Subject and Diction. The subject of the poem is about the poet who describes
the situation on Mother's Day, more precisely to the list of prohibitions that are avoided
when the celebration of Mother's Day arrives. The diction used in this poem is good and
there are several types of diction such as repetition in each stanza. There is a use of
anaphora in the fourth and fifth stanzas. In these two sections, each line begins with a
similar phrase. It is “Don’t tell her”. Apart from that, the poet uses alliteration in the line,
alliteration is occurs when the poet uses the same consonant sound at the beginning of
a word. For example“A carrot, celery, bean, or beet.”

Structure. "On Mother's Day" by Bruce Lansky has AABBCC rhyme scheme. In
stanzas 1 and 2 (Line 1-4) it is about not being smart to make someone's mother sad on
Mother's Day. It's better if someone really loves their mother, they don't need a chance to
express how much they love their mother. Then the poet talks about things to avoid saying
to his beloved mother on Mother's Day. In stanzas 3 and 4 (Line 5-8) it is about if on
Mother's Day children don't say they don't prefer vegetables such as carrots, celery, bean,
and beet. Then they shouldn't tell their mother that they think smoking is cool. Although
the situation may actually be the opposite. And the poet also advises not to tell if the
children don't want to go to school, because they think school may not be fun. In stanzas
5 and 6 (Line 9-12) it is about the poet referring to the lack of affection or attention in
society and mostly in children.

At the time of reading this line may seem strange to us as readers. However, for the sake of
humor, one must digest this truth and move forward. Then don't hurt your mother's feelings, such
as telling her face-to-face if your mother is fat. At the end, the poem closes with the poet calling
himself a "starving poet." What is meant here is the current condition of the artist or poet as a
whole. This is because people are more inclined to gadgets and other forms of entertainment,
which causes people to have little space for poets or artists.

Figurative Language, Mood and Tone. In Lansky's poem, 'On Mother's Day', there are
several figurative language used, such as presenting a metaphor in the first stanza. In the second
line of this section, “a broken heart” is a metaphor that shows deep sadness or despair. Then, in
the fifth stanza, the line “Don't tell her that she looks too fat” contains hyperbole. And finally,
there is the simile on the line “starving poet.” Where is meant is a poet who now lacks attention
and interest from the public. In Brunce's poem On Mother's Day, at first we as readers will feel
the mood and relaxing image tone. Then mood and tone in the middle of the poem the tone
changes when the poet tries to give a humorous and funny impression to the lines of his poetry.
What makes this poem has a serious mood and tone but is delivered with a sense of humor.

Theme and Messege. The theme of this poem is the celebration of Mother's Day. The
message in this poem is how tips as a child can take care of a mother's feelings, especially on
Mother's Day. Not only that, but we can also make mothers happy on their happy days. For
example, on Mother's Day, children can give an appreciation as an expression of gratitude and
love to a mother. So the conclusion of this poem On Mother's Day contains a humorous children's
poem that presents a list of don'ts that a child should avoid on mother's day. And this poem
presents a truth that remains undercover of humor.

Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,
Make me a child again just for tonight!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart as of yore;
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears,—
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain,—
Take them, and give me my childhood again!
I have grown weary of dust and decay,—
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away;
Weary of sowing for others to reap;—
Rock me to sleep, mother – rock me to sleep!

Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded, our faces between:
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I tonight for your presence again.
Come from the silence so long and so deep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Over my heart, in the days that are flown,
No love like mother-love ever has shone;
No other worship abides and endures,—
Faithful, unselfish, and patient like yours:
None like a mother can charm away pain
From the sick soul and the world-weary brain.
Slumber’s soft calms o’er my heavy lids creep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,
Fall on your shoulders again as of old;
Let it drop over my forehead tonight,
Shading my faint eyes away from the light;
For with its sunny-edged shadows once more
Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore;
Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Mother, dear mother, the years have been long
Since I last listened your lullaby song:
Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem
Womanhood’s years have been only a dream.
Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!

Analysis by Budyman

Structure

This poem is divided into six eight-line stanzas. Each stanza of the poem has a consistent
rhyme pattern, which is AABBCCDD. This strategy is maintained by the poet throughout the book.
As a result, each stanza has four rhyming couplets or two-line units. Furthermore, the metrical
framework of this work is common. Each line is ten syllables long. After arranging the syllables
into five units, the second syllable on each foot must be stressed. In this approach, the total poem
may be found to be written in iambic pentameter. This poem, on the other hand, lacks metrical
changes, giving it a lullaby-like structure.

Literary Devices

'Rock Me to Sleep,' a poetry, opens with a personification. Allens, the poet, personifies
"Time" in this poem and requests that it take her backward. Furthermore, an apostrophe appears
in the first line. Following that, the "furrows of caring" serve as a metaphor. In addition, the final
line of each verse, "Rock me to sleep, mother, - rock me to sleep!" serves as a refrain. The phrase
"I am so weary of toil and sorrow" in the second verse contains zeugma. In this stanza, anaphora
is also used. The poet then employs asyndeton in the opening line of the third verse. The term
"passionate pain" is an oxymoron. Aside from that, the poet employs various repetitions in this
poem, such as alliterations and consonances.

