Edna St. Vincent Millay's The Courage That My Mother Had

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “The courage that my mother had” is a story about a child dealing with a mother’s death which can be seen when deciphering each line. The first stanza explains that the mother has passed away, and the second stanza tell the reader that the mother did not leave the correct gift to the speaker. The third and final stanza is when the speaker expresses their anger and explains why the speaker is so upset with the mother. When “The courage that my mother had” is first read, it seems like the speaker is angry and upset with the mother for not leaving the correct gift, her courage, but the speaker is upset that he or she does not have their mother to depend on anymore. The first stanza begins with, “The courage that my mother

These two lines are very straight forward on her unhappiness with what the gift that the mother left to the speaker. These first two lines also show a large amount of emotion that has not been shown throughout the rest of the poem, because line before only includes colons, semicolons, and periods. The exclamation point used in the second line shows how emotion filled the speaker is. When people are extremely angry and sad they raise their voice to help deal with the anger that they have, and this is exactly what the speaker does. The speaker is angry that the mother died with her courage. The next line, “That courage like a rock, which she” (Millay 11) brings up once again that the speaker wants his or her mother’s courage. The courage is described as a rock, strong and firm never to be falter, and this shows how the speaker thinks about her mother’s courage. The final line of the poem “Has no more need of, and I have.” (MIllay 12) explains why the speaker is unhappy that her mother took her courage with her. The speaker of the poem had her mother to give him or her courage when she was alive, but now because the mother is dead she no longer any way to find courage in his or her