The Disquieting Muses

The speaker describes the world their mother inhabits: “a green balloon bright with a million / Flowers and bluebirds that never were” (Line 43-44). Throughout the poem the character of the mother takes on a mythical quality, even in what we can assume is her real life. She makes up stories with happy endings, and teaches her children chants to keep the storms at bay. As the speaker grows up, they begin to understand the fragile world their mother has created around themselves. The use of green and “bluest air” (Line 42) bring to mind a globe or a map, as well as the impossible idyllicism of a clear summer’s day. The mother’s world is inhabited with impossible beautiful flowers and creatures brought in from a fairy tale world.

Although the speaker is describing the peace and beauty of this place, there is a cynicism here that wasn’t present in the earlier stanzas; this suggests the speaker is going through a period of disenchantment from their mother’s charms of protection and stories. The speaker describes their mother’s world as “a soap-bubble” (Line 47), suggesting a fragility. Were the speaker or their mother to move too quickly, to question it, the bubble would burst.