Abortions will not let you forget.
You remember the children you got that you did not get,
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.
You will never neglect or beat
Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.
You will never wind up the sucking thumb
Or scuttle off ghosts that come.
You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh,
Return for a snack of them, with a gobbling mother eye.I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children.
I have contracted; I have eased
My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck.
I have said, ‘Sweets, if I sinned, if I seized’
Your luck
And your lives from your unfinished reach,
If I stole your births and your names,
Your straight baby tears and your games,
Your stilted or lovely loves, your tumults, your marriages, aches, and your deaths,
If I poisoned the beginnings of your breaths.
Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate.
Though why should I whine,
Whine that the crime was other than mine.Since anyhow you are dead.
Or rather, or instead,
You were never made.
But that too, I am afraid,
Is faulty: oh, what shall I say, how is the truth to be said?
You were born, you had body, you died.
It is just that you never giggled or planned or cried.Believe me, I loved you all.
Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you all.
Unveiling the Layers of Gwendolyn Brooks’s “The Mother”
Gwendolyn Brooks’s “The Mother” stands as a profound and deeply moving exploration of a mother’s complex emotions following an abortion. This powerful poem invites readers into an intimate space of grief, memory, and the enduring nature of maternal love, even for children who were never fully born.
Summary of “The Mother”
“The Mother” is a poignant reflection on the emotional aftermath of abortion, presented through the direct address of a mother to her lost children. The poem is not a political statement but a raw, personal lament that delves into the psychological landscape of a woman grappling with her choices and their profound impact.
- A Journey of Remembrance and Loss: The poem vividly portrays the mother’s persistent memory of the children she “did not get.” She imagines their potential lives, their missed experiences, and the nurturing she was unable to provide.
- Central Idea: The Enduring Presence of Absence: At its core, “The Mother” explores the paradox of mourning for something that never fully existed. It asserts that despite their physical absence, these children remain a powerful, indelible presence in the mother’s mind and heart. The poem highlights the profound and often unspoken grief associated with abortion.
- Key Themes: Guilt, Love, and Unfulfilled Potential: Brooks masterfully weaves together themes of guilt, regret, and the overwhelming power of maternal love. The speaker acknowledges her role in their nonexistence while simultaneously affirming a deep, unconditional love for them. The poem also laments the vast, unfulfilled potential of these “dim killed children.”
An In-Depth Analysis of “The Mother”
To truly appreciate “The Mother,” one must engage with its intricate structure, powerful voice, and masterful use of poetic devices. This poem challenges conventional notions of life and loss, offering a unique perspective on a deeply personal experience.
Understanding the Poem’s Structure and Voice
The poem unfolds as a direct, confessional monologue from a mother to her aborted children. This intimate and personal voice is central to the poem’s emotional weight, drawing the reader into the speaker’s private world of grief and contemplation. The mother offers no excuses or justifications, instead acknowledging the persistent presence of her lost children in her thoughts and feelings. The poem’s structure, moving through distinct emotional phases and shifting between concrete imagery and abstract reflection, mirrors the mother’s own fluctuating emotions and her struggle to define the truth of her experience.
The first stanza focuses on the inescapable memory and the imagined lack of interaction:
Abortions will not let you forget.
You remember the children you got that you did not get,
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.
The second stanza shifts to the mother’s direct address, expressing her regret and love, while the third stanza grapples with the philosophical dilemma of their existence. The final lines offer a powerful, unwavering declaration of love.
Exploring Poetic Devices in “The Mother”
Gwendolyn Brooks employs a rich array of literary and poetic devices to convey the profound emotional landscape of “The Mother.”
Imagery and Symbolism
Brooks masterfully uses imagery to create a visceral and haunting experience for the reader. The opening lines immediately confront the reader with stark, unforgettable images:
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.
This graphic imagery evokes a sense of physical loss and the fragility of life. The “damp small pulps” are not merely biological descriptions; they symbolize unrealized potential, dreams cut short, and the absence of individuality. The “singers and workers” represent the vibrant lives that were never lived. Later, the phrase “gobbling mother eye” is disturbing, suggesting a desperate, almost predatory, need to nurture even in absence, a hunger for what cannot be.
Consider the heartbreaking image:
I have eased
My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck.
This image of the mother offering her breast to children who can never nurse is profoundly poignant, representing a fundamental maternal instinct thwarted. It speaks not just to physical nourishment but to the deep nurturing and connection that never had the chance to unfold.
