Poem For My Sister By Liz Lochhead Analysis

“Poem for My Sister” written by Liz Lochhead, is a poem describing the relationship between two sisters and their experiences. As with almost all siblings, the younger sister looks up to her older sister and strives to be like her whereas the older sister in this poem has been through many hardships and troubles in her life and warns her stubborn sister to not follow in her footsteps. The reader can relate to the poem as they are either an adult or a child and both ages apprehend the feelings and emotions that the characters are going through. A deeper meaning this poem suggests is that the experience of adulthood should be seen as advice for the next generations to come.

The poet has shown how easily influenced children are and how they strive to be like their elders by using shoes as a representation and symbol for different lifestyles. “My little sister likes to try my shoes, to …show more content…
In the case of this poem, the prudent elder sister loves her sibling and so wants her to have an optimum future, wether it be in romance, career or health. She is trying to waylay her sister from following in her own path. This can be seen in the last stanza of the poem; “I should not like to see her in my shoes. I wish she could stay sure footed, sensibly shod”. As shown from this line, the elder sister wishes for her younger sister to be “sensibly shod” and “sure footed”. These two phrases show a balanced and comfortable pair of shoes that fit the wearer well but it represents the choices that we should make that suit us and our customs. She wants her sister to be living a comfortable and sensible life, unlike her own which was in shambles, and therefore, reprobated her sisters choices. As the elder sibling herself did not live such a lifestyle, as seen from the line “I should not like to see her in my shoes.” she has the wisdom and knowledge on how to avoid such a case and this can be passed on to her