Analysis of Work For Woman
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Woman, sitting at your ease,
In the midst of luxuries,
Bound by chains of selfishness,
With no aim but 'how to dress,'
Does the thought ne'er come to you
Of the thing that you could do?
Could, and yet do not,
To crush out the liquor trade,
That is making, and has made,
Sin and shame, and woe and tears
In our land, for years and years-
Have you never thought?
You will chat for hours and hours
Over ribbons, silks, and flowers,
But you will not talk or think
Of this growing evil-drink.
You will weep and smile and laugh
Over trashy books of chaff,
But you will not read
Any truthful temperance tale.
'They are all so dry and stale-
Just the same old thing,' you say
As you yawn, and turn away
From the truths you need.
You have time for rout, and ball,
Concert, theatre, and all
Lectures, save on this one theme.
'Oh! these temperance lectures seem
So extremely dull,' you cry,
With a listless air and eye.
O my friend! forsake
That absorbing theme of DRESS,
Drop for once your selfishness,
Think of all there is to do!
See the work that waits for you!
Up! arouse! awake!
There are men for you to save
From the wretched drunkard's grave.
There are feet that strayed away
Into paths of sin one day.
You can bring them, if you will,
To the paths upon the hill.
There's enough to do!
There's much to do and little done,
Women, sisters, every one,
Lend a helping hand, nor shirk
Any part of God's great work.
Come! we've need of you!
Scheme | AABCDDXEEXXX FFGGHHXIIJJX KKLLMMNCBDDN OOJJPPDQQRRD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010111 0011100 1111100 1111111 1011111 1011111 10111 1110101 1110011 1010101 01011101 11101 111110010 10101010 1111111 1110101 1110101 1010111 11111 10101001 1111101 1011111 1110101 10111 1111101 1010001 1011111 11100101 1010111 1010101 11101 1010111 1111100 1111111 1011111 10101 1111111 101011 1111101 0111111 1111111 1010101 10111 11110101 10101001 1010111 1011111 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,392 |
Words | 278 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 272 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 68 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 79 Views
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"Work For Woman" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11015/work-for-woman>.
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