Analysis of For My Sister Molly Who in the Fifties
Once made a fairy rooster from
Mashed potatoes
Whose eyes I forget
But green onions were his tail
And his two legs were carrot sticks
A tomato slice his crown.
Who came home on vacation
When the sun was hot
and cooked
and cleaned
And minded least of all
The children’s questions
A million or more
Pouring in on her
Who had been to school
And knew (and told us too) that certain
Words were no longer good
And taught me not to say us for we
No matter what “Sonny said” up the
road.
FOR MY SISTER MOLLY WHO IN THE FIFTIES
Knew Hamlet well and read into the night
And coached me in my songs of Africa
A continent I never knew
But learned to love
Because “they” she said could carry
A tune
And spoke in accents never heard
In Eatonton.
Who read from Prose and Poetry
And loved to read “Sam McGee from Tennessee”
On nights the fire was burning low
And Christmas wrapped in angel hair
And I for one prayed for snow.
WHO IN THE FIFTIES
Knew all the written things that made
Us laugh and stories by
The hour Waking up the story buds
Like fruit. Who walked among the flowers
And brought them inside the house
And smelled as good as they
And looked as bright.
Who made dresses, braided
Hair. Moved chairs about
Hung things from walls
Ordered baths
Frowned on wasp bites
And seemed to know the endings
Of all the tales
I had forgot.
WHO OFF INTO THE UNIVERSITY
Went exploring To London and
To Rotterdam
Bringing back the news to us
Who knew none of it
But followed
crops and weather
funerals and
Methodist Homecoming;
easter speeches,
groaning church.
WHO FOUND ANOTHER WORLD
Another life With gentlefolk
Far less trusting
And moved and moved and changed
Her name
And sounded precise
When she spoke And frowned away
Our sloppishness.
WHO SAW US SILENT
Cursed with fear A love burning
Inexpressible
And sent me money not for me
But for “College.”
Who saw me grow through letters
The words misspelled But not
The longing Stretching
Growth
The tied and twisting
Tongue
Feet no longer bare
Skin no longer burnt against
The cotton.
WHO BECAME SOMEONE OVERHEAD
A light A thousand watts
Bright and also blinding
And saw my brothers cloddish
And me destined to be
Wayward
My mother remote My father
A wearisome farmer
With heartbreaking
Nails.
FOR MY SISTER MOLLY WHO IN THE FIFTIES
Found much
Unbearable
Who walked where few had
Understood And sensed our
Groping after light
And saw some extinguished
And no doubt mourned
FOR MY SISTER MOLLY WHO IN THE FIFTIES
Left us.
Scheme | xaxbxcdexxxxxfxdxghi Jkhxxgxlcggmnm jxxxoxpkxxxxxxqe grxsxifrtxu xttxxxpa xtbgxoetxtxnxd xxtuglfftq Jxxxfkxx Js |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 1010 11101 1110011 01110101 001111 1111010 10111 01 01 010111 01010 01011 10010 11111 010111110 101101 011111111 110110110 1 11101010010 1101010101 0110111100 01001101 1111 01111110 01 01010101 01 11110100 0111101101 110101101 01010101 0111111 10010 11010111 110101 0101010101 111101010 0110101 011111 0111 111010 11101 1111 101 1111 0111010 1101 1101 110100100 10101100 110 1010111 11111 110 1010 1000 10010 1010 101 110101 010111 1110 010101 01 01001 1110101 101 11110 1110110 1 01110111 1110 1111110 010111 01010 1 01010 1 11101 1110101 010 1011101 010101 101010 011101 011011 10 11001110 010010 110 1 11101010010 11 0100 11111 010110 10101 011010 0111 11101010010 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,512 |
Words | 450 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 20, 14, 16, 11, 8, 14, 10, 8, 2 |
Lines Amount | 103 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 219 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"For My Sister Molly Who in the Fifties" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/53234/for-my-sister-molly-who-in-the-fifties>.
Discuss this Alice Walker poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In