"Work," by British poet Carol Ann Duffy, links the exploitation of women's labor to humanity's exploitation of the earth. The poem follows a woman working tirelessly to provide for her growing brood, taking on new jobs that chart the development of human civilization—from the advent of agriculture and industry all the way up to the internet age. As the woman's children eventually number in the billions, she comes to represent all women throughout history as well as the earth itself. The woman eventually works herself to death, her attempts to provide for her offspring having drained her "to the bone." In this way, the poem becomes a metaphorical warning against both the relentless expectations of care historically placed on women and against environmental destruction caused by capitalist consumption. "Work" first appeared in Duffy's 2002 collection Feminine Gospels.
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The Full Text of “Work”
The Full Text of “Work”
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“Work” Summary
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“Work” Themes
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The Relentless Nature of Women's Work
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4
- Lines 5-12
- Lines 13-20
- Lines 21-28
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Capitalism, Greed, and Humanity's Exploitation of the Earth
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-36
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Work”
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Lines 1-4
To feed one, ...
... was a dream. -
Lines 5-8
To feed two, ...
... To feed four, -
Lines 9-12
she grafted harder, ...
... a different kettle, -
Lines 13-16
was factory gates ...
... shift, schlepped, lifted. -
Lines 17-20
For a thousand ...
... feed more, more, -
Lines 21-24
she dug underground, ...
... to millions now, -
Lines 25-28
she flogged TVs, ...
... at Internet shopping. -
Lines 29-32
A billion named, ...
... offspring swelled. She fed -
Lines 33-36
the world, wept ...
... fingers twenty-four seven.
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“Work” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 3: “soup,” “spoon”
- Line 7: “corn”
- Line 8: “born,” “four”
- Line 9: “harder”
- Line 10: “larder,” “table”
- Line 11: “game,” “able”
- Line 14: “oil,” “noise”
- Line 15: “toiled,” “sweated,” “went”
- Line 16: “shift,” “schlepped,” “lifted”
- Line 18: “that,” “high-rise,” “flats,” “grew”
- Line 19: “brood”
- Line 22: “trains,” “came”
- Line 23: “planes,” “sound”
- Line 24: “now”
- Line 25: “TVs”
- Line 26: “PCs,” “CDs,” “DVDs”
- Line 27: “stopping,” “slogged”
- Line 28: “shopping”
- Line 30: “seas,” “trees”
- Line 31: “beef,” “cheap”
- Line 32: “week”
- Line 33: “rain”
- Line 34: “grain”
- Line 35: “lay,” “grave”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 1: “To feed”
- Line 5: “To feed”
- Line 8: “To feed”
- Line 10: “food,” “food”
- Line 11: “Feeding”
- Line 15: “To feed”
- Line 17: “For”
- Line 18: “for,” “double”
- Line 19: “doubled”
- Line 20: “To feed,” “more, more,”
- Line 32: “fed”
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Asyndeton
Where asyndeton appears in the poem:- Line 2
- Lines 3-4
- Lines 6-7
- Lines 9-11
- Lines 13-14
- Lines 15-16
- Lines 17-18
- Lines 18-20
- Line 20
- Lines 21-22
- Lines 22-23
- Lines 25-26
- Lines 29-32
- Lines 32-36
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Extended Metaphor
Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 1-36
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 3: “soup,” “spoon”
- Line 6: “outside,” “sewed seeds”
- Line 7: “scythed”
- Line 8: “feed four”
- Line 13: “factory”
- Line 14: “first”
- Line 15: “feed fifty”
- Line 16: “shift, schlepped”
- Line 21: “tunnelled”
- Line 22: “track,” “trains,” “Quadruple came”
- Line 24: “Mother,” “millions”
- Line 27: “stopping,” “slogged”
- Line 30: “fish,” “felled”
- Line 31: “fast food”
- Line 32: “offspring swelled”
- Line 33: “world, wept,” “teeth”
- Line 34: “swam,” “tongue,” “spawn”
- Line 35: “sickened”
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“Work” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Threshed
- Scythed
- Grafted
- Alehouse
- Larder
- A different kettle
- Schlepped
- Brood
- Trebled
- Flogged
- Slogged
- Trawled
- Hoovered
- Felled
- Spawn
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(Location in poem: Lines 6-7: “she worked outside, sewed seeds, watered, / threshed, scythed, gathered barley, wheat, corn.”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Work”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Work” Speaker
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“Work” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Work”
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More “Work” Resources
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External Resources
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Guardian Book Review of Feminine Gospels — Elaine Feinstein takes a close look at Duffy's 2002 collection, in which "Work" was published.
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An Introduction to Duffy's Life and Career — A biography of the poetry from the Poetry Foundation.
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The Exploitation of Women in Today's Global Workforce — A Human Rights Watch article discussing the various ways in which female workers continue to be undervalued and even abused.
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The Impact of Human Exploitation of the Earth — A Natural History Museum article explaining how human consumption is impacting the earth, what people can do about it, and what will happen if no action is taken.
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Duffy on Her Role as Poet Laureate — An interview with Duffy in which she discusses the importance of her responsibility as the first woman and LGBTQ+ poet laureate of the United Kingdom.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
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