Carpet Weavers Flashcards
Summary
The poem is about the dreams of the children that had been laboured to make a carpet for travellers
Theme
Social injustice, child labour
The carpet is not visualised as a commercial products but of something used for religious purpose
Child labour in the third world to make the readers aware of their privileges of getting an education
Poet
Carol rumen was inspired by places she has visited ‘carpet-weavers, morocco’ recollects her experience in Morocco. She has written this to make the world realized and notice the global problem of the other side of the world for the country for example child labour
Structure
Iambic pentameter. The regular rhythm suggest the regular back and forth motion of the loom while the children work
Every line is end stoped .t he formality of the poem form summon to mind the repeated action of weaving or creates the impression of geometric shapes arranged on the carpet . Alternatively it may suggest the restricted circumstances of the children lives
“The children are at the loom of another world ‘
The world ‘loom’ may have a sinister connotation, meaning to approaches threatening, however, denotatively, it simply means a machine used for weaving carpets
‘Another world’ is a figurative way of saying ‘another country’ or ‘somewhere else’ . The language suggest that the experience of this place are far removed from the speaker usual experience
Children of different ages work together on the carpet . When standing in a line they would range from short to tall- like a traditional instrument made of bells of different sizes lined up together
“They watch their flickering knots like television’
In the first line of the stanza a simile compares what the children are doing to watching television. It suggest the focus that they bring to their work and also invites a comparison with what other children might be free to enjoy
The children are hard at work in the school of days
‘Schools of days’ is euphemistic. The children aren’t in school. The reader can decide for themselves whether it is celebrating or critique ig the children position in society for example, people who say they have graduated from the ‘school of like’ often do so with pride
The poem has moved from the carpet market into the figurative realm. In these lines the children weave both the past and the future. The poem places them at the center of their culture. This seems to empower the children hugely. Alternatively, you may think it suggest the children future are determined for them
“The garden of the Islam grows, the bench will be raised”
“The garden of Islam grows” mean the motif on the carpet are getting larger. It may also suggest the way the children are contributing to their culture and faith
The children sit on a padded bench at the head of the loom. As the carpet lengthens the bench is raised so they can reach properly -this line also brings to mind the phrase ‘raising the benchmark’which suggest the work is of high quality
The stanza projects into the future using the repeated future tense work ‘will’. This modal verb which communicates a strong sense of purpose- or suggest the children have no choice
