• Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Compare the ways parent/child relationships are represented in Before You Were Mine by Carol Ann Duffy and three other poems, one by Simon Armitage and any two from the Pre-1914 Poetry Bank.

Extracts from this document...


Sample Essay - Parent/Child Relationship Compare the ways parent/child relationships are represented in 'Before You Were Mine' by Carol Ann Duffy and three other poems, one by Simon Armitage and any two from the Pre-1914 Poetry Bank. The relationship between a parent and a child can bring about any of a range of emotions. In 'The Affliction of Margaret', we see a parent's desperation at not hearing from her missing son in seven years, while in 'On my first Sonne', the poet bids farewell to his dead son. In 'Before You Were Mine', the poet describes the effect her own birth had on the lifestyle of her mother, whereas 'My father thought it bloody queer' describes a strained relationship between father and son. The differing structures of the poems affect their impact. Wordsworth's structure for 'The Affliction of Margaret' consists of eleven verses of seven lines each, one for each year her son has been missing. ...read more.


There are three verses, each with a different number of lines, and there is no regular rhyme scheme. As in 'The Affliction of Margaret' and 'Before You Were Mine', the effect of the verses is to separate the different ideas about the relationship between parent and child in the poem - the first verse describes his father's reaction to the earring, the second goes back to when he had his ear pierced, and the third describes how he now finds himself saying the same things as his father. Each poet uses a different style of language to describe the parent/child relationship. In 'The Affliction of Margaret', there is a confused, obsessive style of language. Margaret often contradicts herself: "Neglect mel no I suffer long / from that ill thought". This shows her desperate state of mind. The language in 'On my first Sonne' is gentler and calmer. Jonson wants his son to "Rest in soft peace", and this expresses his tenderness towards his son and his acceptance that he has lost him. ...read more.


Feelings about parent/child relationship in the post-1914 poems are less clear cut. In 2Before You Were Mine', the poet admires her mother's rebellious life before she was born: she calls her "Marilyn", which shows she sees her as glamorous. However, the poet seems to think her own birth deprived her mother of this exciting life, forcing her to be responsible. In 'My Father', the parent/child relationship is strained, as the father mocks the child for his attempt at rebellion. Now he has grown up, the poet finds himself saying the same things as his father, but we can see that the memory of his father's reaction still hurts, as he describes "my own voice breaking like a tear". All four of these poems take an interesting angle on the trials and tribulations of parent/child relationships. I feel that the most affecting is 'On my first Sonne'. I find this poem very moving, as Jonson bids a fond farewell to his son. He describes his son as his "best piece of poetrie", and I feel this is a beautiful way of showing the pride he had in his child. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text


Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related GCSE Pre and Post 1914 Comparison essays

  1. Peer reviewed

    Poem comparison showing relationship between parents and child

    5 star(s)

    However, she also thinks that her son could be depressed in prison and thinking of the worst that could happen to her son. She does this by saying "perhaps some dungeon hears thee groan" this shows how she thinks that her son is capable of doing acts that will cause

  2. How is the theme of parent child relationship explored in the poems &amp;quot;if&amp;quot; ...

    between her and her daughter when the umbilical chord is cut and this makes her feel that both of these poems arent quite the same but are still concerned about their children. In the poem "Once Upon a Time" Gabriel Okara has went back to nigeria and feels different beacause

  1. What is the role of war poetry?

    In both instances the reason behind the gallant folly of words is to raise moral, and as both poems are used to entertain (as war poems in Angelo-Saxon time were used as entertainment and Henry V is a play) they would also have been used to raise the heart and


    We know Salome's expectations of men; and it seems as if Salome does not take men seriously and is only using men for pleasure, 'role reversal.' The reader is drawn by the murders world as they know Salome's motive is to reclaim her power as she wants to oust the men who take advantage of women.

  1. Write a comparative analysis of Neutral tones and Absence.The two poems I am going ...

    Unlike Hardys' poem Jennings poem to me looks like she's got harsh words its not clear why she makes it sound so harsh maybe was mad at him for leaving or mad at God for taking him or was just upset or even maybe mad at the park for still

  2. Love takes up in many forms in life, and the poems Refugee Mother and ...

    Achebe transfers this idea through 'now she did it like putting flowers on a tiny grave' to outline the things she has to do after he has passed on to the other side. The phrase 'tiny grave' gives an impression of the grave being significantly small and horrifying than death itself although death is already bad enough.

  1. Before you were mine by Carol Ann Duffy, Mother Any Distance by Simon Armitage, ...

    The third stanza refers to her mother now. This structure is contrasting to 'Mother any distance', because it uses the same amount of lines in each stanza whilst 'Mother any distance uses uneven lines possibly showing the uncertainty of the poetic voice leaving home. Similar to 'Before you were mine' we see three stages in the poetic voice's life.


    Perhaps Blake uses the terror of Tyger to represent the suffering and death in the world and in this way, he creates striking images to question whether God is truly beneficent.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work