Poems, although they can be appreciated individually, are better understood if the reader sees them in the context of the poet's other works. One such poem that benefits from being approached in this way is "Mother Who Gave Me Life". "Mother..." is one of several poems Harwood wrote about motherhood and the role of women in society.
             The title and first line of "Mother..." centralises the role of women and implies that giving life is not a brief moment of experience, but a life-time of nurturing, care, influence and sacrifice. This theme is also explored in the other women poems, including "Suburban Sonnet" and "An Impromptu for Anne Jennings". In these poems Harwood portrays the role of women in the domestic sphere as a difficult one, full of sacrifice and anguish, but fulfilling in the end. She does not condemn the role of women; rather, she celebrates it. This is evident through the repetitious links of the women with symbols of domesticity. In "Mother..." the mother's face is compared to "fine threadbare linen/ worn still good to the last" and the daughter's memories of her mother are those of the domestic scene; "a lamp on embroidered linen, my supper set out, your voice/ calling me in...". Harwood focuses on the menial everyday tasks women were expected to fulfil, in order to compel the reader to recognise the importance of women in society. In the women poems, men are often marginalised or silenced all together. They are merely seen in the background, as the providers and power holders. This emphasises the importance of women in these poems, seeing them as the light in the darkness. It is the light of a lamp and the mother's voice that remain long after "darkness/ falls on my father's house."
             The women poems especially celebrate motherhood and a mother's influence on her child. "Mother..." and &q
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