The title of the poem, “The black lace fan my mother gave me”, already suggests that the narrator had received a specific fan from her mother. It shows their relationship and the possible importance of the fan in the relationship. The lace fan suggests a particular aura of elegance and probably extremely feminine values. The fact that it was “the first gift he ever gave her” signifies a very large importance of the fan to the poet’s mother. The first gift a lover gives is usually the most significant and the most memorable. “Pre-war Paris” also displays a possible foreshadowing of separation of the lovers. “A starless drought made the nights stormy” gives off both a romantic but tragic aura of the poem. The second stanza describes their relationship and the day he gave the poets mother the fan. “They stayed in the city for the summer” gives readers the impression that the couple spent their summer in the city of love, or the city of light (La Ville-Lumière). This amorous description makes readers feel like the relationship was an extremely loving one. However, the fact that “she was always early” and “he was late” displays the possibility of the woman putting more effort into the relationship than the man. It shows the possible one-sidedness of the relationship and how the fan could represent their main link. Also, the fact that “that evening he was later” while “they wrapped the fan” displays how he may have been using the fan, either as an apology towards his lover or something to display his affection, which was so important that he was willing to be late for their date.
The third stanza describes the woman waiting for him as “she looked down the Boulevard des Capucines”. It is one of the four “grand boulevards” in Paris, displaying it’s importance and significance in their relationship. After waiting for him, “she stood up” as “the streets were emptying”, probably because she was looking out for him. However, the fact that “she ordered more coffee” signifies the fact that she was still going to wait for him and she was not leaving just yet, displaying a sense of hope or longing for her lover. Another foreshadowing element is put in as “she thought the distance smelled of rain and lighting”, which is usually seen as gloomy or negative. It could also be symbolizing her inner sorrow. The next stanza switches to describe the lace fan, describing it’s intricate design with it’s “wild roses”, “darkly picked, stitched boldly” and while this brings a stop to the description of the poet’s waiting mother, it adds on to the tension and suspense as there is a sudden change of scene where the fan alone is described and not any of the people involved in the poem so far. Describing the fan to be made of “tortoiseshell” also displays it’s monetary value. Perhaps this was to emphasize on the woman’s value to the man? Objects or gifts used to display affection are often representations of the receiver, so it is possible that the woman can be seen as elegant and full of detail as well. The usage of the word “these” in “these are wild roses” also implies that the poet is now observing the fan as it is before her, showing that the poem has come back to present time instead of the scene is Paris. The tone of the poem suddenly changes and becomes darker as the poet then continues to describe the fan as “a worn-out, underwater bullion”, showing that despite it’s intricate gold or silver linings, it is old and probably has a lot of history. The poem also shows the possible dark history of the fan as the “overcast” lace helps to represent the “inference of its violation”. Did something happen between the couple to cause the fan, what once was such a lovely and endearing symbol, had become a sign of wear and tear. There is also a contrast between the previous description of the soft, graceful roses and the hard, sturdy tortoiseshell, and the violation may be referring to how the peaceful animal had to be killed in order for the
object of potential materialistic display to be created. It is almost as if the fan itself is aware of how it has been used to take away something which was not a threat or “evil” of any kind, was destroyed and had to suffer to create this object. It displays how the poet may feel that what happens in the future depends on the events of the past. The scene then switches back to the past in Paris, on “an empty cafe terrace”, which displays how her waiting mother had already left. There was a very big time lapse between the description of the fan and the current description of the past, leaving readers to wonder what had happened between then. “An airless dusk before thunder” represents the foreshadowing of a possible bad event or the aftermath of a bad event. Since she was not part of that scene in the past, the fact that she has “no way to know what happened then” leaves her no choice but to improvise what had happened. Instead of continuing with this negative aura, she chooses to interpret the scene as a happy and positive one, continuing in the next stanza with a sudden change of mood as she describes “the blackbird on this first sultry morning in summer”, which is highly contrasting the previous scene of the brewing storm. The blackbird represents the fan – both beautiful but a possible nuisance because of its past and general impression. “Suddenly she puts out her wing” represents how her mother could have suddenly opened up to her lover again after a long period of possible hostility. “Suddenly” also implies that her mother may have seemed surprised by her own actions, and “the whole, full flirtatious span of it” could either be describing the birds wing or the open fan.
With this poem, it can be seen that the relationship between the poet’s mother and father has changed and developed over time, and how the emotions and feelings that had gone on between the both of them had been put into the history of the fan. It also allows us to see that a single, simple object could be used to present a thing of the past to us.
