The Locket

I was touched by “The Locket” by John Montague in its harsh depiction of a mother-child relationship. The poem was one of the easiest to read in terms of telling the reader what is happening in the poem, but it was packed with many of the poet's complicated emotions towards his mother. The poem opens at Montague’s mother’s death when he says “sing a last song for the lady who has gone.” The language is powerful, specifically when Montague states that his mother considered his gender and his birth a “double blunder.” Further, he says he was “not readily forgiven.” Both of these lines suggest his mother is resentful towards her son’s existence and birth. Lines such as “You never nursed me” and “then you gave me away” tell the reader that the mother was extremely distant woman and did not play much of a role in Montague’s life. The poet touches on his mother’s happier youth when he talks about her “young wild days, which didn’t last long for you, lovely Molly, the belle of your small town.” He contrasts his mother’s youth with her adulthood when he talks of her “cocoon of pain.” The poem concludes sadly, when the poet realizes that his mother wore a locket with a picture of him around her neck, which is the strongest image in the poem. The locket suggests that despite her many flaws, Montague’s mother was still attached to her son in some way.