Linda Pastan was born in 1932 and is still alive today. From 1991 to 1995 she was the Poet Laureate of Maryland. Her poems address a diverse range of topics, including family life, motherhood, aging, and loss.
In "To a Daughter Leaving Home," Linda Pastan uses the situation which the speaker describes to illustrate how the speaker feels towards her daughter. The poem contrasts the mother's feelings about her daughter's bike ride with her daughter's reactions. While the mother is worried and fearful that her daughter will be injured as she bikes away, the daughter is excited almost to the point of recklessness.The mother's concern for her daughter's safety clearly shows her love and affection towards her. However, the wider context of the situation indicates something other than a mother's love for her daughter. As the title indicates, the daughter is about to leave home. At first, this may seem unrelated to the poem's content, as all the poem seems to be is a description of a memory. However, there are several details which indicate parallels between the situation in the memory and the situation of the daughter leaving home. Early in the poem, the speaker describes her surprise at how fast her daughter was learning how to ride her bike. This is similar to how many parents feel that their children grow up faster than they expected, a feeling which is greatly increased when a child leaves home. Additionally, in the last few lines of the poem, the hair of the daughter during her bike ride is compared to "a handkerchief waving goodbye." The metaphor of the handkerchief shows how the bike ride mirrors the current situation. Just as the mother felt anxious about the danger of the bike ride then, she feels anxious about the uncertain future of her child. The two situations in this poem, the one described and the one alluded to, both show how parents react to their children's growth and development.
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