Milk soaks the bedding. I cannot bear the
waste.
My husband frowns, pretending in his haste.
Oh, clean the girl, dress her in ashy soot! 30
Milk soaks our bedding, I cannot bear the
waste.
They say a child with two mouths is no good.Poem Summary
Epigraph
The epigraph that opens ‘‘Pantoun for Chinese
Women’’ is a simple statement from a Peking
newspaper. The single sentence reports that
there is a serious problem of infanticide directed
toward female babies. These children are being
drowned, left outside to die, or murdered in
other ways. The epigraph suggests to the reader
that the content of the poem will relate to this
newspaper reference.
Stanza 1
The first stanza of Lim’s poem makes clear that
female infants are devalued. In fact, a daughter is
no good for a family hoping for a male child. The
mother, who narrates the poem, places the
blame for her child’s worthlessness on those
who have established a tradition in which female
children are considered useless. Lim uses the
subjective personal pronountheyas a vague
reference to unknown people who are not iden-
tified. The blame is clearly placed on traditions
that claim that girls have no value in this society.
Readers are reminded that the newborn
baby girl is just an extra mouth to feed. She
needs to be fed, and her mouth opens wide,
searching for her mother’s breast and nourish-
ment. The child’s hunger is another reminder
that the female child will take from the family
but will not give anything back when she is older.
This stanza ends with the mother’s observation
that her husband is not at her bedside to cele-
brate the birth of a son. There is no blame
directed toward the husband because of his
absence. In fact, the mother understands that
there is no reason to celebrate this birth and no
reason for her husband to be proud, so she is not
surprised that he is absent. In this first stanza the
mother’s acceptance of her husband’s disap-
pointment makes clear that she understands
and accepts the lack of value that accompanies
the birth of a female infant.Stanza 2
As is customary for the pantoun format, the
second and fourth lines of the preceding stanza
are repeated as the first and third lines of the
following stanza. Accordingly, this stanza opens
with the line from stanza 1 that refers to the
smooth empty space of the baby girl’s mouth.
This, again, is the reason why the baby’s father is
not there beside his wife. The wife knows that he
is busy retrieving ashes that had been buried
during her pregnancy. As the poem reveals only
through an allusion, the ashes will be used to
suffocate the baby. Even in this stanza, there is
no suggestion that the mother intends to protect
her child. There is only regret that the child is not
the hoped-for son. If the child had been a boy,
the father would not need to dig up the ashes that
they had buried.Stanza 3
Because the mother’s pregnancy now has no
value, her husband’s mother squats down by
the fire and does not celebrate her new grand-
child. Instead of proudly cooing over the new
baby, this grandmother sits apart, away from the
mother and child, waiting for her son to dig up
the jar of ashes. Readers are told in the fourth
line of this stanza that these are ashes that the
family saved for the past three months of the
pregnancy. That is, as the mother’s belly grew
large with child, the husband, his wife, and his
mother planned for the murder of the infant if a
girl were to be born. Presumably, the child will
be placed in a box, with ashes that will be used to
smother her face.Stanza 4
The opening line again tells readers that the hus-
band’s mother is by the fire. She remains separate
from her daughter-in-law and granddaughter
while she waits for her son to return with the
ashes. While the two mothers wait, the child lies
against her mother’s body. Her mother feels each
tiny squirm and movement and is perhaps
reminded of the same movements that this baby
made when still inside her womb. The baby’s
small sounds must remind the mother that the
infant is alive and needs to be fed.
The last two lines of this stanza remind the
reader of how the family saved ashes in prepara-
tion for this moment. They hoped for a son butPantoun for Chinese Women