Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow: An Analysis of Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward
The pain of being separated from one’s child is something only a mother can ever really know. That pain is magnified when the separation is deliberate. The remorse and discontentment that follow are inevitable. In Anne Sexton’s Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward, the theme of pain and remorse is prominent throughout the poem. The effectiveness of the poem is demonstrated by the poet’s organization and construction of the poem. She uses metaphors to illustrate the bond created between mother and child. She also uses metaphors as well as a certain type of rhyme to illustrate her dislike for men. Her choice of structure and rhyme scheme illustrate the uncertainty she has with regard to this painful separation. The poem is about a woman who has just given birth. The baby is six days old, and she is giving the baby up for adoption. She apparently has no family, and she does not know who the father of the child is. The setting is a hospital ward, where she is breast-feeding the baby for what appears to be the last time.