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   mrs-campbell Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   Comparisons: These two poems are both advice from a parent to a child.  They also have a similar message or theme:  Fortitude and endurance through life's hard times.  They both employ metaphors for life (a set of stairs to climb, an ocean to swim), are written without a lot of structured rhyme or set form boundaries, and are in first person ("I"representing the parent).  They also both contain great imagery-"It's had tacks in it/And splinters/And boards torn up", and "when fear cramps your heart...the light-year stars."

   Contrasts:  "Mother to Son" is written in strong dialect whereas "First Lesson" seems to be more standardized English.  Also, the lesson on what to do when times are hard is a bit different.  In "Mother to Son" she instructs her son to push on, to keep working hard:  "Boy don't you turn back/don't you set down on the steps/don't you fall".  So her message to her son is determined perserverance.  In "First Lesson", the message is a bit different.  He instructs his daughter to, "when you tire on the long thrash/to the island, lie up, and survive".  In other words, relax, and "lie gently...and the sea will hold you".  Take it easy, take a look around you at all of the beauty to be found from just pausing and noticing it.  That will give you renewed energy.  So, one is a message of continued hard work as the key to success, the other is to take a step back and gain perspective.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/philip-booth-salem/philip-booth-981...

   http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/first-lesson/

   http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mother-to-son/

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   Posted by mrs-campbell on Monday January 26, 2009 at 7:10 PM