To+a+Daughter+Leaving+Home

To a Daughter Leaving Home Linda Pastan



When I taught you at eight to ride a bicycle, loping along beside you as you wobbled away on two round wheels, my own mouth rounding in surprise when you pulled ahead down the curved path of the park, I kept waiting for the thud of your crash as I   sprinted to catch up, while you grew smaller, more breakable with distance, pumping, pumping for your life, screaming with laughter, the hair flapping behind you like a   handkerchief waving goodbye.

__Biography of Linda Pastan__


 * Born in the Bronx on May 27, 1932
 * Started submitting work to The New Yorker by age 12
 * B.A.- Radcliffe College (all-female counterpart to Harvard)
 * Married a physician
 * Suspended writing career to raise one daughter and two sons
 * Started to write every morning once her kids were in elementary school, continued until age 70
 * M.A.- Brandeis University
 * Published ten books
 * Served as Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1991 to 1995
 * Currently resides in Potomac, Maryland
 * Common themes of work: family, domestic life, loss, mortality

"When men write about domestic things they are praised to the winds—look what a human, wonderful person. But when women do, they really are put down. My poems may have domestic surfaces, but that's not what they are about and it really upsets me to feel that I'm not taken as seriously as if I had been a man."

__Elements of TIME Analysis__

__Theme__ The poem focuses on parenthood and the the progression from childhood to independence. The theme of the poem can be summarized by saying, ¨If you love someone, let them go.” The nostalgic tone conveys that the parent has trouble parting from their daughter, but they eventually recognize that the child is happier when given independence. If someone truly loves another person, they will let them do what makes them happiest. __Imagery and Poetic Devices__ Alliteration- ¨path of the park” Simile- ¨the hair flapping behind you like a handkerchief in the wind” Hyperbole- ¨pumping, pumping for your life” Together, these literary devices help to create vivid imagery of the daughter learning to ride her bike for the first time. For example, the hyperbole makes the seemingly small event seem more dramatic. __Meter__ The poem is one stanza long and is without specific rhyme or rhythm. The lack of structure creates a sense of informality that causes the reader to feel comfortable when envisioning the imagery in the poem. The speaker of the poem is a parent reflecting on their daughter leaving home. It does not specify whether the speaker is the author, but the idea is plausible. __Emotion__ The tone of the poem is nostalgic. The speaker feels a wistful feeling towards past years in which her daughter was younger and just learning to ride a bike. The poem itself is focused on the daughter as a child, but the title of the poem suggests that the daughter is now grown and leaving home for the first time. The reader is able to sense that the parent has a sad attitude towards this event because the parent is reminiscing over past memories. However, the joy of teaching a child to ride a bike conveys that the tone is not entirely sad; the parent experiences joy in seeing their child being happy leaving home and gaining independence.

__Works Cited__ Linda Pastan | Academy of American Poets. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. The Mezzo Cammin Women Poets Timeline - Pastan. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.