“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Carpet Weavers, Morocco”

“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Summary

“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Themes

• 

  Artistry, Connection, and the Sacred

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-12
• 

  Cultural Difference, Curiosity, and Respect

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-12

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Carpet Weavers, Morocco”

• Lines 1-3

  The children are ...
  ... a melodious chime.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 4-6

  They watch their ...
  ... of the tree-tops.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-9

  The carpet will ...
  ... heaped with prayer.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-12

  The children are ...
  ... frame of all-that-was.

  

  

  

  

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“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Symbols

• 

  Weaving

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Line 1
  • Lines 4-6
  • Lines 10-12

“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Lines 2-3: “Their braids are oiled and black, their dresses bright. / Their assorted heights would make a melodious chime.”
  • Line 4: “their flickering knots”
  • Line 9: “Deep and soft, it will give when heaped with prayer.”

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “The children are at the loom of another world.”
  • Line 5: “As the garden of Islam grows, the bench will be raised.”
  • Line 9: “Deep and soft, it will give when heaped with prayer.”
  • Lines 10-12: “The children are hard at work in the school of days. / From their fingers the colours of all-that-will-be fly / and freeze into the frame of all-that-was.”

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Line 4: “They watch their flickering knots like television.”

• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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  Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “world.”
  • Line 2: “bright.”
  • Line 3: “chime.”
  • Line 4: “television.”
  • Line 5: “raised.”
  • Line 6: “tree-tops.”
  • Line 7: “truck.”
  • Line 8: “mosque.”
  • Line 9: “prayer.”
  • Line 10: “days.”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “braids,” “black,” “bright”
  • Line 3: “make,” “melodious”
  • Line 5: “garden,” “grows”
  • Line 7: “travel,” “truck”
  • Line 8: “spread,” “servants”
  • Line 9: “soft”
  • Line 11: “From,” “fingers,” “fly”
  • Line 12: “freeze,” “frame”

“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” 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.

• A melodious chime
• The garden of Islam
• Mosque
• The school of days

• (Location in poem: Line 3: “Their assorted heights would make a melodious chime”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Carpet Weavers, Morocco”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Speaker

“Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Carpet Weavers, Morocco”

More “Carpet Weavers, Morocco” Resources

• External Resources

  • Rumens's Website — Learn more about Rumens on her personal website.

  • Morocco's Weavers — Watch a short video about Moroccan carpet weaving and learn more about weaving's honored place in Moroccan culture.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Rumens's life and work.

  • An Interview with Rumens — Read a 2006 interview in which Rumens discusses her work and her influences.

  • Rumens Aloud — Listen to clips of Rumens reading and discussing some of her poetry.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Rumens

  • The Emigrée