Introduction to Family

Remember who was always there to cheer you up when you were feeling sad and down? Remember who was always there to take care of you when you fell sick or got injured? Remember who suffered so much for you all these years? Remember who made sure you had proper education, proper clothing and a proper lifestyle? That is right, these people are none other than your family. They were always there for you when you needed them, they never gave up on you no matter how bad you were, they always gave you whatever you wanted, despite the fact that they were not wealthy. All these sacrifices, all these pain has made poets write a whole list of poems for family, and we are here to analyse these poems that are able to teach us to be filial to our parents, and be nice to our siblings.

Analysis on A Boy Or A Girl By Regina M. Linn

A Boy Or A Girl
Regina M. Linn

At first you moved,
only a little.
I could always find you,
right in the middle.

As time went on,
you really started to grow.
It wasn't a whole lot,
in fact, it was rather slow.

Before I knew it,
you were all over the place.
It kind of felt like,
you were running a race.

People would ask me,
if, you were a boy or a girl.
I would sit and wonder,
if, you would have curls.

There are so many things,
I really want to know.
But, you are hidden inside,
so the answers don't show.

How much will you weigh?
How tall will you be?
What color is your hair?
Will you even like me?

I hope and pray,
you feel like you belong.
I never want you to feel,
like you are alone.

Your Dad and I,
planned you from the start.
You, my dear child,
were made straight from our hearts.

In about a week or so,
I'll meet you, for the first time.
For you are the product,
of your Dad's love and mine.

There will be no one like you,
not any place in the world.
It really doesn't matter,
if you are a boy or a girl.

We are both so happy,
that you even exist.
The gender doesn't matter.
you'll be hard to resist.

I hope I make you proud,
that I am your mother everyday.
Because, you have filled my dreams,
in more ways, than words can say.

It won't be long before,
I can look you in the eyes.
I can feel the excitement growing,
I know I'm going to cry.

Don't worry my angel,
those tears will be of joy.
It won't matter to me,
if you are a girl or a boy.

The poet use language to tell us that her baby is important no matter whether he/she is a boy/girl.

"There will be no one like you,
not any place in the world.
It really doesn't matter,
if you are a boy or a girl."

The language used in this stanza tells us that the baby is unique to the mother and it doesn't matter whether the baby is a boy or a girl."No one like you, not any place in the world." This sentence tells us that there will be no one like the persona's baby in the world. "It really doesn't matter" tells us that the persona doesn't care whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Hence telling us that the baby is unique to the mother and doesn't matter whether he is a boy or girl.

"The gender doesn't matter. You'll be hard to resist." This tells me that the persona is attracted to the child regradless of his/her gender.

After reading this poem, i feel that gender should not matter when it comes to family. My personal experience helps me know that the parent should not be biased on the child's gender as the child is unique to every parent. 


Analysed by: Cavan Yeo (36) 2/3

Analysis on Nurse's Song By William Blake

Nurse's Song(Innocence)

William Blake

When voices of children are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast
And everything else is still

Then come home my children the sun is gone down
And the dews of night arise
Come come leave off play, and let us away
Till the morning appears in the skies

No no let us play, for it is yet day
And we cannot go to sleep
Besides in the sky, the little birds fly
And the hills are all covered with sheep

Well well go & play till the light fades away
And then go home to bed
The little ones leaped & shouted & laugh'd
And all the hills echoed 

In this poem, Blake parodies his earlier “Nurse’s Song” from Songs of Innocence. The nurse hears the whispering of her charges in the dell, indicating some secretive activity among the youths. Upon hearing their voices, the nurse’s face “turns green and pale,” an image associated with the unfulfilled spinster in Blake’s day. That she reflects upon missed pleasures suggests that the secretive children are in fact adolescents becoming aware of their own sexuality, a theme in keeping with the overall tone of Songs of Experience.

The nurse feels that she wasted her youth and calls the children home, warning them that their daylight and their youthful lives are wasted in play while their winter and night, their adulthood and old age, will be wasted “in disguise.” Since the sun has already set when the nurse calls them in, it is reasonable to suppose that the youths have already become sexually active and will now reap the consequences envisioned by the nurse: a sense of loss and loneliness that cannot be assuaged.

The poem's rhyme scheme, ABCB DEFE, deviates slightly from the common ABAB CDCD scheme, which suggests discontent on the part of the nurse, whose words disrupt the more simplistic rhymes of childhood. Structurally, this poem follows "The Chimney Sweeper" in its abbreviation of the Innocence counterpart. The experienced Nurse's song is half as long, with two stanzas rather than four. The first lines echo the "Nurse's Song" from Songs of Innocence, but there the similarities end. This Nurse is more cynical and seems almost delighted in the wasted day and the impending end of innocence and childhood that accompanies it.

Analysis by: Darrell Tan(31) 2/3