# My Mother's Kiss explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

## What happens

A reflective poem honoring the enduring memory of a mother's love, her kiss, voice, and faith, which remain precious despite the passage of time and the attainment of worldly honors. The speaker longs for reunion with her in the afterlife.

## Themes in this chapter

### Motherhood and Family

The central theme is the sacred and enduring bond between mother and child, celebrated through memory and faith.

### Hope and Redemption

The speaker's longing for reunion in heaven expresses hope in divine redemption and eternal life.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The speaker who recalls his mother's kiss and love, now aged and longing for reunion.

## Key lines

> My mother’s kiss, my mother’s kiss, I feel its impress now; As in the bright and happy days She pressed it on my brow.

I still feel the memory of my mother's kiss as vividly as when I was a child.

_The kiss symbolizes enduring maternal love._

> The world has scattered round my path Honor and wealth and fame; But naught so precious as the thoughts That gather round her name.

Worldly achievements like honor and wealth are less valuable than the memories of my mother.

_Contrasts material success with the spiritual treasure of maternal memory._

> My hair is silvered o’er with age, I’m longing to depart; To clasp again my mother’s hand, And be a child at heart.

Now that I am old, I yearn to die and be reunited with my mother, feeling like a child again.

_Expresses a desire for reunion in the afterlife._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/my-mother-s-kiss
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_7_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters