Carpet Weavers Morocco

The next stanza describes how the children make the carpet. She refers to the knots in the carpet as television because that is their entertainment whereas in other countries children have televisions as entertainment. ‘The Garden of Islam’ is the carpet’s abstract pattern which represents heaven and paradise with its fragrant flowers and fountains. Many carpets from that area have Islamic patterns on them as the majority of the population in these areas is Muslim. The bench being raised is saying that when the carpet is almost finished the children’s seats have to be raised as they can’t reach the top of the carpet. This is because they are so small. The next line describes the delicate and intricate details in the branches of the tree-tops being weaved in to the carpet.

The third stanza talks about the places the carpets eventually go to. The fact that they are carried in a truck where it is not treated with the respect that it should get for all the hard work that went into making it. The ironic thing is that the carpets are taken to the mosque which is a holy place and that they are using carpets that have been made through child labour. However it also means that the mosque is giving these children money for their work so that they can survive. In the last line of the stanza the word ‘give’ has more than one meaning. The first is that the carpet will yield to the pressure of the worshipper’s weight the other is that the worshippers give for the welfare of the children who made the carpets.      

The last stanza says that the children instead of going to school learn from experience in making carpets. The patterns in the carpet symbolize history being woven and ‘frozen’ into the carpet.

The poet uses alliteration throughout the poem as well as a lot of metaphors. This poem gives a very clear and accurate image of what these children go through and I feel that it is a great poem by Carol Rumens. It makes you want to do something to help the children and stop this injustice.