To A Daughter Leaving Home” is a poem by Linda Pastan
“To A Daughter Leaving Home” is a poem by Linda Pastan. The poem is about a mother teaching her daughter to ride a bicycle. It is intended to show that the girl is old enough to leave home now.
Speaker in the Poem
The speaker in the poem is the mother of the child who is leaving home. “when I taught you to ride a bicycle when you were eight.’’ Line1-3
Summary of the Poem
The poem describes memories of a mother teaching her daughter to ride a bicycle. “I taught you how to ride a bicycle when you were eight’’ line 1-3. She walks behind her while the daughter is riding the bicycle. The mother observes a series of wobbles as her daughter cycles the two-round wheels. The mother is nervous and worried about her daughter not to hit the ground when riding on her own. The mother is left screaming and laughing as the daughter pumps and pumps with her hair flipping behind her as if binding goodbye.
The implication of the Poem
The implication of the poem is presented by the use of Metaphor, Repetition and simile.
The whole riding lesson is a metaphorical representation of life’s journey of the girl. The mother teaches her daughter to ride prepares her “to take off” and be independent. The mother also metaphorically waits for her crush meaning that she is nervous of the fragility of her daughter to be independent.
Repetition
The repetition of the words “Pumping, Pumping” line 17 has been used to show the energy the daughter has to face life on her own.
Simile
The use of simile “hair flapping behind you like handkerchief waving goodbye’’ shows that the daughter has grown and is ready to leave her mother and live her independent life.
Form
The rhyme of the poem is created through the use of short lines
Theme
The theme is actually for mature and old children to leave home or their parents. The mother teaches her daughter to ride the bicycle, which shows how our parents prepare us to be independent. The mother works hard to keep up with the daughter until she can no longer keep up. This means that once a child matures, it will be hard for the parent to handle them. Therefore, they need to let them go despite being nervous about how life will take its course.
Work Cited
Pastan, L. (2017). Linda Pastan. Jung Journal, 11(2), 5–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/19342039.2017.1302752