"Mother" is a poem by the Vietnamese-Australian poet and educator Vuong Pham, published as part of his 2013 micro-collection Refugee Prayer. It examines the relationship between the speaker and his mother, who emigrated from Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and gave up her own dreams of becoming a teacher in order to care for her child. The poem deals with the unique sacrifices of immigrant parents and illuminates the particular bond between this mother and her child, who feels a responsibility to live up to "the teaching legacy" that they share.

• Read the full text of “Mother”

• “Mother” Summary

• “Mother” Themes

  • 

    The Sacrifices of Immigrant Parents

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-10
    • Lines 17-24
    • Lines 28-39
    • Lines 43-45
    • Lines 49-58
    • Lines 59-69
  • 

    Legacy and Responsibility

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-58

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Mother”

  • Lines 1-3

    I know now, ...
    ... war and exodus.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-6

    On the living ...
    ... passion in life?’

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-10

    She smiles—that eternal ...
    ... meet the sky.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-16

    Gardening is the ...
    ... amongst lotus-dotted ponds.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    ‘Teaching was my ...
    ... past made whole.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-24

    ‘A literacy teacher,’ ...
    ... of improved literacy.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-29

    I continue to ...
    ... bloodshed in Saigon.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-34

    I picture her ...
    ... and lychee tea;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 34-38

    that familiar ...
    ... her classroom window;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 38-42

    and all of ...
    ... down to me—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 43-48

    I knew the ...
    ... thought of you.’

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 49-53

    She smiles and ...
    ... pork, Asian vegetables

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 54-58

    and help pay ...
    ... labours of factories.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 59-61

    I know now, ...
    ... refugee boat’s thrum,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 61-64

    the faces ...
    ... the missile storm.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 65-69

    The homeland was ...
    ... me, growing inside.

    

    

    

    

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• “Mother” Symbols

  • 

    Yellow

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-10: “Her neck tilts like a sunflower / too heavy to meet the sky.”
    • Lines 30-31: “I picture her driving a yellow scooter / on the road to school,”
    • Lines 47-48: “‘Mother, this week I taught my students Wordsworth / saw thousands of daffodils and thought of you.’”

