Advice to My Son

"To a Daughter with Artistic Talent" by Peter Meinke (1991)

Included in Liquid Paper (1991), “To a Daughter with Artistic Talent” was written several years after “Advice to My Son.” The poem has a similar theme, with the speaker offering life guidance to a daughter who loves to paint. However, unlike “Advice to My Son,” the mood in “To a Daughter […]” is more melancholy and nostalgic, mourning the loss of the daughter’s childish creativity years in advance. Unlike in “Advice to My Son,” there is little irony here to ease the poet’s realization that artists have to contend with the world’s practical demands. The poem is useful to study the range and evolution of Meinke’s style. Here, he uses a far more painterly approach than in “Advice to My Son,” and the surrealist imagery is starker and otherworldly, almost as if Meinke has entered his child’s vivid imagination.

"If" by Rudyard Kipling (1895)

A traditional example of the advice poem in English, “If” by was written by English poet Kipling circa 1895. In “If,” the speaker conveys to their son the stoic, courageous values he must inculcate in order to live a worthy life. Unlike “Advice to My Son,” the tone in “If” is serious and free from irony. It is interesting to compare the two poems to see how Meinke overturns the notion of parental advice, tongue firmly in cheek.

"In Every Life" by Alicia Suskin Ostriker (2011)

Born in New York in 1937, Ostriker is Meinke’s contemporary. Like Meinke, Ostriker’s subject is every day events, related in unpretentious language. “In Every Life” Ostriker contemplates deep existential questions through considering simple domestic and natural entities like a sugary teacup, tulips, or a dog. Like Meinke in “Advice to My Son,” Ostriker too does not shy away from end rhymes, and undercuts her poem’s philosophical tone with a final, funny line. Both Meinke and Ostriker are examples of contemporary poets writing warm, accessible poems veined with multi-layered symbolism.