Grace Monte de Ramos on Brave Woman (http://www.apwn.net/index.php/edition/more/3_poems_from_grace_r_monte_de_ramos/) talks about a mother's feelings of losing a son at a young age, all because of being a soldier. The poem started stating that she is a mother of two sons. From there, I know that the persona is obviously a mother, but what kind of a mother she is? She continued on saying that her sons joined the army and based on the tone of the poem, it was quite difficult for her to let her sons be soldiers yet she did not complain. She stresses the phrase, " I am the mother of two sons, two sons..." followed by the line "And one, the youngest, now gone" clearly emphasizes her grief on losing one of her two sons at seventeen, and the sad thing was, she would not be able to know the names of the people who killed her son. She also did not miss describing her son as a fine, young man and how she took care of him as all mothers do.
The second stanza of the poem shows a mother who cannot help to think about the physical features of those who killed her son which left her in a hanging end of not knowing the "murderers" of her son. The third stanza comes in a realization for her that being a soldier is difficult; you do not even know what will happen to you or where you will go--die today or tomorrow; and that it is a matter of taking lives to win the fight. She thought about mothers like her and how the feeling of losing a son to a battle and that her son had to pay in exchange of her life.
I can see a mother who is suppressing her emotions, not wanting to cry of losing a son, though the pain in her heart is obvious by the use of words in the poem and the repitition of her having two sons. The "grief in the lines, sunken cheeks, and silent" description of hers makes me feel and determine her bitterness and her painful suffering. She is in a way confused on what she feels for losing men who kill and are killed.
Yet after all these depiction of what a mother of two sons who are soldiers is, we can see a brave woman. To borrow lines from a proclamation, let me end this article by saying that:
To become a parent is one of life's greatest joys. We devote ourselves to our children, investing our hopes and dreams in them and protecting them so that they may have a better life than we have had. There is probably no greater pain, therefore, than the loss of a child. None of us expects to outlive our children, and when mortal hands rob us of our posterity, the loss is devastating. Every mother has experienced this pain. As much as the soldiers themselves, these brave women know the meaning of sacrifice for country. Long after a slain soldier is laid to rest, that young man or woman's mother will remember her loss every day for the rest of her life. When a mother bids farewell to a child in uniform, she begins to serve her count in her own private way, worrying that her child will be in harm's way and that this young man or woman, in whom she has invested so much love and care, may pay the ultimate price on the battlefield. And when the unthinkable does happen, a mother must carry the wounds within her heart forever. We have a sacred duty to remember these brave women. Like the brave soldiers who have lain down their lives in defense of our freedoms, their mothers have earned our deepest honor and sympathy, having sacrificed so much for the country, yet continuing to give of themselves to ensure that the ideals of freedom and democracy live on for future generations. Their losses and their contributions can be no greater, and our obligation to them cannot be measured." - THE WHITE HOUSE Proclamation 6590 Gold Star Mother's Day, 1993 September 13, 1993 By the President of the United States of America
The second stanza of the poem shows a mother who cannot help to think about the physical features of those who killed her son which left her in a hanging end of not knowing the "murderers" of her son. The third stanza comes in a realization for her that being a soldier is difficult; you do not even know what will happen to you or where you will go--die today or tomorrow; and that it is a matter of taking lives to win the fight. She thought about mothers like her and how the feeling of losing a son to a battle and that her son had to pay in exchange of her life.
I can see a mother who is suppressing her emotions, not wanting to cry of losing a son, though the pain in her heart is obvious by the use of words in the poem and the repitition of her having two sons. The "grief in the lines, sunken cheeks, and silent" description of hers makes me feel and determine her bitterness and her painful suffering. She is in a way confused on what she feels for losing men who kill and are killed.
Yet after all these depiction of what a mother of two sons who are soldiers is, we can see a brave woman. To borrow lines from a proclamation, let me end this article by saying that:
To become a parent is one of life's greatest joys. We devote ourselves to our children, investing our hopes and dreams in them and protecting them so that they may have a better life than we have had. There is probably no greater pain, therefore, than the loss of a child. None of us expects to outlive our children, and when mortal hands rob us of our posterity, the loss is devastating. Every mother has experienced this pain. As much as the soldiers themselves, these brave women know the meaning of sacrifice for country. Long after a slain soldier is laid to rest, that young man or woman's mother will remember her loss every day for the rest of her life. When a mother bids farewell to a child in uniform, she begins to serve her count in her own private way, worrying that her child will be in harm's way and that this young man or woman, in whom she has invested so much love and care, may pay the ultimate price on the battlefield. And when the unthinkable does happen, a mother must carry the wounds within her heart forever. We have a sacred duty to remember these brave women. Like the brave soldiers who have lain down their lives in defense of our freedoms, their mothers have earned our deepest honor and sympathy, having sacrificed so much for the country, yet continuing to give of themselves to ensure that the ideals of freedom and democracy live on for future generations. Their losses and their contributions can be no greater, and our obligation to them cannot be measured." - THE WHITE HOUSE Proclamation 6590 Gold Star Mother's Day, 1993 September 13, 1993 By the President of the United States of America
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment