In the first half of the poem “The Portrait” by Stanley Kunitz, each new line adds a new layer to the story.
My mother never forgave my father
for killing himself,
especially at such an awkward time
and in a public park,
that spring
when I was waiting to be born.”
When reading it seems that the end of each line is the end of the story but when you get to the next line it adds another detail which makes the story more interesting. The extra details add another element to the story and further explains why the mother didn’t forgive the father. The poet could have ended at “my mother never forgave my father” and moved on to the next part but he chose to elaborate the story and did so with the line breaks.
without a single word
and slapped me hard.
In my sixty-fourth year
I can feel my cheek
still burning.”
These lines really resonated with me because my parents used corporal punishment on my siblings and myself and I could still to this day recall where I was slapped and how it felt. When a parent hits you it’s something you don’t really forget as the character in the poem showed when they said: “In my sixty-fourth year I can feel my cheek still burning”. This was a really powerful line especially because it really emphasized just how scarring corporal punishment is to a child.
My favorite line in the whole poem was “and in a public park.” I thought first that it was funny and second that it really showed a little about the mom and how that was an important part of why his suicide angered her. The mom’s personality is seen and it is clear she cares greatly about what people think about her and a public suicide gave her the kind of attention she didn’t like. The poem, in general, gives off the feeling that the mom is a little heartless and insensitive. Instead of thinking about her husband and what he would have been going through that made him kill himself, she is thinking about herself and how it made her look and the timing of when he did it. I think the mothers’ reaction also adds a darkness to the poem that the suicide alone wouldn’t have created.