"Woman Work" by Maya Angelou

Thesis: The apparent shift in the rhythm of the poem Woman Work by Maya Angelou highlights her overwhelming desire to escape the long and gruesome duties of a woman for rest.  

Maya Angelou uses a very specific rhyme scheme in the first 14 lines of the poem but begins to change the nature of the music in the poem at line 15, which consequently displays the woman’s conflicting interests between her desires and the truth. The first 14 lines exist simply to show the constraints and duties of being a woman. For example, in lines 7-10, the speaker notes, “I got company to feed / The garden to weed / I’ve got the shirts to press / The tots to dress”. The repetition of the rhyme scheme is analogous to the repetitive demeanor of the tasks, as this brings attention to the fact that these duties are strictly repetitive and tiresome. The repetition of the word “got” throughout the first 14 lines exemplify the recurring theme of the pitiless tasks, and then Angelou continues to incorporate anaphora by saying “gotta” in line 12 in order to further contrast the woman’s duty to work and her desire to rest. The shift in music occurs directly after the first 14 lines when the speaker says, “Shine on me, sunshine / Rain on me, rain / Fall softly, dewdrops / And cool my brow again” (15-18). As opposed to the original short and choppy tasks presented in the beginning half of the poem, the second half differs immensely especially with its speed and tempo. Clearly the rhyme scheme has altered, and this has resulted in a change in pace, which forces the reader to slow down and appreciate the natural devices such as personification in the text. Hopefully, the speaker will induce the audience to view her predicament and realize her tireless efforts so that one day she “can rest again” (22). This immediate and abrupt shift in rhythm starkly contrasts the speaker’s desire for rest and the reality of her duties.