Mother, A Cradle to Hold Me

“Mothers” by Nikki Giovanni (1972)

In Giovanni’s poem, the speaker pays tribute to her mother, recounting the time she first truly recognized her mother: her beauty, her waiting. The mother beckons for the speaker to come closer, so she can teach her a poem. The speaker takes this learned poem and teaches it to her son, sharing the poetic gift and continuing the familial cycle. The poem also acknowledges, like Angelou’s, the tension between mother and speaker when they last meet, as in the moment they are “read[ing] separate books” (Line 6).

“Women” by Alice Walker (1973)

In Walker’s poem, the speaker pays homage to the women who came before her and paved the way, particularly “my mama’s generation” (Line 2). Like Angelou’s poem, Walker’s is a celebration of the good and the bad, but instead of focusing just on the mother’s role in the speaker’s life, Walker brings in the entire generation of her mother’s time—her feminist ancestors.

“Lineage” by Margaret Walker (1989)

In Walker’s poem, the speaker acknowledges not her mother, but her grandmothers, who “were strong” (Line 1) and paved the way for her. Walker lists the ways in which her grandmothers toiled, sang, and spoke, ending the poem on a melancholic question with “Why am I not as they?” (Line 12).