Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman (1966). Content and Description

Sexton wrote “Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman” for her daughter Linda’s, 11th birthday. In the poem, published as part of Sexton’s 1966 collection, Live or Die, she reflects with pride on the girl’s approaching physical maturation. While recalling her own confusing experience of puberty, she celebrates her daughter’s budding sexuality. Comparing the emerging woman to “an acre of yellow beans” they had once planted that turned out to be “too much” to consume, she creates a sequence of associations and advice.

“Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman” continues Sexton’s examination of the delineations between generations. The poet encourages her daughter to accept the changes puberty will introduce, to believe in newness, potential, and growth: “What I want to say, Linda, / is that there is nothing in your body that lies. / All that is new is telling the truth.” She acknowledges both closeness and distance between mother and daughter, suggesting that she wishes Linda to diverge from the path of self-doubt that has been modeled within the family. Remembering her own isolation at that age, when she “waited like a target,” and no one offered her guidance, the poet’s birthday gifts to her daughter are reassurance, solidarity, and advice: “Let your body in / let it tie you in / in comfort.”

The calm counsel of her narrator/self stands in contrast to the persistent difficulties that the suicidal Sexton has had in accepting the continued existence of her own body. She encourages her daughter to embrace the woman’s life that awaits her, to be independent and secure. Yet, as did Sexton’s own mother, whose portrait hung in the family home on the wall opposite her own, the poet remains proudly, powerfully, perhaps threateningly, present in her daughter’s life: “I’m here. That somebody else, / an old tree in the background.”

The age of 12—high noon, the “ghost hour”— signifies for the poet the time at which the girl child becomes available to men, who will scale walls to get to her. Sexton is not a conventionally protective mother whose vision of motherhood might include shielding Linda from the invading “men bare to the waist.” For the always-sensual Sexton, men belong there; they are a natural part of the landscape of young womanhood. Her main concern is not to preserve Linda’s sexual innocence but to reassure her daughter before the men arrive that she is strong: Her “bones are lovely.” The girl already has structures of strength and support within herself.

Twice Sexton repeats, “What I want to say, Linda,” as if her meaning might be lost in the stunning array of images. She fills “Little Girl” with striking evocations of garden and of womb. Things that grow, that are full of sensuality, appear in each section: “mushrooms and garlic buds all engorged,” “apples beginning to swell,” “sprouts,” a glut of string beans. The imagery is lush with potential, a celebration of physical abundance.

This poem, while delighting in life and its possibilities, ultimately blurs the lines between mother and daughter. Once again it becomes clear that in the mind of this poet, the older generation remains a powerful presence, for good or for ill, in its children.

For Discussion or Writing:
1. Consider the tone of various sections of this poem. Does the speaker maintain a single attitude toward her subject throughout, or can you discern differences?

2. Why do you think Sexton scatters words and phrases in italics throughout the poem? How do your observations help you better understand the poem’s significance?

3. Audiences were often moved when Sexton read “Little Girl” in the presence of her daughter. Many heard it as a mother’s proud celebration of Linda’s life, while others found it more troubling. Read the poem carefully several times and compose an argument for a positive or a negative reading of the poem.

4. Read Sexton’s earlier poems “Housewife” and “The Double Image.” In what ways can you find thematic similarities? Are there significant differences in the poems’ resolutions?