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From: TR Young <TR.Young@uvm.edu>
Subject: Three Poems for Your Mother
Cc: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu
Mary Cassatt lived and worked in France...her art is a tribute to
all women in their most intimate moments as mother, friend, sister
and artist.  I have written two volumes of poem in honor of that
work.

Below are three poems which catch some of the powerful magic
which binds the child to the mother.  Each poem reflects one of 
Cassatt's paintings...while I can't send the painting itself, I can
send a bit about it...those of you who know her work may recall her
art.

                                     With all good love, TRYoung

                        ***************
>
>                            A Mother's Touch
>                                    
>                                Although
>                               the memory
>                              of this child
>                              is very short
>                              and does not
>                            contain too much;
>                                    
>                           Yet there has never
>                               been a time
>                             when this child
>                              did not know
>                      nor respond with simple trust
>                       to a mother's loving touch.
>
16.  Mother Combing Her Child's Hair (c. 190 1 ). Cassatt's mother-and-child
compositions became more
>complex with the passing years.  Mirrors appear in a number of them; here
the mirror produces a double portrait. 
>It has been said that Cassatt's conception of women as humanity's
civilizing force is what is primarily expressed in
>many of these works, including this one. (The Brooklyn Museum)

                           ******************

>     A Baby's Bath
>
>Only her mother
>can do these things;
>cut her hair
>bathe her feet
>dry her eyes
>lick her face
>kiss her toes
>and tell her, No.
>
>Only a mother
>can treat the baby's body
>as if it were part
>of her own.
>
>Only a mother
>can make or move
>a child do things
>not wished nor wanted
>by the child
>without force
>or bribe or shout
>or guile.
>
>Only a mother
>can bring light
>and love into the night
>with her loving
>and unthinking smile.
>

>6.   The Bath (1891-92).  One of Cassatt's most admired works, The Bath is
unique in her work for color and composition.
>(The Art Institute of Chicago)
>
                        *******************>
>
>The Edge of Thought
>
>                                   
Resting at the edge of thought
>a fine young girl
>begins to see a time
>when unafraid
>she shall leave
>a mother's lap
>for worlds unknown
>uncut, unsewn
>and there, perchance,
>create and trace
>a woman's life
>which one can wear
>with pride and grace.
>
>19.  Young Mother Sewing (1902).  The child gazing out so openly seems to
be Margot (see no. 9), who appears in several works in 1902.  The mother's
face is just as beautifully rendered. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
>
>
>TR Young@Cmich.edu>
TR Young
Sociology
U/Vermont
TR.Young@uvm.edu