Woman Work, as a title, can be quite ambiguous. It could be viewed as a command given to the woman, which must be pursued; or just the work of a woman. The title is uncertain to the reader, which reflects the woman’s dreary and repetitive lifestyle. In contrast, Lore has one very evident meaning; a tradition between a number of people. It portrays in the reader mind a sense of superiority that Job takes in his traditional farming work. It also suggests that farm work has been passed down through generations, in his family. This farming tradition is very important to the main character, who resents the modern day farming lifestyle and modern day farmers.
In Lore there is no certain structure, and no evident long or short lines. Throughout the poem there is a significant use of quatrains, giving the poem a monotonous tone. This further reinforces Job’s mundane and tedious lifestyle, at which he is reluctant to change. Whereas, Woman Work presents two different structures in two separate parts. In the first section there is one verse, which lacks punctuation. This is used to highlight the woman’s strenuous working routine. Therefore makes the reader tired and similar to the way the woman would feel after her working day. The second section is more poetic, showing the woman to be stronger and allowed freedom whilst she isn’t working. The repetition of “I” enforces the point that the woman works alone, and with no assistance. This makes her work more personalised, as each job is performed on a routine basis, and she does each job, every day, alone.
There are three main themes in lore and woman work, these are physical power, money and nature. In lore, the stereotypical views of men is portrayed, as it shows men to be the only people to have physical power, and are the only people who carry out everyday manual labour. Therefore the writer could be viewed as sexist; however there is no evidence to support this claim, but the fact that woman are excluded from the poem, and that Job does not need female companionship, further enforces this idea. He does use the word “man” in the final stanza, which could be seen as a contribution to his possible sexist views, but I feel he is simply identifying these roles to be male related, which supports his traditional views and not sexist views.
Within woman work, the woman’s power is shown through the various jobs she does. Theses jobs range from a nanny to a cleaner and chef, overall she is a servant. The structure of the first section is set out like a list. This reflects her repetitive and strenuous life. It also emphasizes the woman’s overwhelmingly fast paced lifestyle, although she is not lifting heavy objects or performing demanding typical male labour, she is required to use her physical and mental strength to see her get through the chores at hand.
In woman work, the ideology of money is that of a poor poverty struck slave. The absence of money in her life causes her to suffer. She strongly seeks a rest; just a day of peace is all she desires in life, “let me rest tonight”, she pleads, but she is unable to rest, her daily chores await her. We know this by looking at the repetitive structure of the first section. This shows to a great extent, how repetitive and vigorous these jobs are. This daily cycle appears never ending, she never has the opportunity to rest or have free time to herself, this vicious sequence of events, work sleep work sleep, is the only aspect of her life. The word “rest” refers to her exhaustion, and reveals to the
reader just how tired she really is. The phrase altogether, “let me rest tonight”, almost seems to be a plea, as all she wants is to release herself of this over bearing fatigue, which remains surrounding her like a thick mist. This is completely the adverse in lore, as he does have the opportunity to go out and socialise and mentally/physically free himself of stress and tiredness. But he chooses not to, reinforcing his isolated lifestyle and resentment to modern day society.
Nature plays an evident part in job’s life, it helps him gain strength and build bravery. “Keep this tall frame lithe”, supports my views. Nature boasts both positive and negative aspects in lore. “Mowing were the grass grew”, shows repetition in job’s work, similarly to the woman’s work in woman work. On the other hand, “bearded with golden dew”, creates a sense of beauty in nature, and the word “golden” represents wealth. “Bearded”, means that although nature is old, it is still live and well, just like Job. As this gives nature a personality, it uses personification to describe nature. In woman work, she explains “nature is all she can call her own”, this shows her lack of close relationships with anyone and that she has no personal belongings. She admires and embraces nature, and sees nature as a way to express herself and a way in which to live her life.
Rhythm is an essential key to a successful poem. It gives the poem a smooth flow, which helps to build tension and anticipation. Lore boasts a steady rhythm throughout; this indicates that there is no significant change in job’s life. Whereas, in the first section of woman work a fast pace is implanted, which allows the reader to acknowledge and empathise with the woman’s fast working lifestyle. However, in section 2, the pace becomes evidently slower, this enables the reader to identify the woman’s little resting period, and possibly that she is now among nature and interacting with its peaceful, calming elements. An evident rhyming scheme is used in woman work, which helps enhance the pace. Conversely, in lore a slight rhyming scheme is used but is not as easily identified as in woman work. This highlights the contrasting lifestyle beliefs, between the woman in woman work, and job Davies in lore.
Within Lore, there is no overuse of punctuation, which shows the regular and continuous work a traditional farmer must complete. Differently in woman work, were in section one a total lack of punctuation is used. This reflects the way in which her work is done, which is completed as quick as possible, and with little care. In section two, punctuation is used more regularly, which indicates she is now resting and at one with her beloved nature. The use of punctuation in the second section of the poem encourages the reader to stop and empathise with the woman’s harsh and dreary life. This juxtaposes with the first section, therefore highlighting the contrast between her harsh reality and her relaxing dreams.
The atmosphere created by the poet is another idea that is used effectively in each poem. In Lore, the atmosphere is portrayed as dark and gloomy, showing a negative attitude towards work. The dark also reflects Job’s occupation, referring to him getting up early to begin his day of labour. “peat-black, dawn found me”, this quote shows that although the man does get up before dawn to begin his day of work, he doesn’t want to. It also show the darkness found him, which personifies the night or darkness, as only a living thing can find someone or something. There is also a sense of isolation, regarding the atmosphere, which is justified by Job’s resentment to mention any other person in the whole poem. In Woman Work, the woman feels surrounded, although desperately lonely at the same time. She only seems to find some sort of peace and rest, when she is dreaming of nature. This shown in the second section, when the woman is “pleading with nature”, it becomes polysyllabic; the use of punctuation slows down the pace, and therefore makes the atmosphere more peaceful and calm. Resulting in the woman appearing more relaxed and at ease with her situation to the reader.
In conclusion, it appears evident to the reader that the thoughts of life and work are presented through their characters. Job Davies shows a clear dislike towards new ideologies of farming work and proudly embraces the traditional farming work of his ancestors. In Woman Work, the woman confines to other peoples orders, and is forced to do the work at hand, although at the end of the day she finds peace and harmony, whilst dreaming of nature. They both find freedom in nature, and see it as a companion in there lonesome world. The difference is Job could go out and socialise and build a social life, but his firm independent ways, don’t allow him to. Whereas, in Woman Work she would like nothing better than to go out and make a social life of her own but is unable to. However, she still manages to find solace and happiness after her work is done and that is when she is at one with nature.
I feel Woman Work has a much more valuable meaning and much more evident message, the idea of finding peace and tranquillity in nature is truly beautiful. It also makes us think about how we take for granted our lives, that she will never have. But none of this matters to her, as all she wants is “one day of rest”, which portrays an obvious message and clear meaning that life and rest is taken for granted. This encourages people to contemplate about their own life and whether we are truly making the most of it.
