The poem Ispahan Carpet written by Elizabeth Burge explores the cruel conditions the makers of a carpet sweat shop are subjected to.

Authors Avatar

Catherine Durham

Ispahan Carpet

The poem Ispahan Carpet written by Elizabeth Burge explores the cruel conditions the makers of a carpet sweat shop are subjected to. She does this by taking the reader through a showroom of carpets and workers accompanied by a tour guide. The poem is seen through the eyes of tourist witnessing the process first hand. Burge uses descriptive adjectives and to convey the speakers sympathy towards the child weavers. She creates an atmosphere of hopelessness and despair using images of light and dark as the speaker is guided through the shop, quickly realising all importance is placed on the carpets, leaving the workers shadowed in the background. The speaker then takes time to reflect on the hopeless destructiveness of the process, wondering how it is possible to 'unravel' the generational suffering.

The reader is quickly aware that the speaker of the poem is extremely sympathetic towards the children weaving the carpets. The poet uses adjectives such as 'silent' and 'sallow' to convey the sound of silence pervading the air every day as the family works, and the harsh conditions they are working under. It also suggests that this is a 'silent' suffering, not only physical but psychological. From the second line of the poem the speaker already positions the reader to feel sorry for the workers. The word 'gallows' is used to describe the 'timber' frames the family weaves the carpets on but also carries a connotation of death and punishment. It evokes the image in the readers mind of a rope hanging over the families head capable at any time of taking their lives from them, keeping them caged and unable to break free from the chains of slavery. Burge emphasises the young age of the 'eight-year-old girls', young children sitting carefully 'sparrowed on a plank' . 'Sparrowed' suggests the fragility of the girls that will permanently scar them because of such physically demanding work. This image is re-enforced by the use of 'bent like old women' evoking sympathy as the reader realises the girls bodies are quickly resembling that of an elderly person long before their time. There is nothing in the poem to suggest the children are behaving like children should, highlighting the reader they are missing out on their childhood. The final stanza contains the image of the speakers 'swollen hand' placed 'gentl[y]' on the 'greenstick shoulder' giving the reader a psychical comparison of the visitors plump healthy condition compared to the fragile and bent body of the workers. A feeling of compassion is conveyed with this singular touch as the speaker connects emotionally with the the girl as her 'large eyes look back at [him]'.

Join now!

Burge uses a contrast of light and dark to evoke the tense atmosphere running through the poem. The family's possessions are nothing but a few 'blackened pots and jars'. Showing the reader how little the family personally owns the poet them juxtaposes these stark belongings comparing them to the 'sensuous jewelled arabesques'. Describing the detailed beauty of the carpets lets the reader know that the workers are overshadowed by what they produce, this idea is further supported when the 'cavernous hearth[s]' 'flickering' 'light' illuminates the carpets 'coloured' interwoven patterns 'shadowing the makers of the webs'. This clear focus one ...

This is a preview of the whole essay