Mother to Son and the Coora Flower a Poetry Analysis

Mother to Son and The Coora Flower: A Poetry Analysis In poetry, more so than any other form of literature, understanding sound, meaning and theme are key to understanding the work itself. In the case of the poems â€Å"Mother to Son† by Langston Hughes and â€Å"The Coora Flower† by Gwendolyn Brooks these elements, when heavily focused upon, allow the reader to discover the message that these writers were attempting to convey. Thought both writers use these elements to their fullest to communicate their respective messages, the method and messages vary greatly. In the poem Mother to Son, Hughes tells the tale of a mother speaking to her son about life and the hardships that one must face to make it in the world. Hughes uses extended metaphor to†¦show more content†¦Brooks also relies heavily on nuances within the structure and language to establish the message. The stanzas that contain information about school are longer and articulate. The lines flow and are inviting. When the lines about reality are read they are short, cold and very deliberate; they give a sense of rigidity. The language is very direct and in some case demanding â€Å"I must†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . All stanzas about what’s â€Å"real† are two lines long while the ones that focus on school are four lines long. The statements toward school came off as being very cynical to me. â€Å"It was restful, learning nothing necessary†¦ At least you can sleep†, the use of â€Å"at least† in these lines and the line that follows are what created the cynicism for me. It seemed as if she didn’t respect what went on in school because it wasn’t the harshness of her everyday life. Capitalization is something that caught my attention. The word â€Å"Real† always has the first letter capitalized, which to me established a mood of seriousness within the statements that contained it. I feel this is true the second use of â€Å"Coming Home† and â€Å"Man† in line fourteen. The capitalization on these words was carefully chosen to continue facilitating the theme and meaning. There is one line in this poem that caught my attention and required me to reread repeatedly to get what she truly meant that line is â€Å"which is not free from grief†. At first I thought it was just in reference to the previous line