Woman Work
I've got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I've got shirts to press
The tots to dress
The can to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.
Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.
Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
'Til I can rest again.
Analysis
This poem is about all the work that some women need to do and that they're really busy without any rest. I think this poem is about the women during slavery because of the verse ''And the cotton to pick''. This could be because during the slavery times, the slaves had to pick cotton. The poem consists of 3 stanzas with the 1st one being the longest then the 2nd and 3rd being much shorter. The 1st stanza lists all the jobs that a woman does and the 2nd & 3rd stanza is the woman expressing her desire for peace/rest. The 1st stanza has end rhyme and it's AABBCCDDEEFFGG. All the end rhymes are also true/perfect rhymes: tend & mend, mop & shop, fry & dry, feed & weed, press & dress, cut & hut and sick & pick. Sight imagery is used in the verses ''Shine on me, sunshine'' and ''Rain on me, rain'' in the 2nd stanza. The 2nd & 3rd stanzas are both all apostrophes as the speaker is talking to inanimate objects (weather). The title ''Woman Work'' makes it clear that the poem is about the work of a woman. The point of view is 1st person. I think this poem could be a narrative because it tells the story of a woman, probably as a slave.