Simon Armitae Mother Any Distance

“If I should have a daughter, instead of mom, she's going to call me point B...” (Kay). For most women, motherhood is an achievement that allows mothers to build strong connections with their children. “If I Should Have A Daughter” explains the importance of experiencing life with an open heart and appreciating everything life gives and takes away from you. Sarah Kay describes how she would guide her children throughout life in this manner. Sarah Kay uses rhetorical and literary devices such as ethos, pathos, metaphors and personification to enhance her explanation of motherhood and the complexity of mother-daughter relationships in her poem, “If I Should Have A Daughter”.

The relationship between a parent and a child can be a complicated, difficult to understand concept. Factors such as complications that occur in the lives of either of the figures, separation from the other, and the protection the parent is willing to give to the child all contribute to the idea of this messy relationship. However, all these factors seem to fall away in comparison to the immeasurable amount of love the parent and child carry for each other, and the strong relationships that last a whole lifetime. In many poems, authors such as Theodore Roethke, Li-Young Lee, and Rita Dove use literary devices such as imagery, tone, symbolism, metaphor, and simile to show the unbreakable bond between parents and children.

Throughout A Story, a poem written by Li-Young Lee, many literary devices are used in order to portray the complex relationship that the father and son have. Some of these literary devices include the interchanging point of view between the two characters, the structure of the poem, and even the use of common narrative styles such as metaphors and imagery. The method in which the author used to convey the complex relationship is through the son’s great desire to hear a new story from his seemingly unknowledgeable, uncreative father. Overall, after reading A Story, it is clear that there is some sort of separation between the father and son.

In the poem “A Story” by Li-Young Lee, the topic of growing up is easily seen. With this in mind,the relationship between the father is constantly changing and evolving even if we do not personally see it. This growth is seen through the use of many literary elements.

The spacing and structure of the poem is set up to allow flow and momentum in the poem and its narrative. The speaker’s voice is present with emotion as emphasised in a natural rhythm of thought offering an honest and bare interpretation of motherhood. The open “blank space” of the poem encourages a calm and breathy atmosphere, fulfilling a mood of tranquility and bliss. Each stanza is short with a couple quick fragmented thoughts before closing each section with the power of a single word. Each stanza breaks apart a separate thought filled with a loving passion the speaker uses to stress the beauty, wonder, and over-flowing love present in motherhood. To better the structure, the poem itself is broken into three parts, each representing a stage of motherhood. The first segment of motherhood that is represented is during the moments while the baby is still in the womb and the mother waits in anticipation for the baby to arrive. This “honeymoon” phase is expressed with a tone filtered through a perception of rose-coloured glasses and excitement as the mother is in utter bliss to carry a life into the world. The

As we get older we tend to reflect more on our life and get our priorities together. We tend to realize who and what is important, the people who mean the most to us and the ones we can’t live without. Who would those significant individuals be for us? For most people it would be their parents. In the poems “My Father’s Song” by Simon J. Ortiz, and “My Mother” by Ellen Bryant Voigt, both writers express their emotion towards a parent. The poems are similar in many ways simply because they share a parent child relationship, they are also vastly different. “My Fathers Song” is a poem about a son who lost his father and is grieving and referring back to old memories, reflecting on their past and the wonderful time he had with his father. “My Mother” on the other hand is a poem about a daughter who lost her mother and is having a difficult time coping as she reflects on the decisions she made as a child and how that affected her relationship with her mother. Despite their differences, the two poems share a true connection of love towards their parent. Most notably “My Fathers Song” and “My Mother” differ in the relationship with their parent, the settings in which the memories they hold of their parents take place, and who they are mourning over, yet the two have a strong emphasis on love.

