"A Work of Artifice," by the American poet Marge Piercy, is a bitterly ironic denunciation of the ways in which a sexist world oppresses women. The poem revolves around a cute little bonsai tree, kept in an "attractive pot" by an attentive gardener who perpetually "whittles back" its branches to keep it "nine inches tall" (though it could have been an eighty-foot behemoth in its natural environment). As he prunes, the gardener tells the tree a lie: it's the tree's "nature," he informs it, to be "small and cozy, / domestic and weak." This, the speaker observes, is precisely what a male-dominated society does to women. Patriarchy, the poem implies, strips women of their powers, all the while telling them that it's only natural for them to be small and weak. Piercy first published this poem in 1970 as a broadside (a flyer, a kind of publication meant to be easily distributed). That form of publication reveals that this is a poem with a clear political purpose, a document from the second wave of American feminism.

• Read the full text of “A Work of Artifice”

• “A Work of Artifice” Summary

• “A Work of Artifice” Themes

  • 

    Sexism, Patriarchy, and Oppression

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-24

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Work of Artifice”

  • Lines 1-8

    The bonsai tree ...
    ... nine inches high.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-16

    Every day as ...
    ... to grow in.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-24

    With living creatures ...
    ... love to touch.

    

    

    

    

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• “A Work of Artifice” Symbols

  • 

    The Bonsai Tree and the Gardener

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16
  • 

    Bound Feet and Hair in Curlers

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 20: “the bound feet,”
    • Line 22: “the hair in curlers,”
  • 

    Hands

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 23-24: “the hands you / love to touch.”

• “A Work of Artifice” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “tree / in”
    • Lines 2-3: “pot / could”
    • Lines 3-4: “tall / on”
    • Lines 4-5: “mountain / till”
    • Lines 6-7: “gardener / carefully”
    • Lines 9-10: “he / whittles”
    • Lines 12-13: “nature / to”
    • Lines 17-18: “creatures / one”
    • Lines 18-19: “early / to”
    • Lines 23-24: “you / love”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-16: “Every day as he / whittles back the branches / the gardener croons, / It is your nature / to be small and cozy, / domestic and weak; / how lucky, little tree, / to have a pot to grow in.”
    • Lines 17-19: “With living creatures / one must begin very early / to dwarf their growth:”
    • Lines 23-24: “the hands you / love to touch.”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 13-14: “to be small and cozy, / domestic and weak;”
    • Lines 20-24: “the bound feet, / the crippled brain, / the hair in curlers, / the hands you / love to touch.”

• “A Work of Artifice” 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.

  • Bonsai tree
  • Pruned
  • Whittles
  • Croons
  • Domestic
  • Dwarf
  • Bound feet
  • Crippled
  • (Location in poem: Lines 1-2: “The bonsai tree / in the attractive pot”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Work of Artifice”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “A Work of Artifice” Speaker

• “A Work of Artifice” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “A Work of Artifice”

• More “A Work of Artifice” Resources

  • External Resources

    • More on Piercy — Learn about Piercy's life and work in this short Poetry Foundation biography.

    • The Poem as a Broadside — See an image of the poem as it was originally published: as a broadside, a one-sheet flyer meant to be easily distributed. This is a form that reflects the poem's political purpose.

    • Piercy's Website — Visit Piercy's personal website to learn more about her work.

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

    • An Interview with Piercy — Watch an interview with Piercy in which she discusses the politics of her art (among other topics).

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