These tender and emotional poems about motherhood celebrate the sacred journey of becoming a mother and the profound bond with a child. They depict the joys and challenges of nurturing, sacrifice, and unconditional love.
These verses may honor the strength and resilience of mothers, highlighting the selflessness and transformative power of the maternal role.
Poets use imagery of birth, growth, and nurturing, creating evocative verses that resonate with the universal experiences of motherhood, reminding readers of mothers’ immense influence and impact in shaping lives.
‘The Way My Mother Speaks’ by Carol Ann Duffy describes a speaker’s developing connection to her mother’s way of speaking.
I say her phrases to myself
in my head
or under the shallows of my breath,
restful shapes moving.
The day and ever. The day and ever.
‘My First Weeks’ is a description of the first two weeks in the life of a child and the pleasure she gets from nursing.
Sometimes, when I wonder what I’m like, underneath,
I think of my first two weeks, I was drenched
with happiness. The wall opened
‘To My Daughter On Being Separated from Her on Her Marriage’ by Anne Hunter is a touching poem in which the speaker describes her hopes and dreams for her daughter as she marries.
Dear to my heart as life’s warm stream
Which animates this mortal clay,
For thee I court the waking dream,
And deck with smiles the future day;
‘To My Mother’ by Edgar Allan Poe is a thoughtful poem that addresses the poet’s personal losses, such as the death of his biological mother, and what high esteem he now holds mothers in.
Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of “Mother,”
‘Mother’s Song’ by Shirley Lim traces a boy’s journey to manhood, blending love with the bittersweet passage of time.
Beautiful man, milk teeth bared in a trap,
Whose mouth curls in despair,
She smiles at your face.
‘The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me’ is a poignant tale around an heirloom, linking generations through themes of love and memory.
It was the first gift he ever gave her,
buying it for five francs in the Galeries
in pre-war Paris. It was stifling.
A starless drought made the nights stormy.
‘Transfiguration’ by Louisa May Alcott is a personal poem written from the poet’s own perspective. It details her emotions surrounding her mother.
Mysterious death! who in a single hour
Life's gold can so refine,
And by thy art divine
Change mortal weakness to immortal power!
Jean Bleakney’s ‘Consolidation’ is a deeply personal poem about the act of rearranging the cowry shells that the speaker and her children gathered in the past.
Some sunny, empty afternoon
I’ll pool our decade’s worth
and more of cowrie shells
gathered from that gravel patch
‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes employs the metaphor of a staircase to represent life’s challenges, emphasizing themes of determination and wisdom.
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
‘the mother’ by Gwendolyn Brooks conveys the thoughts of a woman who goes through emotional turmoil after having abortions.
Abortions will not let you forget.
You remember the children you got that you did not get,
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.
In Sheenagh Pugh’s ‘Sweet 18’, an older woman expresses her desire to regain youth as she battles the temptation to take it from others.
You move before me with all the unknown ease
of your age; your face clear of the awareness
that clouds mine. Your only scars; where you tried
to shave, before there was any need.
‘an afternoon nap’ by Arthur Yap explores the lacunae in the modern education system and how it results in anxiety and stress in students.
the ambitious mother across the road
is at it again. proclaming her goodness
she beats the boy. shouting out his wrongs, with raps
she begins with his mediocre report-book grades.
‘First Fall’ by Smith captures a mother showing her child autumn’s beauty, weaving themes of change, life, and the desire for happiness.
I’m your guide here. In the evening-dark
morning streets, I point and name.
‘Praise Song For My Mother’ uses nature metaphors to depict her mother’s vital, nurturing presence in a personal ode.
You were
water to me
deep and bold and fathoming
‘Woman Work’ by Maya Angelou is a poem that celebrates women’s strength. It uses natural imagery to speak on this topic and various others.
I've got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
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