Poem Woman Work (Maya Angelou) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation
To view notes of other Poems. Please Click Here.
Poem:
I've got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor or mop
The food to shop
Then chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I've got the shirts to press
The tots to dress
The cane to be cut
I got to clean up this hut.
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
Till I can rest again.
Fall gently, snow flakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.
Sun rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You're all that I can call my own.
Maya Angelou:
Idea of Poem:
Woman Work
This poem has been written by Maya Angelou, a famous American poetess. In this poem, she has described the monotonous and busy life of a woman. She describes various household chores that a woman does on daily basis. She remains busy washing clothes, caring for the children, pressing clothes, mopping the floor, doing shopping etc. She is absorbed in household chores and has no time to enjoy the life. She serves to her husband, her kids, and her family, but she finds no one to relieve her but Nature. So, she dreams of a pleasant life. She longs for rain, sunshine, and natural beauty. She wants to enjoy the snowfall and sunshine. She loves to see mountains, oceans, moon etc. She expresses her deep desire to be in the arms of nature which will give her comfort. She asks nature to rescue her from daily mechanical life. She asks the storm to blow her away to the sky where she could rest.
Summary
In this poem, the poetess, Maya Angelou, describes the daily grinding routine of a woman. She says that a woman spends the whole day doing various chores. She has to look after the children. She has to mend the clothes. She buys things for the household use. She mops the floor. She takes care of kids and makes them dry. She attends the guests and serves to them. She prepares food for the whole family. She is also responsible for doing shopping for the family. Her life is too fast and mechanical.
She remains busy in her work for the whole day. He life loses the charm and she feels bored and dull. She may not show more creativity and innovation in her work. After her mechanical household life, she wishes to spend some time with nature. She invites various natural bodies like the sun, moon, and storms to comfort her. She asks the rain to fall on her forehead. She invites the sun to shine on her. She asks storms to blow her to the skies. She wants to fly with air like a light balloon. In this way, she tries to get comfortable in natural things. She wants to float and fly in the air.
She asks the snowflakes to fall on her. She wants to play with icy gusts of air. The poetess gives us an impression as if the woman is among the mountains spreading her arms and allowing nature to take her anywhere. She is ready to give in before nature. She loves to be with nature because she is fed up with boring routines of her. She believes that God has made all these things for the comfort of the woman. She calls them her own. She expresses her possession of the beautiful objects of nature.
The convenience of the high trees,
The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray
All an advantage to me;
The poem is an expression of a woman's struggle and her desires. The poem gives us a message that the woman is a very hardworking human being. She needs care and comfort as she cares for other members of her family. The poem tells us that a woman does have some desires; she wants to enjoy nature, she wants to be famous, she wants to spare some time in which she may live her own life. She has a desire to be given love and passion which would give her energy and strength to do more work.
Important Questions
Q 1: Why does the working woman in the poem, Woman Work make a passionate appeal to nature?
Ans: Woman Work is a beautiful poem written by Maya Angelou. In this poem, she tells the readers about a serious and important fact about those women who pass their lives in doing house-hold chores.
Such a woman is being represented by the poetess herself. She calls the elements of nature to get freshness from their company. She wants to enjoy the warmth of sunshine and the coolness of rain.
She wants to feel the cool and soft-touch of dew-drops on her face. Fall gently snowflakes, And cover me with White, let me float across the sky, Till I can rest again.
The domestic woman calls the elements of nature because the members of her family do not treat her well. She wishes to be in the company of her past friends like sun, rain, mountain, oceans, leaves, star-shine, moon glow for refreshment and peace of mind.
Mountains, oceans, leaf and stone Star shine, moon glow
You are all that I can call my own
The poetess has personified different objects of nature to show their importance. Therefore, the household woman wants to enjoy rain, sunshine, mountains, and snowflakes to overcome her monotony and boredom.
She needs a break to refresh herself. She knows that Nature has a healing effect. Between the lines, she is criticizing the male-dominated world. She means that these natural objects are beneficial for all creatures without discrimination.
Q 2: The poem Woman Work deals with the boredom felt in our daily life and especially of woman. Discuss.
Ans: This poem has been written by Maya Angelou. She is a living poetess. Most of her poetry deals with the problems and status of women in male dominant society. In this poem, she describes the routine life of a domestic woman.
A housewife remains busy in her domestic chores. She performs her all responsibilities without any complaint. But her routine life has made her rebel. She intends to enjoy the company of nature.
She is not satisfied with her family members. She rejects the male dominant society and shows her love for natural objects. She thinks that only nature and its aspects can provide her mental and physical pleasure.
She invokes the natural objects to enjoy rain, sunshine, dewdrops, and gentle flakes of snow. A domestic woman is so much tired of the monotony of her household life that she wants to escape from such a life.
She requests the storm to take her away from her dull and colorless world. She seems to be tired of the daily routine of life. She wants to reach some remote corner of the world where she can enjoy some moments of rest, peace, and pleasure again.
She desires to take a rest for some time in the company of nature. She wishes to fly with a storm wind into the open sky. She wishes to be among mountains, oceans, leaves and stones, stars shine, and moonlight. She wants to change her dull and boring life into a charming adventure.
Reference:
Context:
Explanation:
Stanza 1
I've got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor or mop
The food to shop
Stanza 2
Then chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I've got the shirts to press
The tots to dress
The cane to be cut
I got to clean up this hut.
Stanza 3
Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.
Stanza 4
Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
Till I can rest again.
Stanza 5
Fall gently, snow flakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.
Stanza 6
Sun rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You're all that I can call my own.