Profound in the love shared between the father and son, their sense of unity kept them pushing through the pain for “each the other’s world entire” (6). In a society painted by shades of grey, one cannot help but at times feel the desire to fade into the world full of suffering. In the father’s perspective “there were few nights lying in the dark that he did not envy the dead ” (230). However, the man is fortunate because he has a spark in his life that motivates him to keep going- the boy. Many others before the man took their own life in an attempt to rescue themselves from the doomed life ahead. However for the father, “the boy was all that stood between him and death” (29). The father possess such love for the boy that no matter what the situation is he will never take the easy route out. He will never put his own needs over the boy’s. He will never leave him to try to fend for his own. Furthermore, if the boy were to ever depart life before him he “would want to die too” (11), thus proving that the boy is the father’s incentive to carry on. With the love for his son in mind, the father is enabled to carry on with his life. During a difficult situation, love encourages one to see it to the

Linda Pastan’s poem, “For a Daughter Leaving Home,” displays how a parent views the life of his or her daughter by relating it to their daughter’s first bicycle ride. Her bicycle ride represents the difficult and stressful journey that the girl has embarked on throughout her life. Although the girl is now grown up and ready to start a life of her own, her parent is recalling everything about the girl’s life up to this point.

Thus, introducing our second poem, which touches on a very different stage of motherhood; letting go. The story of To a Daughter Leaving Home is about a mother teaching her daughter to ride a bicycle, which is a monumental stage of development for most children. However, I think the poem is a metaphor for something even bigger. as the title suggests I believe the true meaning is about having your children physically leave home. For a mother this is probably the most simultaneously rewarding and frightening moment to endure. The poem talks about how the mother watches the child speed away from her, growing smaller and more breakable, this to me symbolizes the devastating transition between a child’s complete dependence on their mother, to the genuine need for independence they require to become an

Developing an individual's emotional and psychological well-being is largely dependent on the parent-child relationship. In poems like "My Mother" by Ellen Bryant Voigt and "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, we are given a glimpse into the nuances and emotions at the heart of parent-child interactions. Parents' actions have profound effects on the lives of their children, and both poets explore themes of love, sacrifice, and the real impact of their actions. The author's two works offer a lens through which the parent-child dynamic might be viewed: Ellen Bryant Voigt's "My Mother" and Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays", both presenting the relationship through the lens of regret and appreciation. For example, Hayden's opening line presents a vivid depiction of a father's silent sacrifices: "Sundays to my

Parents and their children will never be what the other wants because humans are far from being perfect. The conflict between parents and children are inevitable, but words and actions usually display the love children have for them. Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where are you Going, where have you been” and Seamus Heaney’s “Digging” are two examples that display the complicated relationship children have with their parents. These stories also represent the fluctuating feelings children have regarding their parents. The similarities and differences in the short story and poem have the same message; however, they have differences.

The text “Mother any distance” by Simon Armitage is about a child and his mother. As the poem goes on we see the nature change of the mother and child’s relationship grow. As the son gets older and becomes more independent he wants to leave the birds nest. But the mother doesn’t want to fully let go of her child. As the reader of his poem I was placed into the poem as I am a teenager and can relate back to this poem personally. Being a teenager and having that parent and child relationship helped me as the reader to see the issues created by Simon Armitage. The main issues I saw in this poem is that whatever actions either of them do will affect the other person. The author Simon uses a range of techniques to help show the reader the issue/message in this poem. As well as the way, he structured the poem creates a meaning towards the reader.

One of the most difficult, yet rewarding roles is that of a parent. The relationship between and parent and child is so complex and important that a parents relationship with her/his child can affect the relationship that the child has with his/her friends and lovers. A child will watch their parents and use them as role models and in turn project what the child has learned into all of the relationship that he child will have. The way a parent interacts with his/her child has a huge impact on the child’s social and emotional development. Such cases of parent and child relationships are presented in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”. While Roethke and Plath both write about a dynamic between a child-father relationship that seems unhealthy and abusive, Plath writes about a complex and tense child-father relationship in which the child hates her father, whereas Roethke writes about a complex and more relaxed child-father relationship in which the son loves his father. Through the use of tone, rhyme, meter, and imagery, both poems illustrate different child-father relationships in which each child has a different set of feelings toward their father.

The poem, “Mother any distance” by Simon Armitage, is about a child and his mother. Throughout the poem, we see the relationship of the mother and child naturally develop and change. As the child gets older and becomes more independent he wants to leave the ‘birds nest’. Yet the mother doesn’t want to fully let go. Armitage uses symbolism, metaphor, and rhyme to affect my thoughts and/or feelings towards the mother.

These four words are the main message of the poem. Harper challenges the readers to understand and sympathize this scenario by encapsulating the painful emotions and pathos going through the separation of a bond between the mother and son.