A praise song is a great African tradition

Message using short statements to capture the

essence of the thing being praised, whether
it is a god, plant, animal, or town.
The poem explores the relationship between a What is the poem about?
mother and daughter, expressing how much the
mother means to the daughter.
Relationship

Remembrance
Grace Nicholls is Guyanese (located in S. America About the poet Theme
but identified as West Indian) and only moved to the Love and Affection
UK when she was in her mid-20s.
Her poetry reflects her Caribbean traditions through Appreciation
sensory language.
Metaphor: her mother was water, moon, and "You were water to me deep and bold and
sunrise.
Praise Song For My Mother - Grace fathoming"
Nichols Past tense indicating the
Imagery: water, moon and sun - all powerful Poetic Devices mother is dead.
symbols of nature describe her mother's characters Stanza 1
"Water" is the life source, comparing her mother to
something essential for life.
Personification: "moon's eye" - a watchful presence
the adjectives separated, the repetition of "and"
emphasizes the importance of each.
"Go to your wide futures, you said"
"Fathoming" means trying to understand something.
The mother has the final say - explore and experience It's a complicated adjective, the essence of the mother is
the world - no full stop hard to express.
Stanza 2
"You were moon's eye to me
Suggestion of life after the mother, "go" being an
pull and grained and
imperative
mantling"

Anaphora of "you were" emphasizes the loss

Stanza Analysis
"wide futures" suggests endless university.
Stanza 5
"Pull" - The mother draws her daughter towards her.
"You were Natural imagery suggests a gentle relationship.
the fishes red gill to me
the flame tree's spread to me
the crab's leg/the fried plantain smell replenishing "Grained" suggests source of life, and "mantling"
replenishing" suggests being covered and protected.

"You were sunrise to me

Imagery of red, symbolic of life, love
rise and warm and
Stanza 3 streaming"
"flame tree", its shape provides a "spread" of cover
like her mother Life force, sunrise symbolizing continuous hope.

"crab's leg", "fried plantain" describing elements of Stanza 4 Uplifting, nurturing, constant. "Streaming" reminds us
her Caribbean culture of water in the first stanza.

The mother is a nourishing presence.

Repetition of "replenishing" suggests it is a continual process.