Tuesday, October 16, 2012

"For My Daughter"

I'm confused about this poem.  I thought he was speaking about his daughter (baby). He is talking about her innocence or obliviousness towards life. "Concealed hintings of death she does not heed.' (3) 'I have no daughter. nor do I desire none.' (14) I don't understand what this poem is about.
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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 17, 2012 at 9:51 AM

    After reading the poem thoroughly I concluded that the man has no daughter. In the poem he is sort of saying that if he did have a daughter there would only be three paths her life could take and none of them would be good. He claims that she might either be born with a terminal disease, or in another scenario live of the hatred of others and in the third scenario she would end up with a man who would cheat on her and infect her with a terminal std. He does not seem optimistic on a bright future for a daughter of his and ultimately decides never to have a daughter.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 17, 2012 at 9:53 AM

    And Charlotte, my advice on understanding poems is read it many ,many times over and over again. It works.

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  3. Miss BOctober 17, 2012 at 3:30 PM

    Charlotte- yes, that last line is quiet puzzling.
    Kristel- nice reading, and yes, reading, rereading and reading once again is the only trick to formulating an interpretation.
    What does the word "heed" mean? Look up any words you are unfamiliar with or are used in way we do not commonly use them. Which line of the poem indicates that the daughter is a baby? What does the speaker mean when the speaker says "Parched years that I have seen/That may be hers appear: foul, lingering/Death in certain war"(Kees 7-9)? What does "parched" mean? which war is being referred to as "certain war" (9)? When was this poem written?

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  4. Miss BOctober 17, 2012 at 3:34 PM

    Also how does Kees' "For My Daughter" relate or compare with Hughes' "Mother to Son"? What about "The Chimney Sweeper" by Blake? Start making connections.

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  5. AnonymousOctober 17, 2012 at 3:39 PM

    one connection between these poem is based on gender, in one poem the man seems to have such a negative outlook on what the future of a woman could be, as opposed to the mother who sees a lot of hope for her son. Maybe it could be linked to the primal thinking some people have in society,that men are above woman and are destined for higher and better things.

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