Fear

The main thematic idea behind the poem is a mother’s fear that when people
are influenced by social pressures to be too ambitious, they tend to lose or
reject the close and warm human relationships and the basic down to earth
enjoyments in life. It these relationships that the poet considers to be of
greater value than worldly success, gaining wealth and fame.

The mother fears that the forces in the society like media, teachers,
instructors and peers would make her girl child too much ambitious in her life
where she may forget the value of her simple life. She fears that her child
may leave her in search of better and luxurious life leaving her mother
behind. She adds her need of the warm relationship between mother and
daughter in the phrase ‘I could not comb her hair.’ Her repetition of the
statement that she does not want her girl to be a swallow shows the weight of
the emphasis she keeps on her idea.

The speaker fears if her daughter becomes too much ambitious, she may not
be able to enjoy the freedom and happiness in her life. Again she fears her
daughter might leave their warm relationship that they share at the moment.
She understands the glamourous social status and materials can harm their
simple and stress free life. As well as the attraction to those can shatter the
beloved relationship between a mother and a daughter.
The mother fears that her daughter may look down her if she climbed up too
high in the social ladder. She fears that she might lose their relationship if her
daughter becomes too much ambitious in her life because of social
pressures. She craves for the desire of mothers to have her children under
her warm feathers and love them. She understands that the desires and
material achievements can harm the warm human qualities in people.

The poem seems particularly relevant to society in today’s world (specially

people who run after an American dream) where many parents and many
children tend to over-value high professional and social status and under
state the values of life like relationships on the way up the social ladder.
Although the poem is not very hard to understand, as readers of literature,
you can be empathetic and transmit that idea to the society. In that way, you
make the world a better place.

Literary Devices & Figurative Language

Mistral makes use of the following literary devices in her poem “Fear.”

Refrain: Mistral repeats the lines “I don’t want them to turn/ my little girl
into” to emphasize the fear of the speaker. The tone shows the
desperation the mother has. The speaker uses these lines as a refrain
as if these things are inevitable.
 Metaphor: The lines, “She would fly far away into the sky/ and never fly
again to my straw bed” – contain a metaphor. Here, “the sky” is used
as a metaphor for the ultimate limit of success or ambition, and “straw
bed” stands for the simple life of the mother. She fears her daughter
won’t be a part of her simple life.
 Anaphora: The poet uses this poetic device in the lines, “I could never
rock her …/ I don’t want them to make.” These lines emphasize the
desperation of the mother.
 Symbolism: Words like “princess,” “queen,” and “throne” are used to
symbolize success, ambition, vanity, and a self-indulgent lifestyle. On
the other hand, words like “meadow” and “straw bed” are used to
symbolize a simple lifestyle.
 Enjambment: It occurs throughout the text. For example, Mistral uses
this device in the following lines: “And when night came, no longer/
would she sleep at my side,” “I don’t want them to make/ my little girl a
princess,” etc.
Summary

The speaker begins by talking about how she does not want her daughter to
be turned into a swallow by “them”. “Them” here stands for other people in
the society or her peers. The mother believes that the other people can
influence her daughter into dreaming too big or flying too high.

She thinks that once the girl learns how to fly high into the sky, she would not
want to come back to her mother’s house. And if she flies too far away from
the mother’s reach, the mother will not be able to brush her hair the way she
does. She again repeats the first lines and says that she does not want her
daughter to be turned into a swallow.

The poet begins by describing the fear of the mother. She does not want her
daughter to be turned into a swallow by “them”. By swallow the poet means
having very high ambitions and by “them” she means the society.

She is scared that once the daughter gets too high ambitions, she will aim too
high and forget her simple beginnings. The daughter would no longer want to
come back to her mother’s “straw bed”. The mother wants to brush her
daughter’s hair when she grows up as she does now. She repeats the first
lines again to put emphasis on her point.

Summary

The speaker again brings in the influence that other people can have on her
daughter. She believes that the others may lead her daughter to dream of
becoming a princess one day. She doesn’t want her daughter to be treated
like a princess. She fears that being treated like a princess will distance her
daughter from reality and harm her growth. Moreover her little girl will not be
able to play like a young child should in golden slippers.

According to the mother, golden slippers may be beautiful to look at but they
are not comfortable to wear. In the same way, a luxurious lifestyle is a dream
that should not be realized. And because a princess sleeps in palaces, the
daughter would not want to sleep next to her mother. This scares the mother.

In this stanza the mother rejects the idea of an overly luxurious life. She does
not want her daughter to be a princess and wear slippers made of gold. All of
this will make her daughter forget about her humble belongings. The mother
is scared that this life of luxury will make the daughter stay away from her
mother and not sleep next to her side.
Summary

The speaker says more than anything else, she does not want “them” to
influence her daughter to have the expectation of being treated like a queen.
That the scariest thing for her is if her daughter was treated like a queen. She
says that the society will put her on a high throne, this will make it harder for
the mother to see or meet her daughter. And the daughter will not want her
mother to rock her to sleep.

The speaker reiterates how the mother thinks that a life of luxury will corrupt
the little girl. Being a “queen” and sitting on a “throne” will push the daughter
farther away from the mother. Once the daughter gets a taste of high living
and luxury, she would no longer want to hear her mother’s lullabies and be
rocked to sleep in her arms. The poet ends the poem by repeating the first
lines of the stanza to stress on the mother’s wish.
Two’s company

Analysis
The poem satirizes people who are 100 percent sure that
there are no such things as ghosts. The persona in the poem
is such a person. The humor comes from the contrast
between what ‘he’ says at the bginning and what he says
and does later.

Our ‘hero’ has decided to spend the night in a haunted house

just to prove to his friends that there are no such things as
ghosts. But as night falls, strange things happen which
frighten him. The way he tries to convince himself that there
are no ghosts, while at the same time taking care to protect
himself is very funny:

“Come, come, it’s merely nerves, he’s certain

(But just the same he draws the curtain.)”

There are many instances of this which show that as night

falls he gets more and more frightened; so much so, that he
hides himself inside a cupboard:

“To seek the safest place to hide-

(The cupboard’s strong – he creeps inside.)”

Even then he tells himself that there is nothing to fear. But

to his great shock, the ghost who was also ‘living’ inside the
cupboard, speaks politely in his ear, introducing itself. The
ghost’s polite tone evokes humor:

“….How do you do? I am a ghost. Pray who are you?”

This certainly contributes to the humor as normally we do

not expect such politeness from a ghost.
The poet creates a frightening atmosphere that increases
the tension and the fear in the mind of the persona in the
poem.

“and left him just as dusk was falling

with a hunchback moon and screech owls calling.

… But what is that? Outside it seemed

as if chains rattled, someone screamed!”

The comedy of the situation arises from the rising fear of the
self-assured protaganist who doesn’t believe in ghosts and
his final encounter with the ghost whom he finds in the
same cupboard he wanted to hide himself. The surprise also
adds to the humor. The sub-title of the poem which says
‘The sad story of a man who didn’t believe in shosts’ is also
humorous as it turns out to be a comedy in the end.

The use of the rhyming couplets give a quick movement to

the poem in tune with the dramatic situation presented by
the poet. It also highlights the comic quality of the poem.
This poem also reminds me of another humours poem about
ghosts called ‘Colonel Frazerkerly’ where the protagonist
really outsmarts the ghost.