Poetry · Chapter
A Father to a Mother explained
The poem comforts a mother grieving the loss of her child by drawing a parallel to God sending His own Son to earth, suggesting that death is a temporary separation and that the child will not be forgotten.
What happens
The poem comforts a mother grieving the loss of her child by drawing a parallel to God sending His own Son to earth, suggesting that death is a temporary separation and that the child will not be forgotten.
Themes in this chapter
Divine Fatherhood
God is portrayed as a father who sent His own child to earth, paralleling the human experience of losing a child.
Suffering and Purification
The mother's sorrow is acknowledged, but the poem reframes it as temporary, with hope pointing toward reunion.
Characters to notice
- God
Referenced as sending His own child to earth, highlighting divine fatherhood and sacrifice.
- Jesus Christ
Implied as God's own child who came down to earth, central to the poem's consolation.
- Hope
Personified and called upon to wait on Sorrow, embodying comfort and anticipation.
- Sorrow
Personified as a companion to Hope, representing the mother's grief.
Key passages
“When God’s own child came down to earth, High heaven was very glad; The angels sang for holy mirth; Not God himself was sad!”
When Jesus was born, heaven rejoiced, and even God was not sorrowful.
Establishes the joyful context of Christ's incarnation as a model for understanding death.
“Shall we, when ours goes homeward, fret? Come, Hope, and wait on Sorrow! The little one will not forget; It’s only till to-morrow!”
Why should we worry when our child dies? Let Hope attend to Grief; the child will remember us, and this separation is only temporary.
Directly addresses the grieving mother, urging patience and faith in reunion.