Images and one long sentence

The poem is built on a contrast between old age and youth. Inside the car: an old mother, dozing and pale. Outside: young trees sprinting past and merry children running out of their homes, full of energy. Looking outside is the poet's way of escaping her painful thought.

Two similes show how the mother looks:

• her face is ashen 'like that of a corpse': it shows the poet's fear of her mother's death;
• her face is pale 'as a late winter's moon': dull, fading and cold, at the end of its season, like the end of a life.

'Sprinting trees' is a striking image: the trees seem to run because the car is moving fast, and the word also suggests the energy of youth, and time rushing by.

The whole poem is written as one long sentence, joined by commas. It follows one unbroken stream of thought, from the car to the parting.

The ending repeats one word: 'smile and smile and smile'. The repetition shows how hard the poet is trying to hide her feelings, and how much pain lies behind the smile.