The mother (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Gwendolyn Brooks
- First Published: 1945
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Children, Family or family life, Memory, Mothers, Parents and children, Love or romance, Poverty or poor people, Inner cities or inner-city life, Death or dying, Abortion, Afterlife, Decision making
The Poem
“The mother” is a short poem in free verse, written mostly in the first person. In her narrator, Gwendolyn Brooks adopts the persona of an impoverished mother. In the tradition of the lyric, this narrator addresses the reader directly and personally to convey her feelings. The poem contains thirty-five lines, which are separated into three stanzas. The title, “the mother,” is ironic, for this mother is a woman who has lost her children because of very difficult and painful decisions—decisions that she believes were for the best.
Brooks’s “the...
[The entire page is 1212 words long]
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