Poetry Analysis - Passed on by Carole Satyamurti - 1281 Words

In the poem â€Å"Passed On† by Carole Satymurti, the speaker tells a story almost as in a novel of their mother and how she left them a box of index cards with advice on life when she died. The speaker’s gender seems to be female. In the poem, the poet presents the theme of growing up and becoming one’s own person through the maturation and acceptance process. She personifies the index cards themselves, comparing them to her mother. They also characterize the speaker and her mother and create a mood of sadness and longing, implying that perhaps the mother has been dead for some time, but the speaker has never truly accepted this. The title of the poem seems to have three meanings. On the one hand, the speaker seems to have grown up since†¦show more content†¦Adding â€Å"notes of my own† gives the speaker a newfound level of maturity; she feels experienced enough to alter the cards herself. Enough time has passed for her to gain new experiences that she feels is worthy of being noted and she notes them in these index cards. The speaker’s maturation process is ultimately completed in the symbolic burning of the cards. She has finally accepted her mother’s death and can survive without her. The