The bonds of sisterhood have spurred many poets to their pens. Whether sisters by blood or sisters of the heart, the relationship between sisters, or brothers and sisters, is one that is in category all its own, one that admits the deepest secrets, withstands the greatest injuries and disagreements, and creates a place in the heart all its own.

The relationship between two sisters is one that to an outsider can be mystifying, as in Rabindranath Tagore’s (1861 – 1941) “The Gardener XVIII:”

In Tagore’s poem, an outsider is curious about what the sisters share without ever saying a word, about the conversations that they conduct through their movements and expressions.

Like Tagore, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) found himself fascinated by “The Sisters:”

Unlike Tagore, however, Rilke is intrigued by the other side of the relationship between two sisters – that of sisters that disagree. Although Rilke can easily see the similarities between the two, the sisters themselves cannot, and are destined to “unfold in their opposite demeanors, as though one saw different ages passing through two identical rooms”

The relationship between a brother and sister is also one of deep affection, as revealed by William Strode (1598-1645) in “To His Sister:”

The brother of the poem has apparently judged his sister’s handwriting as poor, and now must pay penance in this delightful poem which subtly reveals the nature of the relationship between the two siblings.

“In thee my soul shall own combined the sister and the friend,” said Catherine Killigrew of her sister, and like Killigrew, many poets have been inspired by the special relationship between sisters or sisters and brothers.