# The Mother explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Georgia Douglas Johnson.

## What happens

A mother comforts her child with a wild, sad incantation, her deep compassion visible in her eyes and a sigh on her lips. Her mind leaps through future years of suffering and tears, imagining the harsh world her child will face. She forces a smile to hide her own sorrow, a pain known only to God.

## Themes in this chapter

### Motherhood and Sacrifice

The mother's entire being is devoted to shielding her child from future pain, even as she bears immense private sorrow.

### Suffering and Resilience

The mother endures her own woe while mustering a smile to protect her child, embodying resilience in the face of anticipated suffering.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator observes the mother's inner turmoil and sacrifice.

### Life

Life is implied as the force that will subject the child to 'corroding streets' and 'seething tears.'

## Key lines

> The mother soothes her mantled child With incantation sad and wild;

The mother calms her wrapped child with a sorrowful, intense chant.

_Establishes the mother's protective, almost ritualistic comfort._

> Her thoughts are leaping down the years, O’er branding bars, through seething tears,

Her mind jumps ahead through time, past painful obstacles and bitter crying.

_Reveals her foresight of the child's future hardships._

> Then, with a start she dons a smile His tender yearnings to beguile,

Suddenly, she puts on a smile to deceive his gentle desires.

_Highlights her deliberate concealment of worry to comfort the child._

> And only God will ever know The wordless measure of her woe.

Only God understands the depth of her unspoken grief.

_Emphasizes the private, inexpressible nature of her sacrifice._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se/chapters/the-mother
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se/chapters