Mother to Son and the Coora Flower: a Poetry Analysis
Mother to Son and The Coora Flower: A Poetry Analysis
In poetry, more so than any other form of literature, understanding sound, meaning and theme are key to understanding the work itself. In the case of the poems “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes and “The Coora Flower” by Gwendolyn Brooks these elements, when heavily focused upon, allow the reader to discover the message that these writers were attempting to convey. Thought both writers use these elements to their fullest to communicate their respective messages, the method and messages vary greatly.
In the poem Mother to Son, Hughes tells the tale of a mother speaking to her son about life and the hardships that one must face to make it in the world. Hughes uses extended metaphor to establish this view. In the second line he writes “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”, which initiates the metaphor. He then proceeds to describe the stair of her life. With the lines, “It’s had tacks in it, and splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor…” he support the mothers claim that like has not been a crystal stair case by using the metaphor to make a direct comparison between imperfections in the staircase and the pitfalls in life. He continues on with the line “bare” symbolizing rock bottom, nothingness, the absence of value. Then poem then begins to rise in action to signify the continued climb and the need to continue on, which is seen in the following lines; “I’se been a-climbin’ on,/ and reachin’ landin’s,/ and turnin’ corners,/ and sometimes goin’ in the dark…” the narrator states to the son once more that they still continue to climb and that life was easy for them. The language and the line structure chosen by Hughes help facilitate the message. He use very simple language but is able to invoke strong emotions from the reader. The language would potentially lead the reader to believe that this is truly a simple woman who had to struggle everyday of her life to make it. If Hughes had
In poetry, more so than any other form of literature, understanding sound, meaning and theme are key to understanding the work itself. In the case of the poems “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes and “The Coora Flower” by Gwendolyn Brooks these elements, when heavily focused upon, allow the reader to discover the message that these writers were attempting to convey. Thought both writers use these elements to their fullest to communicate their respective messages, the method and messages vary greatly.
In the poem Mother to Son, Hughes tells the tale of a mother speaking to her son about life and the hardships that one must face to make it in the world. Hughes uses extended metaphor to establish this view. In the second line he writes “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”, which initiates the metaphor. He then proceeds to describe the stair of her life. With the lines, “It’s had tacks in it, and splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor…” he support the mothers claim that like has not been a crystal stair case by using the metaphor to make a direct comparison between imperfections in the staircase and the pitfalls in life. He continues on with the line “bare” symbolizing rock bottom, nothingness, the absence of value. Then poem then begins to rise in action to signify the continued climb and the need to continue on, which is seen in the following lines; “I’se been a-climbin’ on,/ and reachin’ landin’s,/ and turnin’ corners,/ and sometimes goin’ in the dark…” the narrator states to the son once more that they still continue to climb and that life was easy for them. The language and the line structure chosen by Hughes help facilitate the message. He use very simple language but is able to invoke strong emotions from the reader. The language would potentially lead the reader to believe that this is truly a simple woman who had to struggle everyday of her life to make it. If Hughes had