Woman Work by Maya Angelou

Since the dawn of time, human beings have been in a constant struggle to survive. Whether you are a man or women, black or white, rich or poor, the hardships of life have seemed to bind us together in a very cruel world. Many poets write about poverty, envy, and the outcome of war which are just a few of the many battles people fight everyday. Poems such as “Women Work”, “Richard Corey”, and “The Sad Children’s Story” define the different meanings of life.

“Women Work,” a poem by Maya Angelou, is the story of the monotony of a poor women’s day to day existence. It never changes; housework, feed and dress the kids, shop, cook, and work the fields. The only solace, the only redemption, is when she will become one with nature. She has no material goods to show for her hard work, but she has peace in the fact that the world around her is all that is hers. She says, “Shine on me, sunshine, rain on me, rain, fall softly, dewdrops, and cool my brow again.” The rain and the dewdrops symbolize tears falling on her in her final resting-place. She then says, “Storm, blow me from here with your fiercest wind. Let me float across the sky, ‘till I can rest again.” The storm represents death and the taking away of her soul to her heavenly inheritance. “Fall gentle snowflake, cover me with white cold icy kisses and let me rest tonight,” is the image of snow falling on her grave. The last stanza is, “Sun, rain, curving sky, mountain, oceans, leaf and stone, star shine, moon glow, you’re all that I can call my own.” This last section sums up her beliefs that she finds comfort and eternal peace in nature. To her, death is nature.

Edwin Arlington Robinson wrote the poem “Richard Cory” which is a fine example of envy. What you see is not always what you get. The poem states, “In fine, we thought he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place.” This line tells

the reader that Richard Cory was a well know, well respected man of the community, but the people were naive to think that with riches and power comes happiness. They wanted to be like him so bad that their struggle was to attempt to live the lifestyle he was living.