The Black Lace Fan my Mother Gave Me: Themes & Linking Poems

The Black Lace Fan my Mother Gave Me: Themes & Linking Poems

“The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me”: Themes

Memory & Time

  • Boland explores the theme of memory and its connection to objects, in this case, an antique fan.
  • In this poem, time is a fluid concept. The fan is a symbol that links past and present, unfolding a narrative hundreds of years old within the space of a single evening.

Love & Transience

  • The fan reflects a story of love - a love that was once beautiful but is reduced to mere memory due to the passing of time.
  • The transience of love is highlighted; while the fan has survived, the feelings it once represented have faded away.

Feminism & Female Identity

  • Boland continues her exploration of female experiences, focusing on her mother and, by extension, the women of previous generations.
  • The fan, as a conventionally feminine object, becomes a symbol of female identity and power. It serves to bridge the gap between private, personal history and the grand narratives of history.

Metaphor & Symbolism

  • Boland’s use of metaphor within the poem is intrinsic to understanding the poem’s greater themes.
  • Boland utilises symbolism in the form of weather, connecting the external storm with the internal turmoil of the lovers.

Linking Poems

“Quarantine”

  • Both poems examine the power of objects as symbols and repositories of memory.
  • Boland uses everyday items and situations to convey profound feelings and experiences in both works.

“The War Horse”

  • Like “The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me”, this poem uses a simple object (the horse) to tell a much larger narrative.
  • Both poems delve into the theme of violence, although in The War Horse it is more physical and explicit.

“An Irish Childhood in England: 1951”

  • Similarly to “The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me” this poem explores female identity and the role of memory.
  • Boland uses objects in both poems to traverse the boundaries of time and space, bringing the past into the present.

“The New Pastoral”

  • Both poems grapple with the declining force of old traditions and their partial replacement by modernity.
  • The connection between love and time is a central theme in both poems, highlighting the sorrow inherent in transience.