Tamanna

Poem for my sister – By Liz Lochhead
Poem Analysis
‘Poem for my sister’ was written by Liz Lochhead who was a Scottish writer in the year 1947. In this poem she presents the themes of sisterhood, protection and maternal love for her little sister. The poem is divided into 3 stanza’s n stanza 1, Liz Lochhead explains about how her little sister likes to try on her grown-up shoes. In stanza 2 though she tells us about how she likes to watch her little sister plays kid games and how good she is at them. Finally, in stanza 3, Liz Lochhead warns her sister away from wearing unsuitable shoes.
In the first stanza she opens the poem by a metaphor ‘My little sister likes to try my shoes’ this is a metaphor compared to life. The word shoes are used as a metaphor for adulthood it means her little sister wants to ape her elder sister’s life style. ‘ Admire her spindle thin twelve year old legs’ tells us that her little sister is a young girl who is going to become a teenager soon . Thus she is finding herself between a child and being an adult. She is too young to be an adult and too old to be a kid. When she says ‘they fit her perfectly but wobbles’ it gives us a clear idea of the young girl who is yet not prepared to be considered as an adult as the word ‘wobbles’ it is a metaphor as it describes her being immature and unbalanced for the age as it is difficult for her to balance in the high heels she is wearing.
In the second stanza she uses the line ‘I admire the neat hops-and skips of her’ this shows how her little sister is yet on the childish stage where she likes playing games and is amazing as a child. ‘Peever’ is the Scottish name given to hopscotch as it is used in the last line of the second stanza.
In stanza 3 the elder sister warns her little sister not to make the same mistakes as she did. She wants her little sister to enjoy her childhood to the best of her ability. She does not want her sister to grow up too soon and loose her purity and innocence. The poet uses the phrase ‘I try to warn my sister about unsuitable shoes’. In the last stanza the elder sister is just giving her sister advice. When she says ‘Point out my own distorted feet’ she means all the mistakes and errors she made in her life and how she doesn’t want her younger sister to suffer from anything like that. In the end of this stanza the elder sister becomes very firm by using the line ‘I should not like to see her in my shoes’ this line shows the close relationship between the sisters and a caring nature they portray between themselves. The last phrase ‘I wish she could stay sure footed, sensibly shod’ means she wants her sister to take the right decisions and always be on the right path. She doesn’t want her sister to go through any heartbreaking events or problems.