"The Portrait" by Kunitz is a very depressing poem, filled with metaphors and symbolism, showing all the emotions a mother has to face since her husband committed suicide while she was pregnant. How she resolved her problem, and how it still comes to haunt her, even after the grave with a living reminder of their love and how it was abandoned.
The poem talks about how the protagonist's father did suicide before the protagonist's birth, and left a huge feeling of hate and grief to the protagonist's mother. The father did suicide in the park, leaving shame and embarrassment to the mother, and a baby to take care of as a widow. "My mother never forgave my father/ for killing himself, / especially at such an awkward time/ and in a public park, / that spring/ when I was waiting to be born." The mother couldn't forgive the love of her life for abandoning her with a child to remind her of him. After time and mixed feelings of embarrassment, anger, and grief, she decided to try to forget......

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Title: The Portrait
Approximate Word Count: 669
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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