Cock Crow Analysis

There are directed moments in the text that elucidate the poignantly tender pain of motherhood and
its concerns. In the metaphor of “love that grows about the bone”, the persona reveals the
antithetical rewards and consequences of the love that provides her with strength but confines her.
The relationship between the body part of “bone” and the connection with the “human cries” draws
clear correlation to the physical connection between a mother and her child’s body. This implies a
patently unique relationship founded upon the sacramental connotations of blood. Furthermore, the
persona personifies the “night [that] absolves” to represent the selfish desires that deliver her
comfort as she admits them. The dark imagery situated in this stanza demonstrates the conflict the
persona feels between her good and motherly responsibilities, and the honest distress it causes.

One may also perceive the text as redolent of feminine qualities of selflessness at conflict with
masculine desires of ambition, as the struggle between personal and familiar desires is a concern
that transcends gender and age. This conflict is emphasised in the double meaning contained in
“that stood between denied their needs”, where the persona, as a guardian, must forfeit their own
desires for their family. This does not inherently indicate a female concern – it may be fair even to
argue that the repetition of “myself, alone” portrays a distinctly male experience of ostracism from
the feminine acts of caring and emotional investment. Nevertheless, it is evident that…

As well, the poem is highly structured with five mainly end-stopped quatrains in consistent
tetrameter. These devices can be seen to demonstrate the simplicity and mundanity of the personas
life and the reliable structure they exists within. However, in recognising the “dark trees [that]
closed” which symbolise the difficulty in existing beyond the organic creation of life, the structure
may also allude to the limitations of perceived stability and the severing of the persona’s freedom
and joy