In ‘poem for my sister’, how does the poet present the speakers feelings about her sister?

In the poem, the poet portrays a plethora of feelings about her sister, including those of
admiration, anxiety as well as concern. The poet has conveyed these three throughout the
three stanzas in various ways.

In this poem, the poet presents in the first stanza her anxiety and worry for her sister. The
poet states that she ‘wobbles’ and that they are ‘hard to balance’. The word ‘hard’ makes
the act seem like a challenge and that it is sometimes even hard for her. It makes us think
that she doesn’t want her sister to face these challenges. This is further supported by the
words ‘wobbles’ and ‘balance’ which provides a semantic field of instability and struggle.
The poet doesn’t want her sister to continue since there is the possibility that she could fall
down and hurt herself. By conveying this, she reveals her worry for her sister.

A metaphor for the challenges she will face in the future

The poet also portrays her admiration for her sister when she plays hopscotch. She says that
she ‘admires the neat hops-and-skips, their quick peck, never-missing their mark, not over-
stepping the line’ This entire quote praises her sister’s skill at the game. The words ‘neat’,
‘never-missing’ and peck’ create a semantic field of perfection. The verb ‘peck’ reveals the
sheer speed of her moves, making it almost like the peck of a bird: it is short and swift. The
word ‘neat’ reveals her dedication to hopscotch since it is evident that she is not doing this
half-heartedly. The word ‘never-missing’ further emphasises this since she must have put in
a lot of effort to be this good at it. Finally, the word ‘admires’ illustrates that even she thinks
that her sister’s moves are special. The poet has presented her esteem for her sister in the
second stanza of the poem.

The poet once again returns to the idea of worry in the last stanza, where she presents her
care and concern for her. She says that she tries to ‘warn’ her little sister. The word ‘warn’
connotes that she is trying to keep her sister safe from injuring herself – she truly cares for
her sister and doesn’t want her to make the same mistakes she had made. This is seen when
she says ‘I should not like to see … I wish she could stay sure footed’. The words ‘should not’
and ‘wish’ would connote this. The word ‘wish’ is a strong desire for something that
probably won’t happen. It is this strong desire to help her that reveals this care and concern
for her.

Shoes are metaphors for challenges and suffering

Evidence : Damage to her feet

Target: expand on evidence and analysis