What do you think about when you read this Poem? Homework Help Please!?

Question

I need help with reader response...what do you think about when you read this? How does it make you feel? What do the last two lines mean to you?What sticks out the most in this poem? It would be nice to know your thoughts to help me with a project because I need something to compare with what I thought of the poem. Thank you for answering.

Sonnet To My Mother By: Edgar Allan Poe

Because the angels in the Heavens above,
Devoutly singing unto one another,
Can find, amid their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of "mother",
Therefore by that sweet name I long have called you
You who are more than mother unto me,
Filling my heart of hearts, where God installed you,
In setting my Virginia's spirit free.
My Mother-my own mother, who died early
Was but the mother of myself;but you
Are mother to the dead I loved so dearly
And thus are precious than the one I knew
By that infinity with which my wife
Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life

I recieved one answer about doing your own homework. I really dont appreciate the fact that you dont think I can do my homework. This is reader response in which we are supposed to compare what ourselves as well as others thought of the poem. I know quite well what my homework is because I have already done the historical and formal critisism that was required...I would appreciate that other readers please be kind in answer my question to help with this report because it is worth a big grade. Thank you for taking time to answer...

Answer 1

its a shakesperian or english sonnet with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. (3 quatrains and a couplet)
Poe's mother died when he was two.
It was one of the last things he wrote.
He married his cousin (when she was 13) and her name was Virginia (line 8) she dies in 1847 (two years before him)
The last two lines say his mother is as precious to him as his wife was (his wife was dearer to his soul then his own life)
just a quick look but i hope it helps.

Answer 2

this poem is such a wonderful poem and it is really deep. He talks about his undying affection for his mother and how she is more than just a mother. Things that stick out to me in this poem are the ways that he uses the Heavens and Gods to compare his mother with and how he says that god installed her into him, almost as if she will always be present in his heart. Also how the angels sing about love and how none is more than that of a mother. This is very true. A mother has her instincts and she cares for her child like no other. This poem is so beautiful and touching it just makes me feel so happy and free, yet at the same time sentimental and sad.

Answer 3

Spiritual- Angels
comforting
last two lines seem strange, a metaphor for comparing a mother to a wife

What sticks out most is I can't believe Poe wrote it. Not a great poem.

Answer 4

I think line 5 is ok with "survive", you are stating a fact. I would change "so cruel and embedded in his undeserving fame" to "deserving fame" he had many, many followers and people can gain fame through notoriety. Fame itself does not have to mean famous for doing something good, its just a word that means "The condition of being known or talked about by many people, esp. on account of notable achievements". Which can of course be good or bad. Well done, not bad for 14.

Answer 5

Well, of course it makes me think of my mom at first, and then I wonder who he is talking about and the last 2 lines lead me to believe thathe is talking about his wife. It is sweet and creepy at the same time, ( i mean, who wants to be married to their mom) but I guess she fulfilled a need since his own mom died while he was young

Answer 6

he is talking about how he loves his wife as much he loved his mother and his wife filled the emptyness in his heart left by his mothers death

Answer 7

The angels are singing DO YOUR OWN DARN HOMEWORK FIRST! before asking others.

Answer 8

mother