Detailed Analysis

• Stanza 1

'Rock Me to Sleep,' the poem, opens with the speaker's desire for time. She wants to go
back in time and be a child again, if only for a night. Her tone indicates that she is despondent and
in severe emotional distress. However, in this verse, she asks her mother to return from the
"echoless shore," a symbol for death. She'll be relieved if her mother loves her as much as she
did when the speaker was a youngster.

Furthermore, her mother can only assist her in this situation. Her kiss can help her forget about
her worries. As a result, she asks her mother to smooth her hair and keep an eye on her as she
sleeps. In the "silver threads," the poet employs a metonymy. It is evident from this sentence that
the speaker is elderly. Finally, she requests that her mother rock her to sleep. In this way, the
poet want to be a child again and relive those days.

• Stanza 2

The second stanza starts with the identical words, "Backward, flow backward," but this
time the plea is made to the "tide of the years." It's also a metaphor for time. In this verse, though,
the speaker reveals her exhaustion and mental anguish. She longs to be rid of the exhaustion of
those hunger years of emotional and spiritual struggle. So she wants to complete this cycle with
the help of her mother. Furthermore, she claims to have sowed only for the benefit of others, with
little regard for herself. So, in the end, she asks her missing mother to return and put her to sleep.

• Stanza 3

The speaker compares her life circumstances to "the hollow, the base, the untrue" in the
poem's third stanza. The only reality for her is that she adores her mother and that she adores
her mother. Following that, the poet explores the idea of life's transience through the metaphor
of grasses that flourish in the summer and wither in the fall. Her "strong yearning" and
"passionate pain," however, are primarily for her mother. As a result, she begs her mother to
return from death's "silence, so long and so deep" and put her spirit to rest.

• Stanza 4

The speaker extols her mother's affection in this portion of 'Rock Me to Sleep.' She's gotten
nothing but sand her entire life. Her mother's affection is the most essential thing in her life. A
mother's "faithful, unselfish, and patient" love for her child is unrivaled by any worldly pleasure.
As a result, the speaker observes, "None like a mother can charm away pain/ From the sick soul
and the world-weary brain." Finally, she stresses the need for a good night's sleep for several
days. It's not going to happen without her mother's nagging.

• Stanza 5

Following that, the poet employs imagery to portray a motherly picture to the audience.
The speaker requests her mother to let her dark hair with "gold" highlights fall over her shoulders
once more. She would drop her hair over the speaker's brow and hide her "faint eyes" from the
light, just as she used to. As a result, she can sleep like a baby. Furthermore, she claims that the
shadows in her hair allow her to recall those days. Her sadness will be soothed by "sweet visions
of yore." In addition, her mother's brilliant presence will wash away her pain and allow her to
sleep well.

• Stanza 6

The speaker utilizes a palilogy in the opening line of the poem's final verse to underline
her sorrow for her mother. She wants to hear the lullabies her mother used to sing her to sleep
while she's here. Those lullabies would make her understand that her "womanhood years" were
all a dream. Following that, the speaker want to embrace her mother in a "kind embrace." Her
mind will be free of all uncertainty and anguish as a result of her illuminating presence. As a
result, she won't have to wake up or cry again. The poet appears to be wishing for external
slumber in this passage. However, the last stanza concludes in the same manner as the prior
stanzas. This sentence includes a rhetorical exclamation, which expresses the poet's sincere
desire to her absent mother.

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.

Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.

I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind’s hand.

All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.

One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat’s. The window square

Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.

Analysis by Anita Anastasya Tanjung

Summary

The speaker addresses her new baby, saying that love set the child's life in motion,
making it tick like a big rich watch. She remembers how the midwife smacked the bottoms
of the baby's feet, and how she heard the baby's unrestrained cry becoming one of the
essential parts of the universe.Now, the baby's family celebrates and wonders over the
baby's arrival. The baby is like a new sculpture standing in an old museum. Its vulnerable
nakedness casts a shadow over its parents' security. The family stands around stunned.The
speaker says that she can hardly believe she's the baby's mother now: she feels about as
much like a mother as a dissolving cloud feels like the mother of a mirror that reflects it.
All night, the baby's moth-like breathing flutters around the roses in the wallpaper. The
speaker wakes up to listen for the baby's breath; it sounds like a distant ocean. The instant
the baby cries, the speaker hurries out of bed, feeling heavy as a cow in her old-fashioned
nightgown. The baby's mouth opens up as naturally and cleanly as a cat's mouth. Meanwhile,
the window gets brighter as the dawn comes. The baby makes a few little practice sounds,
vowels that float up into the air like balloon.

