A Song in the Front Yard
A Song in the Front Yard - meaning Summary
Yearning for Forbidden Freedom
The poem gives voice to a young speaker confined to a safe, respectable "front yard" life who longs to explore the rough, untamed "back yard" where poorer children play. She recognizes her mother’s warnings and the social consequences attached to that world, yet she feels drawn to its freedom and transgression. The poem captures youthful curiosity, rebellion against moral strictures, and a desire to try on a daring, public identity.
Read Complete AnalysesI've stayed in the front yard all my life. I want a peek at the back Where it's rough and untended and hungry weed grows. A girl gets sick of a rose. I want to go in the back yard now And maybe down the alley, To where the charity children play. I want a good time today. They do some wonderful things. The have some wonderful fun. My mother sneers, but I say it's fine How they don't have to go in at quarter to nine. My mother, she tells me that Johnnie Mae Will grow up to be a bad woman. That George'll be taken to Jail soon or late (On account of last winter he sold our back gate). But I say it's fine Honest, I do And I'd like to be a bad woman, too, And wear the brave stocking of night-black lace And strut down the streets with paint on my face.
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