Metaphor and Personification
The poem is rich with metaphorical language that deepens its emotional resonance. The “voices of the wind” are personified as carrying the voices of the lost children:
I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children.
This suggests their continued, ethereal presence in the natural world, implying that even in nonexistence, the children are not entirely gone from the mother’s consciousness. The phrase “dim killed children” itself is a powerful metaphor, conveying both their fading memory and the tragic circumstances of their nonexistence. Similarly, “dim dears” is a poignant metaphor for the fading yet cherished memories of the children, suggesting a sense of sorrow and the struggle to keep their memory alive.
Enjambment and Rhythm
Brooks skillfully uses enjambment, the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line to the next without a pause, to create a flowing, conversational rhythm. This technique mirrors the stream of consciousness of the mother, allowing her thoughts and feelings to unfold naturally and intimately. Notice how the lines flow seamlessly:
You will never neglect or beat
Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.
This continuous flow emphasizes the mother’s yearning to care for her children and the imagined acts of nurturing that will never occur, drawing the reader into her unbroken train of thought.
Repetition and Anaphora
The repetition of phrases and structures amplifies the poem’s emotional impact. The anaphora, the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, is particularly effective in the second stanza:
If I sinned, if I seized
Your luck
And your lives from your unfinished reach,
If I stole your births and your names,
Your straight baby tears and your games,
Your stilted or lovely loves, your tumults, your marriages, aches, and your deaths,
If I poisoned the beginnings of your breaths.
This insistent repetition of “If I” underscores the mother’s profound guilt and her detailed contemplation of all that was taken away. The repetition of “Believe me, I loved you all” in the final stanza is a desperate, heartfelt plea for understanding and forgiveness, reinforcing the depth and sincerity of the mother’s enduring love.
Exploring Key Lines and Their Significance
Certain lines within “The Mother” resonate with particular power, encapsulating the poem’s central conflicts and emotions.
“You were never made. / But that too, I am afraid, / Is faulty.”
These lines represent the central paradox of the poem. The mother struggles to reconcile the fact that her children never fully existed with the undeniable reality of her grief and profound connection to them. The statement that even the idea of them not being made is “faulty” suggests that their existence, at least in the mother’s mind and heart, is undeniably real and impactful.
“Though why should I whine, / Whine that the crime was other than mine.”
This is a moment of brutal self-awareness and profound honesty. The mother acknowledges her full responsibility for her choices and refuses to deflect blame. This raw honesty is painful but ultimately empowering, showcasing her internal struggle and acceptance.
“It is just that you never giggled or planned or cried.”
This final, heartbreaking line encapsulates the tragedy at the heart of the poem. It highlights the absence of those fundamental human experiences that the children were denied. It is a poignant reminder of what was lost, not just for the children, but for the mother who yearned to witness and nurture those moments. It serves as a powerful testament to the enduring power of maternal love, even in the face of profound absence.
Literary and Poetic Devices in Detail
Understanding the specific techniques Brooks employs enhances appreciation for “The Mother.”
| Device | Example from “The Mother” | Effect |
| Imagery | “The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair” | Creates a vivid, haunting visual and tactile image, evoking a sense of physical loss and the fragility of potential life. |
| Metaphor | “voices of the wind” representing the voices of the children | Suggests the continuing, ethereal presence of the lost children and their connection to the natural world, making their absence felt. |
| Personification | Giving human qualities to the wind, allowing it to carry “voices” | Adds emotional depth, implying the children’s ongoing, though unseen, presence in the mother’s consciousness and environment. |
| Enjambment | “You will never neglect or beat Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.” |
Creates a flowing, conversational rhythm, mirroring the mother’s continuous thought process and emphasizing her yearning to nurture. |
| Anaphora | Repetition of “If I” in the second stanza, and “Believe me, I loved you all” | Reinforces the mother’s profound guilt and her desperate plea for understanding, emphasizing the depth and sincerity of her love. |
| Symbolism | The absent “giggled or planned or cried” | Represents the unrealized potential, lost experiences, and fundamental human milestones that the children were denied, highlighting the tragedy of their nonexistence. |
The Lasting Impact of “The Mother”
“The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a challenging yet profoundly rewarding poem. It offers a powerful and unflinching exploration of grief, regret, and the enduring, complex bond between a mother and her children, even those who never fully lived. By carefully analyzing the poem’s evocative language, striking imagery, and intricate structure, readers can gain a deeper understanding of its emotional complexity and its enduring relevance in discussions of loss, memory, and the human heart. This poem remains a testament to Brooks’s masterful ability to articulate the most profound and often unspoken human experiences.