To a Daughter Leaving Home

I thought it would be interesting to read the other poem about motherhood as well. The tone in "To a Daughter Leaving Home" is much more focused on the joys of parenting. Although she is a little disheartened that her child is growing up, she is still proud of the fact that she can ride a bike by herself and possibly the mother has taught her what she needs to know to grow up and be successful.

In "Daystar," the mother wants to get away from her children, but in this poem, the mother hates to see her daughter leaving her. She, "kept waiting for the thud," but it would never come. That thud is the symbol of the daughter's dependance on her mother, but she doesn't need it anymore. The mother is saddened by this, she is still trying to hang on to her daughter's innocence, sprinting to "catch up," but the mother feels left behind because her daughter is growing up so quickly.

Both of these poems have very different views on motherhood. This poem inparticular felt as though she would lose her daughter. The tone of the "handkerchief waving goodbye" is a very sad one, leaving the mother behind. While in the other poem, the mother wishes to be alone, and she reminisces happily in the memory of being absolutely "nothing," for even just an hour. With no responsibilities of a mother, or anything. She was just an observer.