Wright: Quotations

Question 1

Woman to Man (1949)

Structural Devices

Answer 1

• structure - first stanza = conception, latter three = trimesters. Visualises the three stages of pregnancy, further going against the social norm and talking about it.
• sibilance in first stanza - “eyeless”, “selfless”, “shapeless”, “seed”, “silent”, “swift”, “sight”, “foresees”. Helps create a calming atmosphere juxtaposing the process of birth.
• repetition in the second stanza - “this” is repeated when referring to the child, reflecting its inanimateness, but the possession the mother nevertheless has.

Question 2

Woman to Man (1949)

Linguistic Devices

Answer 2

• representation of the baby as ‘Christ-like’ - “selfless, shapeless seed I hold”, “builds for its resurrection day”, “unimagined light”, “Oh hold me” (apostrophe to Jesus).
• this marriage is represented as intimate and dependent on each other, but also fragile - “This is the strength that your arm knows. the arc of flesh that is my breast, the precise crystals of our eyes.”
• the imagery of the “blaze of light along the blade” is very confronting and obviously alludes to childbirth. It figures the final stage of this poem as pain and beauty, acknowledging the beauty in childbirth, but too the undeniable pain.

Question 3

“Woman to Child” (1949)

Structural Devices

Answer 3

• the non-conforming rhyme scheme with the long rhymes creates a lullabic feel to the poem, reinforcing the child as the centre of the mother’s life. E.g. “seed”, “me”, “see”, “well”, “cell”.
• the poem ends on a solemn note by the persona reminding the child that she “joins [it] to the night”. This creates a circular poem that reflects the processes of life.
• the poem is supposedly about the persona’s child, yet there is an abundance of “I”s and “me”s found throughout. This reinforces the mother’s position of power as the creator and ‘life-giver’ to readers.

Question 4

“Woman to Child” 1949

Linguistic Devices

Answer 4

• again, heavy allusions to the Bible creation story and Jesus. The persona speaks of the “coloured birds and fishes”, moving the “sliding continents”, and the “multitudinous stars”. It figures her as a powerful incubator of life, in which the child’s life revolves around her, when in reality it doesn’t.
• the persona sees her sexuality as a tool and a gift, not a burden. “out of darkness rose a seed” and “dance in living light” portrays the mother’s mandate to birth as something rejoice-worthy, not mundane (like motherhood was like).
• the mother holds a position of power by “[holding the child] deep within that well” and determining when “[it] shall escape and not escape”. Furthermore, she provides the foundations of life (as the Tree of Life) in her description of herself as the “earth”, “root”, and the “stem that fed the fruit”.