Theme

The main themes are: motherhood, separation, quality of time, personal
responsibility. As with many of Plath's poems metaphor and powerful language play major
roles, expanding and deepening the experience for the reader.it's especially rewarding to
read all of Sylvia Plath's motherhood poems, as a whole, because they give an
unprecedented insight into her psychic reaction to being a mother.

A picture memory brings to me;
I look across the years and see
Myself beside my mother's knee.
I feel her gentle hand restrain
My selfish moods, and know again
A child's blind sense of wrong and pain.
But wiser now,
a man gray grown,
My childhood's needs are better known.
My mother's chastening love I own.

Analysis by Anita Anastasya Tanjung

SUMMARY

In three sets of rhyming triplets, John Greenleaf Whittier looks back on his mother from
the vantage point of his own old age (‘a man gray grown’). His mother was gentle but firm, inspiring
in him a sense of right and wrong, and knowing what’s best for her son (‘My childhood’s needs’).
The love a mother has for her child is ‘chastening’ not just because it is designed to chasten or
subdue the child’s wilder or more unacceptable impulses, instilling a strong moral sense into the
child, but also because Whittier, now older and wilder, feels chastened by the love and patience
his mother had for her son.

John Greenleaf Whittier is a curious figure: associated with the group of American writers
known as the Fireside Poets, who hailed from New England (Whittier himself was from
Massachusetts) and wrote moral poems on domestic themes, he was inspired by the great Bard
of Ayrshire, Robert Burns. (They were called the Fireside Poets because their work was often read
aloud by families gathered around the fire at home; Longfellow, one of their number, even
published a poetry volume titled The Seaside and the Fireside in 1850.)

Whittier’s ‘Tribute to Mother’ embodies these two aspects of Whittier’s work, and that of the
Fireside Poets more widely: the domestic and the moral. His Quaker upbringing – and the values
instilled in him from a young age by his mother – probably also had a hand in making him the poet
he became. So it is fitting that he penned this short tribute to his mother, acknowledging the part
she played in the poet – and man – he grew up to be.

Poem is a piece of written or oral literature in which the words are chosen for the
beauty and aesthetic. Poem is arranged beautifully with certain diction, figurative language,
imagery, and so on. So that, the feeling of the speaker can be delivered to the reader. This
collection of poem discussed the theme about mother.

Mother is one of the very important person in our life as written in the poem "to my
mother" by Edgar Allan Poe. That's why we always have to remember how heroic it is of
mother figure in our life. So that, we celebrate 'mother's day' in every year just like in the
poem "On Mother's Day". As important as the existence of a mother, there will always be a
day when we give more attention to mothers as an expression of our love as children to
mothers. Not only on mother's day, but we have to always remember how thankful we are
to our mother because All the pleasures we go through must always have a mother's role,
as well as all the sadness we feel there must be a mother's struggle for her child until that
sadness will disappear and return to the pleasures made by a mother's struggle which is
concluded in the poem "My Mother" by Ann Taylor and "morning song" by Sylvia Plath which
is about is about motherhood. The speaker explores the emotions related to it as well as its
implications. We should be thankful because being a mother is not easy. Many struggles that
she has to face for example in the poem "the mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks which is about
a mother chooose to kill/abortion her unborn child. And also in a mother will always care
about her child just like in the poem "Mother to son" by Langston Hughes. A mother’s
warning to her son about the stairs one is forced to climb throughout life.

We should appreciate our mother so that we do not regret anything in our life for
example in the poem "Tribute to mother" by John Greenleaf Whittier which is about a child's
regret because of his selfish nature to his mother. and after his mother left he just realized
that it was his mother who loved him the most. If one day there will be no mother in our life
again, every little thing can be a memories like in the poem "Coat" by Jane Duran. And "Hot
combs" by Natasha Trethewey which is about memories of a child to her mother's coat when
the cold winter came and even the little things remind the speaker of her mother. This poem
is about the hot combs that the speaker's mother always used. Everything can be a memory
even if it is not important. The poem of "rock me to sleep" by Elizabeth Aker Allen. Has
proven it. A poet heartfelt longing for the days when she was close to her mother. She
misses her days of infancy when her mother used to make her sleep, rocking her cradle,
shading her from all the evil forces, comforting every need of hers. Now, when she is in
grave emotional tension, the image of her mother reminds her what she needs the most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry
https://www.britannica.com/art/poetry
https://www.yourdictionary.com/poetry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/5515
https://poetryarchive.org/poem/coat/
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47559/mother-to-son
https://poets.org/poem/my-mother-1
https://allpoetry.com/Rock-Me-To-sleep
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58518/on-mothers-day-56d23cf7ac33d
https://www.poetry.com/poem/2946/my-mother
https://poemanalysis.com/gwendolyn-brooks/the-mother/#Literary_Devices_in_the_mother
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49008/morning-song-56d22ab4a0cee
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43309/the-mother-56d2220767a02