"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.
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The bonsai tree ...
... nine inches high.
Every day as ...
... to grow in.
With living creatures ...
... love to touch.
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.
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).