The poem "Offspring", by Naomi Long Madgett, utilizes metaphor and imagery as techniques that contribute to the meaning of the poem, which discusses growth and maturity. The narrator speaks from the point of view of a tree. The tree has a branch growing from it. The tree and branch are metaphors for a mother and daughter relationship. The beginning of the poem begins with the branch still growing and needing support from the tree: "This way the twig is bent. Born of my trunk and strengthened by my roots". Although the twig is bent, it is still connected to the tree. The mother also gives her daughter advice: "you must stretch newgrown branches closer to the sun than I can reach". The mother wants her daughter to grow and experience new things that the mother has not experienced. The poem ends with "But the twig broke". The daughter has grown and left her mother. She has followed her mother's advice by "walking down an unfamiliar street, feet confident". The daughter is experiencing new places, confidently. A growing tree branch is easy to bend and move without breaking. When the daughter is still attached to her mother as a tree branch, her mother was an influence on the way she grew. Now that the daughter is on her own, her mother describes her as " very individual, unpliable own." She has grown and matured into her own person. The imagery also contributes to the meaning by creating a picture of a tree and it's branch growing and finally breaking off. The lines "face slanted upward toward a threatening sky," and "she was smiling" show the image of a confident woman walking tall and unafraid, although the sky looks threatening.
I enjoyed reading this poem because I loved the use of the tree metaphor. I thought it fit perfectly with the theme of a growing relationship between a mother and daughter.
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