Woman Work

literarydevices.net/woman-work

November 14, 2022

 by Maya Angelou

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

hut
I gotta clean up this

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.

Fall gently, snowflakes

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.

Summary of Woman Work

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Popularity of “Woman Work”: Published in her own poetic collection, Still I
Rise, this poem has set the trend that entirely corresponds with the main idea of the
collection. Although it appeared in 1978, the poem has proved a milestone in
spreading feminism associated with African American marginalization in the United
States. The poem has beautifully enumerated the daily chores a woman has to
perform that start at dawn and end quite late at night. The poem has won popularity
due to the simplicity involved with domestic chores.
“Woman Work” As a Representative of Tedium of Domestic Chores: The
poem shows a first person speaking to her readers. She is likely a woman fed up with
her domestic chores. She presents her activities which include taking care of her
children, clothes, mopping, shopping, frying, and drying from home to garden. She
goes on to state ironing, cutting, cleaning, tending, and then picking cotton. It
includes gardening, nursing, and farming. This shows how a woman starts her work
and continues working until late at night.
The most important thing that she stresses
is that it does not end even in dry, wet,
rainy, or cold, or hot weather. Weather and age do not impact it. She always
continues floating here and there, working without enjoying “snowflakes” and
beautiful weather. She then enumerates the wonders of nature to imply that she
misses all of them though they are her own. This shows her tedium with the
domestic chores.
Major Themes in “Woman Work”: Tedium, boredom, and feminine resistance
are three major thematic strands of the poem “Woman Work.” Although it is not
clear that the speaker is facing or experiencing tedium and boredom, the immediate
impact of the enumeration of various tasks one by one makes it obvious. This leads
the speaker to conclude that although natural elements around her are in
abundance and she can own all of them, she has little time to enjoy them. She can
only state that “Let me rest tonight” and move on to state that she can call them her
own. This dreary life of daily chores ends on this claim which shows a type of
feminine resistance toward a daily routine.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Woman Work

Maya Angelou’s power and skill in using literary devices in simple language are obvious.
Some of the major literary devices are analyzed below.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as
the sound of /a/ and i/ in “Shine on me, sunshine” and “Rain on me, rain” and the
sound of /o/ in “The floor to mop.”
2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in
quick succession, such as the sound of /w/ in “with white” and /t/ in “tots to.”
3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line,
such as the sound of /t/ in “The tots to dress” and the sound of /sh/ in “Shine on
me, sunshine.”

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4. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five
senses. Maya Angelou has used imagery in this poem, such as “Shine on me,
sunshine”, “The clothes to mend” and “Fall softly, dewdrops.”
5. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made
between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used the metaphor of wind
that blows her away or snowflakes that cover her.
6. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them
symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows
symbols such as children, shop, company, and garden to show the tasks women
have to perform.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Woman Work

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an
analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

1. Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of simple
and melodic diction.
2. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Maya Angelou has
used end rhyme in some of the quatrains, such as white/tonight and stone/own.
3. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows AABB in the first fourteen verses and then
ABCB in the next quatrains.
4. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are five stanzas with fourteen
verses in heroic couplets and rest quatrains.
5. Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a trivial, common, and then
dreary tone.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote about the work of a woman.

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.

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