Katherine
Trujillo-Johnston
Dr. Hague
English 370
1 November 2013
A Place Beyond the Page: A Close Reading
of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Poem “Mother and Poet”
The “Mother and Poet” by Elizabeth
Barrett Browning is dramatic monologue first published in 1861. This poem is
one in a collection of poems that EBB released before her death. This particular
collection of poems was declared by many to define EBB as a multi-faceted
person: claiming her to possess the qualities of a woman, poet, politician and
mother. The speaker in the piece is an Italian poet named Olimpia Rossi Savio,
Baronessa di Bernstrel, known for her passion filled poetry centered on Italian
freedom. The poem is biographical in that it describes the loss of her two sons
during the Italian Revolution. The poem is broken into twenty stanzas with
irregular line lengths and an ending rhyme scheme. This poem by EBB depicts the
grief of a mother while commenting on large issues like politics, war, death,
and patriotism.
In the first few stanzas the
narrative begins by describing the death of the speaker’s sons and makes a
statement that describes the speakers stance. EBB writes, “Dead! One of them
shot by the sea in the east,/ And one of them shot in the west by the sea./
Dead! both my boys! When you sit at the feast/ And are wanting a great song for
Italy free,/ Let none look at me” (1-5)! In this first stanza we find out our
speaker has suffered great loss and we also know from the background that her
sons died fighting for Italian independence. I think it is very important that
the speaker says she will not be singing about Italy’s newfound freedom. It
immediately lets us know that she cannot find happiness in her countries
advancement. In addition, although her stanzas are irregular, it is important
to notice the shorter ending line that has similar syllables throughout the all
the stanzas. The final lines all assert her feelings with a very finalizing
tone.
Further on in the poem EBB sets up
the mother child relationship. In other words she creates a bond between the
speaker and her sons. She writes, “What art can a woman be good at? Oh, vain!/
What art is she good at, but hurting her breast/ With the milk-teeth of babes,
and a smile at the pain?/ Ah boys, how you hurt! you were strong as you pressed,/
And I proud, by that test” (11-15). I
think EBB purposely shows the pride a mother feels because she wants to evoke a
certain emotion from her reader. She creates sympathy by showing the love and
connection between a mother and son. A little ways down she also writes about
the things the mother teaches her sons, “To teach them…It stings there! I made
them indeed/ Speak plain the word country.
I taught them no doubt,/ That a country’s a thing men should die for at
need./ I prated of liberty, rights, and about/ The tyrant cast out” (21-25). The
speaker feels responsible for her sons’ deaths because she is the one who
created their beliefs about patriotism and country. When she says it stings she
means the knowledge she now has about what she did hurts her. It brings to mind
the saying “putting salt in an open wound.” She also says, “I exulted; nay, let
them go forth at the wheels/ Of the guns, and denied not” (27-28). She had the
opportunity to not let her sons go off to war but she let them go anyway and there
is an overwhelming tone of regret.
EBB then goes on and tells about the
letters of glory and triumph that come to the narrator from her boys and they
describe camp-life. They tell their mom of the first victories they win but
then her first son dies and the letters from her other son change from happy to
sad. Then he dies. After the death EBB writes, “O Christ of the five wounds,
who look’dst through the dark/ To the face of Thy mother! Consider, I pray,/
How we common mothers stand desolate, mark,/ Whose sons, not being Christs, die
with eyes turned away,/ And no last word to say” (66-70)! This stanza creates
the picture of all the other mothers that are in similar situations, losing
their sons to war.
Finally, in the last few stanzas EBB
addresses the political side to her poem. She talks about how after Italy has
won and Rome and Venice are celebrating that she does not want to be a part of
it. She claims her Italy is in the sky where her sons are and she addresses the
people of Italy and says, “When you have your country from mountain to sea, /
When King Victor has Italy’s crown on his head, / And I have my Dead—/ What
then” (82-86)? In other words, EBB has her speaker questioning the actions of
her country. In the second to last stanza EBB creates a powerful metaphor that
questions war. It reads, “Forgive me. Some women bear children in strength,/
And bite back the cry of their pain in self-scorn;/ But the birth pangs of
nations will wring us at length/ Into a wail such as this—and we sit on
forlorn/ When the man-child is born” (91-95). The metaphor of Italy’s
revolution as a mother giving birth is a powerful image that brings to question
many things. And the final stanza of the poem is the repetition of the first
stanza, which brings the poem full circle. The speaker told her story and is
restating her original claim.
In this poem EBB is questioning the
price of war. She sees another crown worn but she questions at what expense? The
speaker cannot be happy for her country because her loss was too great and that
is why she will not sing a song of praise. Also the speaker is forced to
question her mothering. She admits that she has taught her sons to be patriotic
and to be willing to sacrifice their own lives for the cause, but she has to
live with the consequences of that.
Today the questions EBB poses in her
poem “Mother and Poet,” can still be applied. She challenges the cost of war
and describes the hardships of parenting. It leaves you wondering why countries
are built on overpowering one another. At the end of the poem you know gain
Italy has made but you also know the loss its’ people have suffered.
Works Cited
