The Courage That My Mother Had

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1956

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Authorial Context

The courage that my mother had” is a late poem in Millay’s canon, published posthumously as part of her final collection and written at a point in her life that was filled with sorrow and grief. The 1940s had proved difficult for Millay. In 1944, she suffered a nervous breakdown and wrote little in the aftermath, convalescing at Steepletop, the farm she shared with her husband Eugene Jan Boissevain, who supported her in her recovery. In 1949, Boissevain died from a stroke, and his death sent Millay into a further health decline, as she drank heavily and eventually had to be hospitalized once more.

Upon returning from the hospital, Millay settled in at Steepletop and wrote Mine the Harvest, producing reflective poems that displayed one of her main strengths as a poet: writing clearly and evocatively on profound topics like death, grief, love and art. Her poetry at this time used a variety of forms, including the sonnet, for which she was best known. “The courage that my mother had,” in its simplicity and technical efficiency, embodies late-period Millay, showing a poet at the height of her craft under the influence of grief.

Millay died in 1950, as she worked on the book, from a heart attack. Mine the Harvest was published four years later, in 1954.

Rhetorical Context

“The courage that my mother had” fits into the tradition of the elegy, or a poem expressing grief and possibly despair about the death of its subject, though frequently ending with a tone of slight optimism or hope. Millay writes in response to a specific event: the death of a beloved mother; however, instead of ending her poem with an upbeat perspective, Millay concludes on a less satisfactory note: The speaker is left bereft of both her mother and the courage she needs to face her grief, with no relief in sight. Millay’s tone is not bitter or angry, but rather wistful, sorrowful, and resigned. The lack of resolution signifies to the reader that this grief will continue for the speaker, and while the elegy has allowed her to speak about her sorrow, it has not removed it entirely.

The audience for Millay’s poem is general, and the intimacy of its subject and its simplicity allows readers to understand the depths of the speaker’s grief. Rather than focus on a specific audience for her poem, Millay’s voice and tone imply insularity, giving the reader the sensation of a glimpse into the speaker’s internal experience.