Stabat MaterSam Hunt

Sam Hunt• Born in Auckland, NZ• His father was 60, his mother 30

when he was born• He rebelled against the puritanism of

his Christian school.• His poems are deliberately simple

and colloquial in style• His poetry focuses on his own

experiences; moments in his life, love and loss, and his family relationships.

What’s the poem about?• How a relationship changes as people age• How our perception of someone’s greatness

changes as they age• The transitory nature of life• The unstoppable aging process• What’s up with the title?Hunt has borrowed the name of a 13th Century

latin hymn describing the sorrows of Mary at the cross. Why?

Stabat MaterMy mother called my father 'Mr Hunt'For the first few years of married life.I learned this from a book she had inscribed:'To dear Mr Hunt, from his loving wife.'

She was embarrassed when I asked her whyBut later on explained how hard it had beenTo call him any other name at first, when he - Her father's elder - made her seem so small.

Now in a different way, still like a girl,She calls my father every other sort of name;And guiding him as he roams old ageSometimes turns to me as if it were a game...

That once I stand up straight, I too must learnTo walk away and know there's no return.

What parallels can you see between the grieving Mary and the poet’s mother?

Mary, mother of Jesus Poet’s mother

Form & Structure

• Sonnet form (14 lines)• Unorthodox rhyme scheme• Final rhyming couplet enhances the resolution

of the poem• Simple, colloquial language• Direct and matter-of-fact narration• Tone: Wistful, sad• Mood: Mildly depressing?

Diction & Imagery

• Many words focus on posture, physical health and size:

“made her seem so small” mother’s inferiority“guiding him as he roams old age” father’s senility“once I stand up straight” alluding to maturing

into adulthood“to walk away” those who still have their youth

and strength must leave the elderly to die?

Themes• Love and relationships• Feelings of inferiority in a relationship• Changing perceptions of a loved one as they

age• The duty/obligation to care for aging loved

ones• The unstoppable cycle of life and death

Check out the Prezi here…

• https://prezi.com/ptvj08sj_ljk/stabat-mater/

And listen to Sam Hunt recite some of his own poems here:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyZMO9B1jyk

Essay question:

• Comment on the significance of the Title. Why in your opinion has Sam Hunt named his poem ‘Stabat Mater’?

OR• How does Sam Hunt vividly portray his

mother’s changing perspective about his father, in the poem Stabat Mater?