The title of the poem, “Ispahan Carpet”, is appropriate for the poem because the first impression of the word carpet is the intricate detailing involved in its weaving. It signifies the hard work those little girls put in in the making of that carpet but which is disregarded by the other people as evident in the lines, “ …for the space a foot will crush down ”.
The poet begins the poem by the use of dark and negative words. These words clearly signify the author’s or rather the poem’s plaintive mood. He also refers to the pots as the ‘blackened pots and jars’. Though the poem follows a rather sad tone, there is an element of surprise and admiration in it. The speaker seems to admire and respect the young Persian workers, since “only their little fingers” could weave “one hundred knits the size of a thumbnail”. In the poem, she also compares them to birds so as to tell the audience or the readers, how a child of that age should be free like a bird and not caged showing his questioning tone. This is metaphorically very significant as it tells us about the poet’s view of the child labor.
She uses alliterations like, “whose whole”, “rope-rising”, “solemn sallow” and “world’s weaving”. He also uses juxtapositions in the last line as “speaking darkness”. The poet’s use of alliterations and juxtapositions creates a solemn and grave environment. The poet uses the technique of repetition of dark words such as “silent, swallow”, “unsupported”, “greemtick shoulders”, “rough timber gallows” etc. to create a dark and blackened atmosphere. She also uses juxtaposition to highlight the misery of those young girls.
The poem is written in present tense which shows that the activity taking place is so striking that it does not take time for the feeling of pity to be aroused for those little girls. It is evident in the reaction of the poet in the poem, “O” and “Can….” The diction is simple but poet makes us of repetitive words like, “One hundred” which emphasizes the great deal of hard work put into the carpet but greatly overlooked by other’s signifying the theme of interior versus exterior world and also child labor. She also uses onomatopoeic words to emphasize the labor and pain it takes in weaving the carpet. The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme and is written in free verse. The varying length of line signifies the uncontrolled and instantaneous flow of emotions on the sight of such a child labor resulting in “swollen hands”.
The poet also uses imagery to able the reader visualize the actual scene described in the poem and also to sense the same feeling of sympathy and disgust which she felt. She describes the setting as “rough timber gallows on which the carpets are woven” which shows the conditions that those little girls have to work in when they are not even acknowledge for the hard work they put in weaving those carpets. She also makes use of black and white imagery, “blackened pots”, “cavernous hearth” and “dark-eyed” to emphasize on the colorless life of the family. The only color in the poem is that of the fire which does not provide any color the life of those people rather it shadows their hard work put in weaving the carpets as evident in the line, “A flickering fire…shadowing the makers of the web.” She also uses imagery to highlight the death like condition the girls have to suffer in the words like, “rope rising”, “unsupported” bones, and “bent…old women”. This signifies that the worth of their job is void as at the end carpets are crushes under feet of other people who do not recognize the labor put in.
At the end, it can be seen that though on one side the world is advancing with various discoveries and inventions but on the other side its future, the youngsters, is in dangerous hands of child labor. She has throughout focused on the theme of child labor being practiced in various parts of the world and the fact that it is going unnoticed. She deeply involves the readers in feeling the agony of those workers who are weaving carpets for other people when their own life is so enweaved with no knowledge of the reality that exists as the poet says, “O eyes whose whole horizon is the carpet”.