Mother To Son Poem Metaphor

'Female parent to Son' by Langston Hughes was first published in December of 1922 in the magazine, Crisis. It was as well included in Hughes' collection, The Weary Blues, published four years later. This piece is ane of his near popular and relatable. Readers of all backgrounds can come to this verse form and feel themselves either in the shoes of the child or the mother, or mayhap both. It's a very emotional piece, i that is meant to a reminder of life's hardships and an inspiration for the forcefulness needed to persevere through them.

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

Summary

'Mother to Son' past Langston Hughes uses the metaphor of a staircase to describe the difficulties and dangers one volition confront in life.

The poem contains a mother'south warning to her son virtually the stairs one is forced to climb throughout life. He must scout out for broken boards, splinters, and tacks. These things are there in order to throw him off. Additionally, she explains that although he might get exhausted or desperate, he is never to plough around or sit down downwards. She is withal trudging up the stairs, and he can get as well.

Yous tin read the full verse form here.

Themes

In regards to the theme, a reader tin interpret the poem as speaking on the importance of feel and determination. Equally stated higher up, the speaker is a woman who is addressing her son. She is attempting to explain to him, through the epitome of the staircase, what his life is going to be like. No matter how dark or dangerous the stairs get, 1 must go on "climbin'," as the female parent is.

It is also important to consider the historical context of this piece. Hughes was an of import fellow member of the Harlem Renaissance, who wrote extensively on the oppression and racism that Black Americans face. With this in mind, the speaker tin be seen as a generalized image of an African American mother who wants to explain the troubles her black son is going to confront as he ages.

Construction and Course

'Mother to Son' by Langston Hughes is a xx-line poem that is contained within one stanza of text. Hughes composed the text in complimentary poesy. This means that there is no design of rhyme or rhythm. That does not hateful that the discussion choices are unimportant. In fact, they are lyrical in nature. This can be seen through Hughes' thoughtful option of words that reflect a specific dialect and examples of half-rhyme throughout the text.

Literary Devices

Langston Hughes has called to employ anaphora, dialect, and imagery, equally well equally other literary devices in 'Female parent to Son.' Anaphora is the repetition of words at the outset of lines, as well as just a general repetition of words throughout the verse form. Anaphora is clearest in lines 4-6 and x-12. These lines all begin with "And." They too build off one another, leading up to moving and poignant statements that say something well-nigh the difficulties ahead for the son.

A reader should also take notation of Hughes'southward dialectic choices. He uses shortened versions of words such as "reachin'" rather than "reaching" and "landin's" rather than "landings." This has the effect of making the verses more song-like. It also speaks to the narrator's own groundwork and might lead 1 to assume this person is uneducated. She is a working-form adult female who is speaking frankly and on her ain terms.

One of the most of import images of this piece is that of the crystal stair. Hughes uses the staircase as an extended metaphor to represent the hardships that life presents. His speaker describes how the staircase is non "crystal." Information technology is instead unsafe, torn up, and covered in "tacks" and "splinters." She also speaks on the mode the staircase turns, and the "landings" one eventually reaches forth the way.

Assay of Female parent to Son

Lines 1-seven

Well, son, I'll tell y'all:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
(…)
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.

In the first department of lines, Hughes begins with the speaker addressing her son. The first words, "Well, son, I'll tell y'all:" sets upward the conversation as informal simply also important. She clearly has something she needs to tell him, and it isn't going to be easy. The master thing that the mother wants to tell her son is that,

Life for [her hasn't] been no crystal stair.

She is contrasting her own life against one that is easy to progress through (or up). In her case, moving forward represents a staircase with "tacks" and "splinters" protruding from the wood. The wood is as well torn up in places, entire boards missing. It is dangerous to live her life, and generally, each pace presents something new to fearfulness.

The fact that boards are missing from the staircase speaks to the lack of back up she received or to the missing links in her own understanding of what she should do next. The terminal lines add to the already painful and at times scary, staircase she has described. Of the boards that do remain on the stairs, and the landings she volition come up to in the adjacent lines, some of those do non have "carpet." Again, she is describing the poor weather condition she has had to deal with and what a struggle information technology has been, and notwithstanding is, for her to live.

Lines 8-13

Simply all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
(…)
And sometimes goin' in the night
Where there own't been no light.

Despite all of the things mentioned in the first 7 lines, the speaker is yet moving forward. She wants to make sure that, higher up all else, this is the lesson her son learns. "All the time" she has been struggling, she has also been "a-climbin' on" up the metaphorical stairs of her life.

To draw the different periods of her life, she inserts landings into the staircase. These are places the stairs might have a turn, or she might exist able to rest. Whenever she reached these "landin's" she went ahead and turned the corner. The speaker was not afraid of what might be on the other side, fifty-fifty when she was entering into the "nighttime." This is another graphic symbol trait she is hoping to pass on to her son. Fifty-fifty though she knows how bad things can be, she is unafraid, or at least strong enough, to face up them.

Non only are the places she is forced to go dark, but there has too has never been whatsoever light at that place. This means that either she is the outset 1 there or one of many who have seen the same darkened corridors of life.

Lines 14-xx

So boy, don't you plow back.
Don't yous set downwardly on the steps
(…)
I'se withal climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

In the final stanza of 'Mother to Son,'the speaker direct addresses her son again. She uses the word "boy" to call his attending and make sure he is nevertheless listening to her. The mother tells her son that no matter what he might exist going through, now or in the future, he cannot "turn dorsum." There is null down the stairs that will assistance one make information technology past an obstruction alee.

She also tells him not to "set down on the steps." Any hesitation or fear will only make the situation worse. He needs to persevere, especially by these most difficult parts. The speaker besides warns her son confronting "autumn[ing]." The stairs must be handled carefully as at that place are broken boards, tacks, and splinters to avoid. These obstacles, non of one's own making, are only emphasized by those brought on by i's choices. The staircase becomes more and more difficult, depending on how one handles their own life.

In the last iii lines, the speaker reiterates that even though life is hard, she is all the same going. She is "however climbin'" through the hardships.

Like Poetry

Readers who enjoyed'Female parent to Son'should also consider reading some of Hughes' other best-known poems. These include'Dreams,' 'I, Too, Sing America,'and'The Negro Speaks of Rivers.'In the latter, Hughes utilizes a speaker who describes the history of the world through what he'due south seen aslope rivers. It is ane of Hughes' best-loved poems. in'I, Also, Sing America,'the speaker asserts his Americanism in the confront of those who expect downward upon the Black population in the United States. He is equal amongst all people in his country. In'Dreams,'Hughes highlights the value of dreams and how important information technology is to nurture them if one wants to "fly" above the residue of the earth.