“What it Meant” by Sharon Olds is a poem about the greatest beauty on Earth, the birth of a child. Olds displaces the beauty of giving birth using religious diction and allusions to the birth of Jesus. Although many already see the beauty in the birth of a child, this poem shows great admiration towards women who have given birth and their own mothers for what they went through. This poem forces women to view their bodies as miraculous and as beautiful as it truly is, as beautiful as the Virgin Mary.
At first glance, the poem has little to no significant structure to it in relation to the poem’s overall meaning. It is written in free verse style which is a very common style for poems written in the 20th and 21st century and was viewed as modern and a refreshing twist on traditional poetry, especially when talking about religious events and figures. The poem describes the scene in which baby Jesus is born and compliments his mother, the Virgin Mary as well. Towards the end, Olds describes a lily and its beauty further emphasizing the beauty of child birth for both the mother and the child. …show more content…
One of the most prominent symbols used in this poem is the lily. The lily is a symbol known to be purity and beauty while a white lily is a symbol for Madonna lily (The Virgin Mary). The first sentence wraps ups the entire conceit of the poem using a metaphor: “I didn’t know what it meant, that he was born in the beauty of the lilies,” (1,2). The lily in this poem is a metaphor for Mary’s womb that is pure and innocent. Throughout the poem, this specific flower is repeated several times which proves that it is, in fact, a motif. Towards the end of the poem, the poet
At first glance, the poem has little to no significant structure to it in relation to the poem’s overall meaning. It is written in free verse style which is a very common style for poems written in the 20th and 21st century and was viewed as modern and a refreshing twist on traditional poetry, especially when talking about religious events and figures. The poem describes the scene in which baby Jesus is born and compliments his mother, the Virgin Mary as well. Towards the end, Olds describes a lily and its beauty further emphasizing the beauty of child birth for both the mother and the child. …show more content…
One of the most prominent symbols used in this poem is the lily. The lily is a symbol known to be purity and beauty while a white lily is a symbol for Madonna lily (The Virgin Mary). The first sentence wraps ups the entire conceit of the poem using a metaphor: “I didn’t know what it meant, that he was born in the beauty of the lilies,” (1,2). The lily in this poem is a metaphor for Mary’s womb that is pure and innocent. Throughout the poem, this specific flower is repeated several times which proves that it is, in fact, a motif. Towards the end of the poem, the poet