The Courage That My Mother Had

Families & Friends
The Courage
That My Mother Had
Edna St. Vincent
Millay
We sometimes inherit special items from our
ancestors, perhaps even valuable heirlooms. In
this poem, the author wishes she had inherited
something else-her mother's courage.
The courage that my mother had
Went with her, and is with her still:
Rock from New England quarried; 1
Now granite in a granite hill.
The golden brooch my mother wore
he left behind for me to wear;
have no thing I treasure more:
~, et, it is something I could spare.
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Oh, if instead she'd left to me
The thing she took into the grave!That courage like a rock, which she
Has no more need of, and I have.
'quarried
(kwor/redj-e-excavated,
dug
THINK IT THROUGH
1. Why couldn't the daughter inherit her mother's courage just as
she had inherited her brooch?
2. What is the daughter's attitude toward her mother's brooch?
3. The mother's courage is compared to a rock. Explain why you
think the poet uses this comparison.
4. From the clues given in the poem, what kind of person do you
think the daughter is? For example, do you think she loves and
appreciates her mother? Does she seem to value the brooch
greatly? Do you think she is a timid person?
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