‘Mother, any distance’ looks at the connection, which is an emotional one, between a mother and her child; the measuring tape is a metaphor for this. Another type of imagery is given in the second stanza of an ‘anchor’ and ‘kite’; the mother can be assumed to be the anchor. This gives the speaker a sense of security, and the idea of being a kite leads to the idea of freedom, and being free. Similarly however, this can have the adverse effect as the speaker could be seen as trapped and unable to fulfil their true potential, but as the general tone of the poem fits the initial analysis, the initial analysis seems more accurate.
The ‘last one hundredth of an inch’ marks the end of the measuring tape, and if they wish to go any further, the speaker has to let go of the tape. In this way, the poem reflects a transition most must go through; if the sky is a metaphor for possibility, then to ‘fall or fly’ is a metaphor for ‘fail or succeed’. The fingertips of the mother ‘still pinch’; seeing her child grow up, she may now become reluctant to let go of the measuring tape and therefore her influence, to let her child become truly independent. It is here than the idea of loss is addressed, and the conclusion of the poem is ambiguous as to whether the either the speaker or the mother faces this loss or whether the speaker decides to ‘fall or fly’.
The poem ‘Before You Were Mine’ by Carol Ann Duffy, as with ‘Mother, any distance…’ is written in the first person. Compared to ‘Mother, any distance…’ it is quite hard to follow in its meaning, initially because of the way in which it moves between different tenses. The fact that the poem is about a mother and daughter, which can be inferred from ‘my hands…red shoes’ and ‘Cha cha…teach…home’, is also slightly confusing as the title suggests that the relationship addressed in the poem is a romantic one. As with Mother, any distance…’ the technique of enjambment is used, but no obvious rhyming scheme is present, though the title is repeated through the text.
‘I'm ten years away’, the first words of the poem, becomes clear in the second stanza's ‘I'm not here yet’ which shows that the scene at the start of the poem comes before the birth of the speaker, who could be the poet herself. ‘Marilyn’, presumably the speaker’s mother, compares to the actor Marilyn Monroe with the line ‘dress blows round your legs’, evoking images of a scene from the film ‘The Seven Year Itch’, perhaps also indicating that the speaker had a high opinion of her mother, comparing her to a glamorous icon. This contrasts with ‘Mother, any distance…’ where the speaker does not offer any real opinion as to their mother or their opinion of her. Much more focus is also given on the characters, in particular the mother, and their personalities in this poem as opposed to ‘Mother, any distance…’.
The speaker’s fantasies as a young woman are contrasted with the more harsh reality of parenthood that will come ‘ten years’ later; ‘The thought…could bring’. The idea of change is directly addressed here as the speaker compares the immense difference between being childless and being a parent. Loss, in a sense, is also addressed when the speaker indicates that her birth and ‘possessive yell’ heralded the end of the more happy times in her mother’s life. The ‘ghost’ description is ambiguous, perhaps suggesting that in the present, her mother is dead, though the verb ‘clatters’ indicates she is wearing her ‘high-heeled red shoes’, recalling her youth. In a sense, the speaker addresses her mother as a mother, asking ‘whose small bites on your neck’. The effect of a familiar scent in the way it triggers a vivid memory can be read in the line ‘I see…scent’, which deliberately mixes senses.
The dance ‘Cha cha cha!’ could place the final stanza in the past considering that the poem is relatively modern. It recounts another memory of the mother teaching the dance to the speaker on the ‘way home from Mass’. The poem in general recognises the sacrifices made by the mother for her child, an issue notably not addressed in ‘Mother, any distance…’ where the change focuses on the speaker, contrasting to ‘Before You Were Mine’ where the change focuses on the mother. However in both poems, the sense of loss tends to relate more to the mother than child, once again addressing a common issue faced between most parent-child relationships.
The poem ‘On my first Sonne’, by Ben Jonson, depicts the lament felt by the poet with regards to the death of his firstborn son. His feelings are contrasted with what he believes he should be feeling; contentment that his child has entered ‘the state’ i.e. heaven. Like the two other poems, this is also written in the first person, and the speaker is the poet himself, writing as if talking to his son, referring to him as ‘child…right hand’, suggesting both the great worth of the boy, the imagery evokes that from the Bible where Jesus sits at the right hand of God and the fact that he was his father’s heir.
Christianity and therefore religion is addressed strongly throughout the poem, with the imagery of sins and the death of the child as the repayment of a loan; ‘seven yeeres…to me’. This is a metaphor for the idea that all belong to God and are here at His will for as long as He should ordain. The paradox that people ‘lament’ over that which they should envy - escaping the hardships of life and the misery of ageing, is addressed. Remembering his sin, ‘too much hope of thee’ he now expresses the hope or wish that from now on, whatever he loves, he will not love it ‘too much’.
The poem is arranged in iambic pentameter and uses rhyming couplets, ‘such’, ‘much’ as well as enjambment. The idea of loss is addressed far more strongly in this poem than in the previous two, particularly because it deals with death, the most poignant form of loss as opposed to the loss of dependence or the loss of happiness, themes addressed in the other two poems. Change is also addressed when the poet reaches the conclusion that ‘he loves…too much’; he cannot become as attached to people as he otherwise would do because of the pain he has endured. Once again, this type of change contrasts starkly to the change in ‘Mother, any distance…’, which is that of growing up.
‘The Song of the Old Mother’ by William Butler Yeats, once again addresses another different type of loss and age, similar and different to the change in ‘Mother, any distance…’. Though both speakers, in the first person here as with the other poems, talk about growing older, ‘Mother, any distance…’ addresses growing up whereas ‘The Song of the Old Mother’ talks of growing old. The poem, using rhyming couplets, is a simple monologue with speaker, an old woman, describing her daily routine and contrasting in with the daily routines of younger people, and ironically, how much harder her own is; ‘I rise in the dawn’ – ‘Young...their bed’. By the time her work is done, ‘stars are…peep’, showing how long she toils. The fire she lights begins as a ‘seed’ in the morning, consequently growing, and at the end of the day, ‘the seed…and cold’. This could be a metaphor for the loss of energy associated with old age.
All four poems address different forms of loss and change, and explore them in different ways, and thus contrast to one another in different ways. In particular ‘On my first Sonne’ addresses the emotions related to loss, whereas ‘Before You Were Mine’ explores the physical aspect of change by switching through tenses. Some contain similarities, such as ‘Mother, any distance…’ and ‘The Song of the Old Mother’ in the way they address age, but all use different techniques in the way they explore the themes mentioned above.