PoemHunter.com   
Sadie and Maud by Gwendolyn Brooks   
Search:     
Home Poets Poems Lyrics Quotations Music Forum Member Area Poetry E-Books
 
Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917 - 2000 / Kansas / United States)
Biography   Poems   Quotations   Comments   More Info   Stats  
Although she was born on 7 June 1917 in Topeka, Kansas--the first child of David and Keziah Brooks--Gwendolyn Brooks is "a Chicagoan." The family move .. more >>
18 poems of Gwendolyn Brooks
File Size:157 k 
File Format: Acrobat Reader
To download the eBook right-Click on the title and select "Save Target As".
 
<< prev. poem Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks : 6 / 18 next poem >>
  
 
Share |

 
Sadie and Maud

User Rating:

8.5 /10
(49 votes)



  Maud went to college.
Sadie stayed home.
Sadie scraped life
With a fine toothed comb.

She didn't leave a tangle in
Her comb found every strand.
Sadie was one of the livingest chicks
In all the land.

Sadie bore two babies
Under her maiden name.
Maud and Ma and Papa
Nearly died of shame.

When Sadie said her last so-long
Her girls struck out from home.
(Sadie left as heritage
Her fine-toothed comb.)

Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.
She is living all alone
In this old house.

Gwendolyn Brooks


Share |


Read poems about / on: home, house, alone, baby, girl

 
  Comments about this poem (Sadie and Maud by Gwendolyn Brooks )
Click here to write your comments about this poem (Sadie and Maud by Gwendolyn Brooks )
 
  Erica Paliuca  (11/11/2007 11:25:00 PM)

In Gwendolyn Brooks poem 'Sadie and Maud' the author is comparing two sisters lives. Maud is obviously the smarter of the two and therefor she goes to college, but then in the end she is the alone sister that is going to die alone in the old house. So how smart could she possibly be to condemn herself to a life of loneliness? Sadie is the favorite character in this poem because even though she didn't go to college and is an only mother of two, she is still the happy and free sister. When the author talks about Sadie's comb finding every strand, it is symbolizing how Sadie doesn't miss out on any fun in her life and how she lives it to the fullest.
  Prakash Acharya  (12/9/2004 11:48:00 PM)

In the poem Sadie and Maude by Gwendolyn Brooks, she is showing difference between probably two sisters among whom one went to college (Maude) and other stayed at home (Sadie) . “Scarping life with a fine-tooth comb means living life in every way. “Her comb found her every strand” tell us that she lived life to the fullest. So, she is the happiest woman in all the land. She put her two babies name under her maiden name. This symbolizes that she is a single mother of two babies. Maude, ma and papa nearly died of shame because they are under the restriction and control by the rule of society. The symbolism of Sadie’s “fine-tooth comb”, as a heritage is a optimistic twist on the way she lived her life and the way her children will remember her and follow her. In contrast, the writer uses a simile “a thin brown mouse” comparing Maude to it because she is living all alone like a mouse lives in its hole. Maud who went to college is withering away in the emptiness of the social mold while Sadie is living dangerously setting up her own rules.

Read all 2 comments >>
 
  People who read Gwendolyn Brooks

 
 
  More classic poets:

      The complete list >>

 
  Top 500 Poems

  1. Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
  2. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
  3. If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda
  4. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
  5. Dreams by Langston Hughes
  6. i carry your heart with me by ee cummings
  7. I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You by Pablo Neruda
  8. Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe
  9. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
  10. I Crave Your Mouth, Your Voice, Your Hair by Pablo Neruda
  11. Television by Roald Dahl
  12. One Inch Tall by Shel Silverstein
  13. Warning by Jenny Joseph
  14. As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes
  15. A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe
  16. Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
  17. If by Rudyard Kipling
  18. On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan
  19. Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
  20. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth
  21. Alone by Edgar Allan Poe
  22. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
  23. The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes
  24. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
  25. All That is Gold Does Not Glitter by JRR Tolkien
The complete list of Top 500 Poems >>
  Top 500 Poets

  1. Pablo Neruda
  2. Langston Hughes
  3. Maya Angelou
  4. Charles Bukowski
  5. ee cummings
  6. Shel Silverstein
  7. William Shakespeare
  8. Dylan Thomas
  9. Spike Milligan
  10. Billy Collins
  11. Emily Dickinson
  12. Khalil Gibran
  13. Sylvia Plath
  14. Dorothy Parker
  15. Elizabeth Bishop
  16. Ted Hughes
  17. Roald Dahl
  18. Robert Frost
  19. Walt Whitman
  20. Allen Ginsberg
  21. William Blake
  22. Edgar Allan Poe
  23. Mary Oliver
  24. Robert Browning
  25. William Wordsworth
The complete list of Top 500 Poets >>
 
 
  E-MAIL THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND
Found this page interesting? Recommend it to your friend!     Your E-mail:    Friend's Email:      
 

(c) Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge..  About Us | Copyright notice | Privacy statement | Help
11/8/2009 8:55:08 AM. #.1# You Are Here: Sadie and Maud by Gwendolyn Brooks

Home | Poets | Poems | Free Poetry eBooks | Contests | Sites | Submit a Poem | Manage Your Poems | GameGar | Contact Us

Christmas Poems | Love Poems | Pablo Neruda | Death Poems | Sad Poems | Birthday Poems | Wedding Poems | Annabel Lee | Sorry Poems