Explication of "Woman Work"

The poem "Woman Work" is written by Maya Angelou and focuses on the daily tasks that a woman generally does, specifically a mother. The first stanza consists solely of all of the tasks that the mother must do in a day that likely go unnoticed or unappreciated by the other members of the family. This takes place in the past when it was a very popular belief that men were the only ones who worked hard and women just sat at home. This poem reveals that although may have been at home it does not mean that they were not doing anything with their time. Women have just as much responsibility as men.

The list of the woman's daily tasks is lengthy and in a two line rhyme scheme. The focus in this chapter was musical devices and it is evident that one of the musical devices that Angelou used in this poem is rhyme. The length of the list brings focus to how demanding and tiring these tasks are. The mother has to take care of the children, the family and the house seemingly all on her own.

In the next three stanzas the speaker goes on to focus on nature. It seems as if this focus on nature may be an escape for both the reader as well as the speaker herself. The speaker desperately wants to escape from her relentless tasks of being a housewife and a mother, nature seems to provide this escape and fantasy for her. She hopes that nature will take her away from all of her unappealing duties: "Storm, blow me from here" (20). In the poem Angelou portrays the speaker as loving and respecting nature but the woman also wants something from nature, she wants it to serve as an escape. The speaker yearns for the relaxation and freedom that she thinks nature provides. The speaker no longer wants to be limited to her house and confined by her daily tasks that she has seemingly grown so accustomed to over time, she wants an escape from the "woman work" that she has done for her whole life and that escape is provided by the beauty, mystery and immensity of nature for the speaker.