To A Daughter Leaving Home

The jealous tone disappears at the end, however, and the poem ends wistfully and resigned stating that, “It’s an old/story—the oldest we have on our planet--/the story of replacement” (16-18). The speaker realizes that aging is part of the continuous life process, which starts at birth and ends at death. She understands that each phase of life has a specific purpose for maintaining the species. Her daughter must mature so she can create new life, just as the speaker did ten years ago. She knows that eventually her daughter will replace her and that the life process will continue to repeat itself for generations to come.

begins to grow up a little and realizes she is now seeing her parents otherwise, almost with a new

To me, this poem is an extended metaphor for life journeys.  Wilbur’s daughter is undergoing not only the experience of writing– along with its frustrations and “heavy cargo” – but is experiencing life with some difficulties along the way.

In the poem the blaring music helps the daughter stay happy: “But at four what she wants is self-location

The occasion would be whenever a daughter is going anywhere without her parents, or she is growing up in general. The setting is at a park on an afternoon. The only people involved in the poem would be a parent and a young girl.

I found it very compelling to compare these two poems back to back. They are both stories about the trials of motherhood and what it’s like to raise up children. This set of poems is so beautiful because they are separate stories, about opposite scenarios, evoking different emotions, told by two separate poets that unintentionally piece together, forming a much bigger story. It is my opinion that the poem Daystar acts to provide spiritual context for To a Daughter Leaving Home. Anyone who has raised young children knows it is an unbearably draining experience at times. Children are notoriously dependent upon their parents for everything they need. Therefore, it is easy to understand why the mother romanticizes her precious alone time where she can finally clear her mind and bask in the long-awaited silence. Before long her children will awaken, teary-eyed and once again fully reliant on their mother’s care. For a young mother this massive daily responsibility is an extremely taxing, and seemingly endless duty.

The ending of the poem is most tragic. In the safety of her home, the mother hears

In “To a Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Pastan and “For My Daughter” by David Ignatow both speakers wish to always be present for their children. In “To a Daughter Leaving Home” the speaker is watching their child age and gain independence. Similarly in “For My Daughter” the speaker is separating from their child but in this poem the separation is through death. In both poems the speakers realize that they must accept the departure that is dragging closer, despite their internal struggles.

The poem then transitions to the post-marriage life of the couple in stanza two. In lines eight through ten, the speaker states that she is too shy around her husband. Not only does she not smile, but also she does not answer her husband when he calls her. This shows that the speaker's life took a great emotional transition, as she is overly shy and feels uncomfortable around him. However, around the middle of the second stanza, the speaker transitions into another stage of

In the poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Pastan is filed with metaphors and symbols that represent the feeling of a child growing up and moving out onto their own. There comes a time when every parent must send off their child into the world, and these parents feel a multitude of things when sending them off. It paints a picture of a father teaching his young daughter to ride a bike, but uses this image to represent a child growing up. The mixed feeling of pride and fear as the child grows up and moves out of the nest. The use of first person past tense shows us that the narrator is recalling the time they taught their child to ride a bike and are reliving that experience with the child moving out again. The fright of watching your child speed down the road towards life is portrayed from the start and continues throughout the poem. A good parent is always worried about their child’s wellbeing; they will always worry as they watch their children head straight to the destruction that comes with living life. Though the good parent will try their best to teach their child how to ride their bike into adulthood. This poem uses imagery, word choice, and metaphor to express the fears a parent has when sending their child out on their own into the world.

The children are unnoticed by others and the mother is the only one that is protecting them. This poem shows the hard times that the mother must face because her children have died. However the mother is coping with them while still protecting her children after they have died, This is the mother's way of coping because she is not yet ready to let go of her children and still wants to care for them. This poem shows this through nature by portraying the mother as a bird who is protecting her nest. Also the poem uses nature by describing the harsh times as a winter wind that has caused harm to the mother and her children.

She is realizing that she will have freedom through her husband death and whispers over and over, “free, free, free!” Her unhappiness is not with her husband, it is her rankings in society and becoming a widow is her only chance she has to gain the power, money, respect, and most of all freedom.

Before you know it, the daughter is interested in boys. I believe this is done on purpose, to show how quickly time passes by. Next, the poem shows the narrator and his wife to be

The author Linda Pastan, imagines a parent running breathlessly to regain her strength from the ending connection she once shared with her daughter in her poem, “To a Daughter Leaving Home.” It’s a mother’s biggest fear when it comes to their child or children leaving home while going their own ways when the time is right. This poem is based on childhood, fatherhood, and even motherhood.

"A Prayer for My Daughter" is a poem written by William Butler Yeats in 1919. This poem is a prayer-like poem. And it generally tells about the poet's ideas about his daughter who is sleeping at the same time while the poem is being told. Throughout the poem Yeats reflects how he wants his daughter's future to be. This essay will analyze the poem in three sections: 1- What does this poem mean?, 2- The poetic devices, imagery, rhyming, figures of speech, used in the poem and mood, diction, language, and the structure of the poem, 3- An essay in a feminist point of view titled "What does the poet want his daughter to become?" .