“Woman Work” was written by the American poet Maya Angelou and first published in her 1978 collection And Still I Rise. The speaker, implied to be a Black woman, talks about all the "work" she has to do—everything from cooking, cleaning, and caring for children to picking cotton and cutting sugar cane. In referencing both domestic duties and the history of enslavement, the speaker implies that Black women have long been thanklessly expected to devote their time and energy to others without taking anything for themselves. Ultimately, the speaker can only find rest and a sense of freedom by taking in the beauty of the natural world—the one thing that she can "call [her] own."
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The Full Text of “Woman Work”
The Full Text of “Woman Work”
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“Woman Work” Summary
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“Woman Work” Themes
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Black Women’s Labor and Freedom
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-30
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The Comfort of Nature
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-30
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Woman Work”
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Lines 1-4
I've got the ...
... food to shop -
Lines 5-10
Then the chicken ...
... tots to dress -
Lines 11-14
The cane to ...
... cotton to pick. -
Lines 15-18
Shine on me, ...
... my brow again. -
Lines 19-22
Storm, blow me ...
... can rest again. -
Lines 23-26
Fall gently, snowflakes ...
... me rest tonight. -
Lines 27-30
Sun, rain, curving ...
... call my own.
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“Woman Work” Symbols
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Water
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 16: “Rain on me, rain”
- Line 17: “Fall softly, dewdrops”
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The Wind and Sky
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 19-21: “Storm, blow me from here / With your fiercest wind / Let me float across the sky”
- Line 27: “curving sky”
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The Snow
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 23-26: “Fall gently, snowflakes / Cover me with white / Cold icy kisses and / Let me rest tonight.”
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“Woman Work” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Anaphora
Where anaphora appears in the poem:- Line 1: “I've got”
- Line 2: “The”
- Line 3: “The”
- Line 4: “The”
- Line 6: “The”
- Line 7: “I got”
- Line 8: “The”
- Line 9: “I've got”
- Line 10: “The”
- Line 11: “The”
- Line 12: “I gotta”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 1: “I've got”
- Line 7: “I got”
- Line 9: “I've got”
- Line 12: “I gotta”
- Line 15: “Shine,” “sunshine”
- Line 16: “Rain,” “rain”
- Line 18: “again”
- Line 21: “sky”
- Line 22: “rest,” “again”
- Line 26: “rest”
- Line 27: “rain,” “sky”
- Line 29: “shine”
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Colloquialism
Where colloquialism appears in the poem:- Line 1: “tend”
- Line 7: “I got”
- Line 10: “tots”
- Line 12: “I gotta”
- Line 13: “see about the sick”
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Juxtaposition
Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:- Lines 1-30
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 15: “me, sunshine”
- Line 16: “me, rain”
- Line 17: “softly, dewdrops”
- Line 19: “Storm, blow”
- Line 23: “gently, snowflakes”
- Line 29: “shine, moon”
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Asyndeton
Where asyndeton appears in the poem:- Lines 1-13: “I've got the children to tend / The clothes to mend / The floor to mop / The food to shop / Then the chicken to fry / The baby to dry / I got company to feed / The garden to weed / I've got the shirts to press / The tots to dress / The cane to be cut / I gotta clean up this hut / Then see about the sick”
- Lines 27-29: “Sun, rain, curving sky / Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone / Star shine, moon glow”
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Apostrophe
Where apostrophe appears in the poem:- Lines 15-30: “Shine on me, sunshine / Rain on me, rain / Fall softly, dewdrops / And cool my brow again. / Storm, blow me from here / With your fiercest wind / Let me float across the sky / 'Til I can rest again. / Fall gently, snowflakes / Cover me with white / Cold icy kisses and / Let me rest tonight. / Sun, rain, curving sky / Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone / Star shine, moon glow / You're all that I can call my own.”
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 3: “floor”
- Line 4: “food”
- Line 11: “cane,” “cut”
- Line 12: “clean”
- Line 13: “see,” “sick”
- Line 14: “cotton”
- Line 15: “Shine,” “sunshine”
- Line 20: “With,” “fiercest,” “wind”
- Line 21: “float,” “across,” “sky”
- Line 24: “Cover”
- Line 25: “Cold,” “kisses”
- Line 27: “Sun,” “sky”
- Line 28: “stone”
- Line 29: “Star shine”
- Line 30: “can call”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 3: “floor”
- Line 4: “food”
- Line 7: “feed”
- Line 8: “garden,” “weed”
- Line 9: “shirts,” “press”
- Line 10: “tots,” “dress”
- Line 11: “cane,” “cut”
- Line 12: “clean”
- Line 13: “see,” “sick”
- Line 14: “cotton,” “pick”
- Line 15: “Shine,” “sunshine”
- Line 17: “Fall softly”
- Line 20: “With,” “fiercest,” “wind”
- Line 21: “float,” “across,” “sky”
- Line 22: “can rest”
- Line 23: “Fall gently, snowflakes”
- Line 24: “Cover”
- Line 25: “Cold,” “icy kisses”
- Line 27: “Sun,” “curving sky”
- Line 28: “oceans,” “stone”
- Line 29: “Star shine”
- Line 30: “all,” “can call”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 20: “With,” “wind”
- Line 21: “sky”
- Line 22: “I”
- Line 28: “oceans,” “stone”
- Line 29: “glow”
- Line 30: “all,” “call,” “own”
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“Woman 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.
- Tots
- Cane
- Hut
- See about
- Brow
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(Location in poem: Line 10: “The tots to dress”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Woman Work”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Woman Work” Speaker
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“Woman Work” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Woman Work”
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More “Woman Work” Resources
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External Resources
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Maya Angelou Reading “Woman Work” — Listen to Angelou recite both this poem and her poem “One More Round” aloud.
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Official Website of Maya Angelou — Learn more about Maya Angelou’s life and legacy at her official website, which includes information about her books, music based on her poems, and more.
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Biography of Maya Angelou — Read about Maya Angelou’s life, her poetry, and her civil rights work.
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Maya Angelou’s “Odd Jobs” — While “Woman Work” explores the typical, unending work expected of Black women, Maya Angelou herself had a range of unusual jobs—including as the first Black woman streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Learn more in this article from the Academy of American Poets, which also explores the “odd jobs” of other American poets.
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And Still I Rise — Read more about And Still I Rise, the 1978 collection in which Angelou first published “Woman Work,” at the website of the book’s publisher, Penguin Random House.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Maya Angelou
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