“Mother to Son” uses a lot of end-stopped lines. In fact, most of the poem is end-stopped, with only a few enjambments here and there. These end-stops play two important roles in the poem. Early in the poem, they help convey the severity of the obstacles and dangers that the speaker has had to overcome as a Black woman in a racist society. Note, for instance, the end-stops in a row in lines 3-6:
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Each of these lines describes a different danger the speaker has encountered: from sharp nails to missing boards in the steps. Each of these details gets its own line and each line is end-stopped. The end-stops encourage the reader to pause at the end of each line, to reflect on each obstacle. The accumulation of these end-stops thus emphasizes the depth and severity of the dangers and difficulties that the speaker has encountered.
The speaker keeps climbing despite these obstacles. And, later in the poem, she uses end-stop to convey her conviction, confidence, and resilience in the face of the challenges she’s encountered. Note the end-stops in lines 17-19:
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
In this passage, the speaker offers support to her son. She wants him to keep climbing and striving, despite the obstacles he faces. And she offers her own example as encouragement—she’s “still climbin’” despite everything. Each of these lines is end-stopped. The end-stops underscore the speaker’s conviction: the lines feel solid and definite, with no room for equivocation or doubt. In other words, the speaker transforms the meaning of end-stop as the poem proceeds. Where it initially emphasizes the dangers that she’s faced, by the end of the poem it emphasizes how strong she’s become by facing those dangers.