• “Mother” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-10: “sunflower / too”
    • Lines 12-13: “shadows / stirring”
    • Lines 13-14: “trees / rows”
    • Lines 14-15: “fences / a”
    • Lines 15-16: “sleeping / amongst”
    • Lines 18-19: “do / jigsaw-puzzle”
    • Lines 19-20: “memory / lock”
    • Lines 22-23: “excitement / the”
    • Lines 23-24: “school / with”
    • Lines 26-27: “on / as”
    • Lines 28-29: “wonder / about”
    • Lines 30-31: “scooter / on”
    • Lines 31-32: “freedom / of”
    • Lines 32-33: “past / street”
    • Lines 33-34: “aromas / of”
    • Lines 34-35: “familiar / crescendo”
    • Lines 36-37: “ploughing / the”
    • Lines 37-38: “one / picturesque”
    • Lines 38-39: “which / was”
    • Lines 40-41: “and / I”
    • Lines 41-42: “wonder / that”
    • Lines 43-44: “providing / for”
    • Lines 44-45: “outweighed / university-degree”
    • Lines 49-50: “halcyon-time / in”
    • Lines 50-51: “floral / pyjamas”
    • Lines 51-52: “together / using”
    • Lines 52-53: “hour / to”
    • Lines 53-54: “vegetables / and”
    • Lines 54-55: “tuition / so”
    • Lines 56-57: “tongue / and”
    • Lines 57-58: “confined / to”
    • Lines 59-60: “wonder / what”
    • Lines 60-61: “there / among”
    • Lines 61-62: “faces / of”
    • Lines 62-63: “flames / incandescent”
    • Lines 63-64: “animate / in”
    • Lines 65-66: “cerulean / depths”
    • Lines 66-67: “womb / boats”
    • Lines 67-68: “crumbled / and”
    • Lines 68-69: “fled / with”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “On the living room carpet we sit / I pluck her grey hairs and ask:”
    • Lines 7-10: “She smiles—that eternal smile / a question suspended in mid-air. / Her neck tilts like a sunflower / too heavy to meet the sky.”
    • Lines 12-16: “shadows / stirring beneath star fruit trees / rows of cherry tomatoes growing over fences / a call to supper while sleeping / amongst lotus-dotted ponds.”
    • Lines 25-27: “I continue to pluck her grey hairs / our conversation lingers on / as the soft daylight illuminates us.”
    • Lines 30-38: “I picture her driving a yellow scooter / on the road to school, the freedom / of her hair, a glimmering smile; spiriting past / street markets, the soothing aromas / of Pho and lychee tea; that familiar / crescendo of rickshaws, bicycles and scooters; / landscapes of water buffalo, ploughing / the flooded paddies from cloud to cloud; each one / picturesque from her classroom window”
    • Line 40: “More grey hairs fall,”
    • Line 48: “saw thousands of daffodils”
    • Lines 50-52: “she stitched floral / pyjamas, tablecloths, bedsheets together / using a sewing machine”
    • Line 53: “rice, pork, Asian vegetables”
    • Lines 60-69: “there / among the refugee boat’s thrum, the faces / of Saigon watching—eyeballs ribboned with flames / incandescent, a disorder of diaspora animate / in the missile storm. / The homeland was a mist, the cerulean / depths of sea stirred on the horizon like some agitated womb / boats wet as one long vowel, as the city crumbled / and my mother among them fled / with nothing but me, growing inside.”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-10: “Her neck tilts like a sunflower / too heavy to meet the sky.”
    • Lines 65-66: “the cerulean / depths of sea stirred on the horizon like some agitated womb”
    • Line 67: “boats wet as one long vowel”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “my mother dreamed of a paradise”
    • Lines 7-8: “that eternal smile / a question suspended in mid-air.”
    • Lines 19-20: “jigsaw-puzzle pieces of memory / lock together, my past made whole.”
    • Lines 31-32: “the freedom / of her hair”
    • Line 40: “the past realigns itself”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “my mother dreamed of a paradise / one unbound by war and exodus.”
    • Line 29: “before the bloodshed in Saigon”
    • Lines 47-48: “‘Mother, this week I taught my students Wordsworth / saw thousands of daffodils and thought of you.’”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “know now,” “did in,” “childhood wonder”
    • Line 2: “my mother dreamed,” “paradise”
    • Line 3: “unbound”
    • Line 13: “stirring,” “star fruit trees”
    • Line 14: “rows,” “growing”
    • Line 19: “puzzle,” “pieces”
    • Line 25: “pluck”
    • Line 26: “lingers”
    • Line 27: “daylight illuminates”
    • Line 28: “know,” “now,” “childhood,” “wonder”
    • Line 29: “bloodshed,” “Saigon”
    • Line 31: “freedom”
    • Line 32: “glimmering smile”
    • Line 33: “markets,” “aromas”
    • Line 34: “familiar”
    • Line 36: “landscapes,” “buffalo, ploughing”
    • Line 37: “flooded paddies from cloud,” “cloud”
    • Line 38: “picturesque,” “classroom,” “all”
    • Line 39: “will,” “longer,” “call”
