African American Literature Spotlight - Frances Harper's "The Slave Mother": An Analysis

In 1854, Frances Harper published one of her most famous and most anthologized poems, "The Slave Mother." In the emotionally stirring poem, Harper exemplifies the pain and suffering of an enslaved mother who is forced to face the reality of her limited relationship with her child. In the beginning of the poem, Harper passionately interrogates with the reader: "Heard you that shriek? It rose/ So wildly on the air/ It seemed as if a burden'd heart/Was breaking in despair" (1-4). Harper immediately appeals to the senses of the reader, challenging them to hear the cries, see the clasped hands, and sad eyes of the slave mother. The reader is forced to see the slave mother as a human being capable of emotions such as pain and despair. In the poem, Harper rejects the notion of the slave as being less than human. She immediately injects complex emotions into the slave mother and endears her to the heart and sympathies of the reader.

After vividly establishing the character of the slave mother, Harper introduces the reader to her son. In the poem, she states: "Her boy clings to her side/And in her kirtle vainly tries/His trembling form to hide" (14-16). The relationship between the mother and her son is deep and he seeks protection and comfort in her presence. But Harper quickly reveals the agonizing truth of the extent of the relationship between slave mother and child: "He is not hers" (17, 19, and 21). Harper repeats this phrase three times in the poem, reflecting the constant thought that must permeate the thoughts of the slave mother. Her child, despite her love and desire to protect him, is not truly her own. Under the bounds of slavery, the slave mother's son does not belong to her. She is faced with the constant threat of her son being ripped from her arms and sold to another plantation. The idea threatens to break the "wreath of household" in every slave family (23). Harper uses her poem show how the institution of slavery destroys the black family and the individual familial relationships.

"The Slave Mother" theme of motherhood was one that was personal to Harper. Although she was born to free parents and never lived as a slave, she lived in a slave state and was fully aware of its devastating effects on families. Also, Harper lost her own mother at young age and knew firsthand what it felt like to be a child permanently separated form its mother. Lastly, Harper was a mother and knew firsthand the depth of the bond between mother and child. Theses connections enabled Harper to write with authority on her subject. She used her poetry as protest against the evils of slavery. Harper blazed the trail for both women and African Americans by using her writing to protest and promote social change.

Works Cited

Harper, Frances E.W. "The Slave Mother." The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, 2^nd Ed. 496-497.