Summary Of The Poem 'Motherhood Home'

The composer romanticises ideas of motherhood throughout this poem and expresses the hardships experienced. Her childhood home was a place of stories and songs, recounted to her by her mother and grandmother and her childhood had a pivotal effect on her writing. Everything she writes about has been infused with the radiance of those days in Brisbane growing up through the 1980s.
The poem is about a daughter who has just faced the death of her mother. She is saddened about her last encounter with her mother and pleads for forgiveness when reminiscing about her. She goes on to say that she has learned the lessons taught to her by her mother and wishes that her mother would come back.
Individuals face hardships and experiences that lead to the …show more content…
Gladys’ transformation is similar to that of the protagonist in the poem. The persona reflects upon her failure to learn from her mother's wisdom, how she was taken too early and how she asks for forgiveness for failing to learn from her. The mother struggles to control her emotions at their last meeting attempting to smile and hide the tears. This emphasises the strength and resilience of the mother as she hides despair with a ''smile so I should not see your tears". The composer creates historical context for her mother’s life, both in larger sense in scale of evolution, and more immediate in use of Halley’s Comet. The Lamp at the end is another symbol used to define some of the mothers favourite memories and the home she created for the child. It is a symbolic of light which is in reference to guidance/support and it creates a scene of warmth as the poet is called in for a prepared meal. Through this relationship between the mother and the daughter it highlights how new experiences and abrupt discoveries can lead to an individual becoming a stronger and better person, whilst also learning about others in the process.