The Pomegrante

Title: The Pomegranate. I immediately think of the myth of Persephone and the Underworld because 1) I LOVE Greek and Roman mythology and 2) I already read the poem.

Paraphrase: The poem is written from the perspective of a woman, probably a mother judging by the rest of the poem, who reflects on the myth of Persephone and the Pomegranate from both Persephone's perspective and that of her mother, Demeter/Ceres.

Connotation: The speaker's struggles with letting her daughter grow up and experience the harshness of the world is reflected through the perspective of Demeter. I saw discovering “the underworld” the encountering of brutal reality. Of course, she does not want her daughter to be hurt as she once was, but she knows that she must let her daughter make her own mistakes.

Attitude: The narrator is deeply reflective because she is aware that she is letting her daughter enter real / underworld world, yet she knows she must stay silent because it's her daughter's turn to learn. She can no longer protect her daughter, which pains her, but she understands that it is part of life and parenting in general.

Shift: The major shit in the poem is on line 19 “But I was Ceres then…” where the speaker shifts from a young girl (i.e. Persephone) and a mother (i.e. Demeter/Ceres).  The second shift occurs on line 46 when the mother shifts from thinking of shielding to understanding that she must let her daughter make her own mistakes.

Title: Yepp, definitely about the Greek/Roman myth.

Theme: At some point, mothers (and parents in general) must let their daughters(children)make their own way in life, even if that means allowing them to get hurt. 

This poem struck me from the beginning since, as I'd mentioned before, I love mythology. Reading through it, it also struck me that this was similar to my life. My parents used to constantly explain to me what should be done to avoid trouble and have the best outcomes. Lately, they haven't been so involved. They've stepped back to let me make my own mistakes and learn from them. Of course, they're there if I ask for help of need guidance,  but in general, they've become less of a safety protector to a supper system when I need it, much like what happens in this poem. 

http://mythologian.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/persephone.jpg