My Mother's Selfless Love

The poem “Mother Who Gave Me Life”, written by Gwen Harwood explores the extremely personal relationship between a daughter and her mother. It focus’ on the universal role of women as mothers and nurturers throughout time. It explores the intimate moments and memories between a daughter and her mother, and gives us as the reader an insight into the relationship between the two.

TS - In the poem, “Mother who gave me Life”, Harwood explores the memory of motherhood as a quintessential part of being human.

77), her “restless mental vigor” (p. 78), and her willingness to stand up for her opinions, no matter how unpopular. Though the mother in this essay uses extraordinary words and is obviously a well-educated woman, the diction used by the speaker is generally straightforward to the average person; therefore, it can be concluded that the story was written for the average person. The terms used are nonetheless very specific and suited to their purpose of describing the mother, especially with several precise adjectives appearing constantly. The mother has an “emotional voice” (p. 78), holds “unpopular, even fantastic, positions” (p. 78), and gives a “vibrantly innocent look” (p. 77) after destroying a game of bridge. However, the essay does require thinking, as several of the examples of the mother’s behavior and phrases that she employs are very clever and include a much more sophisticated diction, as is true in the mother’s life. When she responds to the question “’Save stamps?’” (p. 75) with “’No…I build model airplanes’” (p. 75). Even the speaker could not understand what her meant for years, which was that building model airplanes was her hobby, not collecting stamps. The tone and diction that the speaker uses is simple, but the reader has to work harder to understand examples of things the speaker’s mother does or says.

Both Mother Who Gave Me Life by Gwen Harwood and Woman to Child by Judith Wright, explore the bonds shared between mother and child. While both poems explore the same themes, each poet uses different techniques in doing so. Woman to Child is from the point of view of a mother. Although the poet has used the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’, the poem is not from Wrights point of view, rather, from every woman’s, as majority of women have experienced the intimate experience of becoming a mother. Like Woman to Child, Mother Who Gave Me Life also uses personal pronouns, but unlike Woman to Child, Mother Who Gave Me Life is a personal elegy for Harwood’s mother.

The poem “The Mother” written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1945, is a poem that focuses on the immeasurable losses a woman experiences after having an abortion. The poems free verse style has a mournful tone that captures the vast emotions a mother goes through trying to cope with the choices she has made. The author writes each stanza of the poem using a different style, and point of view, with subtle metaphors to express the speaker’s deep struggle as she copes with her abortions. The poem begins with, “Abortions will not let you forget” (Brooks 1), the first line of the poem uses personification to capture your attention. The title of the poem has the reader’s mindset centered around motherhood, but the author’s expertise with the opening line, immediately shifts your view to the actual theme of the poem. In this first line the speaker is telling you directly, you will never forget having an abortion. Brooks utilizes the speaker of the poem, to convey that this mother is pleading for forgiveness from the children she chose not to have.

The mother’s struggle for identity is also presented through the poem’s depressing imagery as well as the figurative and literal language. The first quatrain states the sad, regretful statement of “too late” (4). This imagery of loneliness is reflected upon the passion and pain involved with her once lover. When the

"I hate my mother," I told my teacher after she asked me why I wouldn't make a Happy Mother's Day card. I couldn't comprehend why I should make something for someone that I never saw. She only raised an eyebrow before she pasted that perfect smile on her face again. It seemed that no matter what I say, she would not relent on her insistence. The child I was, my patience for her quickly thinned, thus, in no time, I remarked with a frowning expression that she was acting ridiculously. The time moved forward swiftly then, and all I remember was my teacher's perfect smile becoming strained, my father being called to come after school, and the principal speaking to the both of us about how a second grader's—a child's behavior should be. When we

Judith Wright’s poem “Mother to Child” is about a woman’s emotions during the different stages of motherhood. It tells the audience that the bond between a mother and her child is very powerful and that it changes as the child grows. Wright shows us this through her use of imagery, symbolism and the structure of her poem. The use of those three elements of literature help communicate the love the woman has for her child and how their connection grows stronger as time goes on.

    In life, many things can be taken for granted - especially the things that mean the most to you. You just might not realize it until you've lost it all. As I walk down the road finishing up my teenage days, I slowly have been finding a better understanding of my mother. The kind of bond that mothers and daughters have is beyond hard to describe. It's probably the biggest rollercoaster ride of emotions that I'll ever have the chance to live through in my lifetime. But, for those of us who are lucky enough to survive the ride in one piece, it's an amazing learning experience that will influence your entire future.

The mother-daughter relationship is often scrutinized, publicized, and capitalized on. Whether from tell-all biographies, to humorous sit-coms, or private therapy sessions, this particular relationship dynamic gives some of the most emotion-activating memories. When female authors reflect and write about their relationships with their mothers, they have a tendency to taint their reflections with the opinions they have as an adult, reviewing the actions of their mother when they were young. These opinions set the tone of the story independently and in conjunction with the relationship itself and manifest in creative literary styles that weave an even more intricate story. Case in point, when reviewing the two literary works “I Stand Here

David Michael Kaplan Another postcard from you today, Mother, and I see by the blurred postmark that you're in Manning, North Dakota now and that you've dated the card 1961. In your last card you were in Nebraska, and it was 1962; you've lost some time, I see. I was a little girl, nine years old, in 1961. You'd left my father and me only two years before. Four months after leaving, you sent me—always me, never him—your first postcard, of a turnpike in the Midwest, postmarked Enid, Oklahoma. You called me "My little angel" and said that the sunflowers by the side of the road were tall and very pretty. You signed it, as you always have, "Your only mother." My father thought, of course, that you were in Enid, and he

In 1859 Henry Ward Beecher said, "the mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom." I believe that statement because of experiences I’ve had with my own mother. I have learned more about life from her than from my 15 years of schooling. Over the last 20 years my mother has taught me many valuable lessons just by being a living example of compassion, thoughtfulness, and generosity. She is an angel that has protected and carried me throughout life.

The poem “My Mother’s Face” by Brenda Serotte depicts the difficulty of a mother and daughter with a close bond trying to cope with a difficult situation of becoming an adult. “My Mother’s face” talks about the women’s state of affairs, the words used in the poem indicate that the mother is going through a difficult situation and the speaker can feel it through her close observation and on her own accord. The poem basically highlights the human aging process and the difficulty for a mother to realize the fact that her beloved daughter doesn’t need her anymore. The daughter sees the mother’s reflection and passes it for her own, feeling empathetic to the sorrow being shown on her mother's face. The daughter now realizes that with time,

The memory of my mother will follow me wherever I go, and however far living my dreams with a gentle scent of her perfume and the shimmering of her laugh. She was there to show me how much she cared and She was there when I made my first steps. She taught me to smile and laugh.

Life is short and people don’t spend time with their loved ones and take them for granted. People I will always be grateful for is my sister, my dog, and my mom. I love to spend time with them and never take them for granted.