Analysis of The Factory Girl
John Arthur Phillips 1842 – 1907
She wasn't the least bit pretty,
And only the least bit gay;
And she walked with a firm elastic tread,
In a business-like kind of way.
Her dress was of coarse, brown woollen,
Plainly but neatly made,
Trimmed with some common ribbon
Or cheaper kind of braid;
And a hat with a broken feather,
And shawl of a modest plaid.
Her face seemed worn and weary,
And traced with lines of care,
As her nut-brown tresses blew aside
In the keen December air;
Yet she was not old, scarce twenty,
And her form was full and sleek,
But her heavy eye, and tired step,
Seemed of wearisome toil to speak;
She worked as a common factory girl
For two dollars and a half a week.
Ten hours a day of labor
In a close, ill-lighted room;
Machinery's buzz for music,
Waste gas for sweet perfume;
Hot stifling vapors in summer,
Chill draughts on a winter's day,
No pause for rest or pleasure
On pain of being sent away;
So ran her civilized serfdom --
Four cents an hour the pay.
"A fair day's work," say the masters,
And "a fair day's pay," say the men;
There's a strike -- a rise in wages,
What effect to the poor girl then?
A harder struggle than ever
The honest path to keep;
And so sink a little lower,
Some humbler home to seek;
For living is dearer -- her wages,
Two dollars and a half a week.
A man gets thrice the money,
But then "a man's a man,
"And a woman surely can't expect
"To earn as much as he can."
Of his hire the laborer's worthy,
Be that laborer who it may;
If a woman can do a man's work
She should have a man's full pay,
Not to be left to starve -- or sin --
On forty cents a day.
Two dollars and a half to live on,
Or starve on, if you will;
Two dollars and a half to dress on,
And a hungry mouth to fill;
Two dollars and a half to lodge on
In some wretched hole or den,
Where crowds are huddled together,
Girls, and women, and men;
If she sins to escape her bondage
Is there room for wonder then.
Scheme | ABXBCDCDEX AFXFAGXGXG EHXHEBEBHB XIJIEXEGJG AKXKABXBXB LMLMLIEIXI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) |
Metre | 11001110 0100111 0111010101 00101111 01111110 101101 1111010 110111 001101010 0110101 0111010 011111 101110101 0010101 11111110 0011101 101010101 11100111 1110101001 111000101 11001110 0011101 11110 111101 11010010 1110101 1111110 11110101 110101 1111001 01111010 00111101 10101010 10110111 01010110 010111 01101010 1100111 110110010 11000101 0111010 110101 001010101 1111111 11100110 11100111 101011011 1110111 11111111 110101 110001111 111111 110001111 0010111 110001111 0110111 11110010 101001 111101010 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,899 |
Words | 382 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 238 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 63 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:57 min read
- 118 Views
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"The Factory Girl" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21940/the-factory-girl>.
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