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Q1 AP Lit

Jeanne Murray Walker’s poem "Seizure" explores the relationship between a mother and her child who suffers from seizures, highlighting the mother's initial harshness and eventual regret over her perceived selfishness. The poem transitions from a tone of bitterness regarding the mother's sacrifices to one of deep remorse as she witnesses her child's suffering. Through intense language and vivid imagery, the poem illustrates the complexities of maternal love and the emotional turmoil of regret.

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28 views1 page

Q1 AP Lit

Jeanne Murray Walker’s poem "Seizure" explores the relationship between a mother and her child who suffers from seizures, highlighting the mother's initial harshness and eventual regret over her perceived selfishness. The poem transitions from a tone of bitterness regarding the mother's sacrifices to one of deep remorse as she witnesses her child's suffering. Through intense language and vivid imagery, the poem illustrates the complexities of maternal love and the emotional turmoil of regret.

Uploaded by

riley.m.godinez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Riley Bandy

Mrs. Burgess
Q1 AP Lit
May, 5, 2025

Throughout Jeanne Murray Walker’s poem “Seizure”, the poem follows a child who
suffers from siezures and the child’s mother. The poem follows one seizure specifically where
nothing that the mother can do will wake the child from his seizing stupor. Throughout Jeanne
Murray Walker’s “Seizure”, the intense and harsh language combined with the imagery of the
events, reveal the speaker to have an, at first harsh tone that eventually evolves into regret that
she could not give enough for her child.
Throughout the first half of the poem the speaker is characterized as generous;
However, the generosity is not seen as a positive trait, but rather as a chore that she doesn't
enjoy. This idea of a pious and righteous act being tainted by the unwanting nature that the
speaker has towards it creates a harsh tone that becomes the driving force of the poem. This
language that the speaker uses conveys a spiteful tone that will come back to haunt them later
in the poem. The speaker says “This is the last time I divide myself in half, the last time I lie
down in danger and rise bereft” throughout this quote the speaker says that she refuses to give
up her blood indefinitely until she has no more to give, creating a harsh tone towards the child,
with the speaker almost trying to make it the childs fault. Throughout these first two stanzas the
reader sees the speaker as harsh and self centered in a way that she does not yet realize that
she will regret.
After the first two stanza’s the speaker is immediatley wrought with regret for ever saying
that she would never donate her blood again and attempts to correct her wrong doings before it
was too late. Throughout the second half of the poem the speaker sees the child ave a horrible
seizure like she has never seen before, throughout the seizure, she tries to remedy and help the
child but nothing works. This idea of an attempt at redemption shows the regret that she would
ever see donating blood as a chore, that the speaker feels. This idea of sudden reret is most
exemplified when the speaker says, “It was then that i would have struck the bargain, all my
blood for yout small shaking”. This harsh diction contributeds to the regretful tone that the
speaker has evolved into. The other ways that the author contributes to the idea of regret is
through the imagery of the police cars that attempt to come and help the child. The author says,
“Before the red wail of the police car” choosing to leave out the blue, contributing the idea that it
was due to the lack of blood contributing to the feeling of utter regret.
Throughout the poem many factors contribute to the speakers idea of regret and
mourning for her selfishness. However none can be used without the other showing how the
genuis of the poem relies on every sense of literary techniques that are in the poem.

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