It's a Woman's World

It's a Woman's World

"It's a Woman's World"

Our way of life So when the king's head has hardly changed (30) gored its basket -- since a wheel first grim harvest -- whetted a knife. we were gristing bread Line (5) Well, maybe flame or getting the recipe burns more greedily for a good soup and wheels are steadier (35) to appetize but we're the same our gossip.

who milestone And it's still the same: (10) our lives By night our windows with oversights moth our children living by the lights (40) to the flame

of the loaf left of hearth not history. by the cash register, And still no page (15) the washing powder scores the low music paid for the wrapped, of our outrage.

the wash left wet. (45) But appearances Like most historic peoples still reassure: we are defined That woman there, (20) by what we forget, craned to the starry mystery

by what we never will be: is merely getting a breath star-gazers, (50) of evening air, fire-eaters. while this one here -- It's our alibi her mouth

(25) for all time a burning plume -- that as far as history goes she's no fire-eater, we were never (55) just my frosty neighbour on the scene of the crime. coming home.

- Eavan Boland (1982) Since the beginning of time, women have faced an uphill battle for equality with the patriarchal societies. However, during the nineteenth century, many reforms have occurred to raise women to equality with men. More women attend college than ever before resulting in a greater number of female executives. Men are taking up many of the former "womanly" duties such as cleaning and children rearing. Young girls are taught they can be anything they want to be. Yet, the contemporary poet Eavan Boland does not view the world with such optimism in her poem "It's a Woman's World." Through the use of poetic form, allusions, and fire imagery, Boland reveals here complex view of the "woman's world" as an oppression imposed by patriarchal society. Upon first examination of the poem, the form of the stanzas reveals the monotony of Boland's view of female history through present-day. Each stanza, fourteen in all, is four lines with sentences split between the stanzas. This can symbolically represent the unchanging role of women throughout history. This symbolism is explained in the first stanza: "Our way of life / has hardly changed / since a wheel first / whetted a knife" (1-4).