To a Daughter Leaving Home

Pastan uses several kinds of mirroring and parallel structures throughout the poem. The narrative depicts the emotions around a turning point in the present state of this mother/daughter relationship by reflecting on another significant event from their past. In both situations, the daughter is moving away from her mother and into a wider world. The mother and daughter run parallel to one another at the poem’s start, the mother “loping along / beside […]” the daughter who soon gains the confidence to pull away (Lines 3-4). More parallels appear within the poem’s narrative, such as the round wheels of the bicycle replicated in the shape of the mother’s mouth “rounding / in surprise” (Lines 7-8). As part of a larger thematic context in Pastan’s work, mother/daughter relationships represent a kind of parallel and mirroring, as there is a transfer of familial experience and generational wisdom in the aspects of their identities they share between them.

The circle motif dominates “To a Daughter Leaving Home”, both in image and theme. The cycle of life constitutes the biggest circle of all, encompassing the entire narrative. The story the mother tells her daughter depicts repeated relationship arcs, but the theme extends beyond to the broader historical cycle of one generation giving way to the next.