    • Line 40: “fall,” “realigns”
    • Line 41: “know,” “now,” “childhood,” “wonder”
    • Line 42: “legacy,” “down”
    • Line 43: “responsibilities”
    • Line 48: “daffodils”
    • Line 49: “smiles,” “halcyon”
    • Line 50: “childhood,” “floral”
    • Line 51: “tablecloths”
    • Line 52: “less”
    • Line 54: “help”
    • Line 55: “learn,” “spell,” “correctly”
    • Line 56: “English”
    • Line 58: “labours”
    • Line 59: “know,” “now,” “wonder”
    • Line 60: “been,” “mother”
    • Line 61: “among,” “refugee,” “thrum,” “faces”
    • Line 62: “ribboned,” “flames”
    • Line 63: “incandescent,” “disorder,” “diaspora,” “animate”
    • Line 64: “storm”
    • Line 65: “homeland,” “mist”
    • Line 66: “some,” “womb”
    • Line 67: “crumbled”
    • Line 68: “my mother among them”
    • Line 69: “me”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “smiles,” “smile”
    • Line 8: “question,” “suspended”
    • Line 9: “tilts,” “sunflower”
    • Line 10: “sky”
    • Line 13: “stirring,” “star”
    • Line 14: “fences”
    • Line 15: “supper,” “sleeping”
    • Line 16: “amongst,” “lotus”
    • Line 30: “scooter”
    • Line 31: “school”
    • Line 32: “smile; spiriting past”
    • Line 33: “street markets,” “soothing”
    • Line 35: “bicycles,” “scooters”
    • Line 36: “landscapes”
    • Line 38: “picturesque,” “classroom”
    • Line 39: “city”
    • Line 49: “smiles,” “halcyon”
    • Line 50: “stitched”
    • Line 51: “tablecloths,” “bedsheets”
    • Line 52: “sewing,” “less”
    • Line 55: “so,” “spell ‘persistent’”
    • Line 56: “speak”
    • Line 61: “faces”
    • Line 62: “Saigon”
    • Line 63: “incandescent,” “disorder,” “diaspora”
    • Line 64: “missile”
    • Line 65: “mist,” “cerulean”
    • Line 66: “depths,” “sea,” “stirred,” “some”
    • Line 67: “boats,” “city”
    • Line 69: “inside”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”
    • Line 5: “I pluck her grey hairs”
    • Line 7: “She smiles—that eternal smile”
    • Line 25: “I continue to pluck her grey hairs”
    • Line 28: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”
    • Line 37: “cloud to cloud”
    • Line 40: “More grey hairs fall”
    • Line 41: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”
    • Line 59: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Line 12: “My mind’s eye turns to childhood, to shadows”
    • Lines 20-22: “lock together, my past made whole. / ‘A literacy teacher,’ I exclaim, / she smiles, remembering with excitement”
    • Lines 30-32: “I picture her driving a yellow scooter / on the road to school, the freedom / of her hair, a glimmering smile”
    • Lines 50-51: “she stitched floral / pyjamas, tablecloths, bedsheets together”
    • Line 53: “to afford rice, pork, Asian vegetables”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “know now”
    • Line 2: “my mother”
    • Line 12: “My mind’s”
    • Line 13: “stirring,” “star”
    • Line 15: “supper,” “sleeping”
    • Line 19: “puzzle pieces”
    • Line 20: “past”
    • Line 28: “know now”
    • Line 29: “before,” “bloodshed”
    • Line 30: “scooter”
    • Line 31: “school”
    • Line 32: “her hair,” “smile,” “spiriting”
    • Line 33: “street,” “soothing”
    • Line 35: “bicycles,” “scooters”
    • Line 36: “buffalo,” “ploughing”
    • Line 37: “paddies”
    • Line 38: “picturesque”
    • Line 41: “know now”
    • Line 59: “know now”
    • Line 63: “disorder,” “diaspora”
    • Line 65: “cerulean”
    • Line 66: “sea stirred,” “some,” “womb”
    • Line 67: “wet,” “city”
    • Line 68: “my mother”
    • Line 69: “me”

• “Mother” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Wonder
  • Exodus
  • Mind's eye
  • The bloodshed in Saigon
  • Pho
  • Rickshaws
  • Picturesque
  • Wordsworth
  • Halcyon
  • Incandescent
  • Diaspora
  • Animate
  • The homeland
  • Cerulean
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”; Line 28: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”; Line 41: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”; Line 59: “I know now, as I did in my childhood wonder”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Mother”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Mother” Speaker

• “Mother” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Mother”

• More “Mother” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Poems for Mothers — A list of poems celebrating mothers (rounded up by the Poetry Foundation in honor of Mother's Day).

    • An Interview with the Poet — Read an interview with Vuong Pham for Another Lost Shark. 

    • Poems on Immigration — A collection of poems about and by immigrants.

    • Refugee Poetics — An article by Jill Magi for Poetry magazine that discusses "A Refugee Poetics." 

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