Post #7

“The Slave Mother” by Frances E. W. Harper is a poem displaying what a mother of a slave goes through when her son is taken from her as if he was not even hers to begin with.  “The Slave Mother” is packed full of imagery so, naturally, I will analyze this aspect.  The stanza uses harsh words such as “shriek,” “wildly,” and “despair” to dramatize the visual and audible aspects of a heart breaking.  I think the placement of this stanza is important at the beginning of the poem because it lets the reader know bad the mother’s heart is hurt before you know the actual reason.  The second stanza explores the imagery of a first glance at the heartbroken mother with the words “fragile form.” Fragile form makes me think of someone in a state of increased vulnerability, which is exactly how I think Harper wants us to imagine the mother. The next stanza provides a vivid picture of the mother’s eyes.  I believe that the eyes are the pathway in which you really understand a person so the vivid image Harper presents is crucial to understanding the mother’s despair.  Later, in stanza five and six, Harper describes the reason the mother is extremely heartbroken. She gives the most factual reasons why the son should in fact belong to the mother such as it is the mothers blood running through the sons veins and the mothers is the one who braved the pains of birthing him. How can someone argue with such factual reasons? Harper incredible use of imagery in “The Slave Mother” is beyond convincing, in my eyes, that a son being taken away is a mother’s worst nightmare.