To A Daughter Leaving Home

Humans are Smart and independent beings and as a result, most children and teenagers want to be independent from their parents; whether that means more freedom on the playground or moving on with one's life. This is the message in both poems “To a Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Pastan and “Departure” by Glen Kirkland. These writers have many similarities and differences in their works.

In her message in ”To a Daughter Leaving Home” Pastan suggests surprise coming from her daughter's accomplishment. She said “my own mouth rounding to surprise when you pulled ahead down the curved path park”, when her daughter became independent at riding her bicycle. She was overly surprised that her daughter could do it and she was glad because her daughter was happy. In “Departure” kirkland mentions sadness coming from a child moving on and starting its own life. This is relevant in “ I smile awkwardly and mutter goodbye”. He wanted to move away but didn’t want to abandon his family which made a happy day a sad, strange, and awkward day. Both writers use use effective imagery to communicate their …show more content…
Pastan focuses on a single mother and her daughter. While uses more formal language so that his general audience will easily comprehend the theme. However Pastan uses causal language the emphasize her daughter (“wobbled away”). Readers can see the different attitude by analyzing the title. Pastan describes her poem as a heartfelt note to her daughter. However kirkland presents a more controlling and to the point title “Departure” to accomplish a goal of making it seem like an everyday thing.

Regardless of the techniques used, the message presented by Linda Pastan and Glen Kirkland is clear: It is hard to let go of people (especially children) as they move on with their lives, but for them to prosper we need to let them go and support them every step of the