To a Daughter Leaving Home

Linda Pastan’s “To a Daughter Leaving Home” fits into the American, late Modern poetic canon in its subject matter, its style, and its voice. In this free verse personal narrative, Pastan relies on subtle instances of near rhyme, consonance, and assonance, along with a generally consistent line length, to provide a loose structure for the poem. Enjambed lines move the poem along quickly and in an informal, conversational rhythm. A cluster of related metaphors and meaningful wordplay elevate the deceptively simple diction, making the narrative both emotionally resonant and intellectually engaging.

The title itself suggests an intimate audience of one, like a letter. But the letter is addressed to “a daughter,” suggesting this experience, while specific to the poet, dramatizes a more universal transaction between mothers and daughters. Opening lines set the context for the scene, almost like a snapshot from the young woman’s early life in its precision: the beginning lines “When I taught you / at eight…” (Lines 1-2) establish the characters in this narrative, as well as their exact location in time.