If I Should Have a Daughter by Sarah Kay Poetry Analysis Essay

Introduction

Sarah Kay's poem if I should have a daughter is quite insightful and intriguing to the audience. She addresses the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship in an artful manner. Kay has applied an aspect of realism in her masterpieces while educating the audience with imaginative poetry the values of knowledge. This spoken word illustrates the wishes of a mother for her daughter as she strives to live and cope with the worldly challenges (Kay). The poem has extensively gone beyond the discussion of love, relationship and loss, which forms some major themes in the poem, to deliberate on issues such as feminism and independence. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the poem with emphasis on symbolism, themes, the main argument as well as other poetic devices which the poet utilizes to convey an explicit message.

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The Main Argument: Finding Strength in Life's Challenges

Firstly, the main argument in the poem is the importance of fighting on in life and not giving in to despair. In this poem, she is very elaborate in explaining to the daughter that life would be challenging and many at times she might get knocked down especially in aspects that it hurts the most. Despite these challenges, one should stay focused on life since better things usually come in the future. And in this course of coping with life challenges, the daughter should seek help from the mother since she is so dear to her. This argument is presented in the first person narration which makes it quite vivid and relatable. However, these words would still be significant on the pages as they are when performed. Sarah is quite selective with her words which present an image of what one would do on a platform of performance. A reader would be impacted in equal measure as a viewer of the performance but it takes in-depth understanding to fully capture all the details of the meanings of her dialect (Kay). Nevertheless, it would be more captivating for viewers to experience body cues that accompany this spoken word.

Rhetoric Effect: Metaphors, Descriptive Language, and Imagery

For rhetoric effect, Sarah applies the use of metaphors and descriptive language to add value to her poem which enhances audiences' deeper understanding. "If I should have a daughter, instead of mom, she's going to call me Point B." She replaces the word mother with 'Point B' which makes the audience feel the love of a mother who would be waiting for her child who she considers a point A ("If I should have a Daughter."). Ideally 'Point B is a metaphor for a safe place to turn to for refuge. She also applies an imagery to emphasize some elements of the poem. "When your boots will fill with rain and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment." It gives a picture of boots which are filled with water and which can make walking difficult and results in distresses. As such, the speaker does not mean the boots are actually filled with water. She is using this device to enhance the audiences' mind which influences their feelings about disappointments. Sarah also uses symbolism quite effectively in this poem some of which can have diversified meanings depending on the context in which one puts them. "But I know she will anyway, so instead, I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rainboots nearby. Because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix. Ok, there's a few heartbreaks that chocolate can't fix, but that's what the rainboots are for because rain will wash away everything if you let it." Chocolate can mean the mother's love. She posits that once the daughter finds a man who would fall in love with her and play with her feelings, she would be there to supply sufficient love for her to encourage her on ways she can find the man and help him understand the beauty of love ("If I should have a Daughter."). However, her love can sometimes fail to fix some heartbreaks which maybe the daughter might not explain to her. "But that's what the rainboots are for because rain will wash away everything if you let it." Rainboots in this circumstance mean resilience of the daughter as taught by the mother. Rain can simply mean toxic love of a man who plays with daughter's feelings. She assures the daughter that rain boots would save her unless she allows the rain to wash away everything.

Themes Explored: Love, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Worldly Pleasure, Independence, and Resilience

The themes of the poem are inclusive of love, mother-daughter relationship, worldly pleasure, independence, and resilience. Sarah's overall purpose is to convey a message of how she would one day treat her own daughter as taught to her by her mother. Utilizing a comprehensive thematic approach she builds her spoken word to present a masterpiece on a mother's love and hopes for her daughter. Some of the most accurate representations of the themes in the poem are inclusive of but not limited to the following lines: "Your voice is small, but don't ever stop singing." This represents resilience and hope. She might lose hope in life but she must not stop fighting and cope with the challenges to living a better life. "You will put the star in starting over, and over.," It presents the energy which should be rejuvenated over and over in tackling life's opportunities and setbacks. "You're just smelling smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house..." it represents how the daughter is at risk of worldly pleasures which may be addictive but with negative effects.

Conclusion

This paper has extensively analyzed If I Should Have a Daughter by Sarah Kay making use of the poetic devices that are categorically selected by the poet to convey a message. These are inclusive of imagery, thematic approach, metaphors, symbolism, as well as purpose and main arguments. This poem encourages the audience to sustain an aspect of resilience and experience the challenges of life with vigilance.

Works Cited

Kay,Sarah. If I Should Have a Daughter.

"If I should have a Daughter." YouTube, uploaded by TEDTalks, 21 May 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snNB1yS3IE