The poem
I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow; And then I must scrub and bake and sweep Till stars are beginning to blink and peep; And the young lie long and dream in their bed Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head, And their day goes over in idleness, And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress: While I must work because I am old, And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.
This poem is about a hard-working, poor old woman who compares herself to the young women of the house who spends their days dreaming of love and worrying about their appearance. It is not clear whether these young women are her own children or the children of people she works for as a maid.The poem is written in th efirst person, as we are listening in to the womans own thoughts. The poem is just ten lines long,…
Read the whole commentThis poem is about a hard-working, poor old woman who compares herself to the young women of the house who spends their days dreaming of love and worrying about their appearance. It is not clear whether these young women are her own children or the children of people she works for as a maid.The poem is written in th efirst person, as we are listening in to the womans own thoughts.
The poem is just ten lines long, with most lines exactly ten syllables long. So the poem is almost like a square- ten by ten. Perhaps this reflects how limited the old Mother's life is:
She cannot break away from the rigidy of her life.
The poem is written in rhyming couplets: the rhyme scheme is AA BB CC DD EE. A half -rhyme between the first and last couplets(blow and Old)helps to 'round off' the poem,which both starts and finishes with the seed of the poem.(Thats it for now)
hey the morrisons way! errr brace yourself holly reds and emily t in da house! this poem sucks have a nice day all RESPECT BRUV!
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