Born in Beverly Massachusetts, on May 5, 1824, Lucy Larcom’s fate was destined to be a mill worker. Although she was primarily known for her work as a poet, it wasn’t till she started working at the Textile Mills in Lowell Mass, that she found her true strength in poetry. I would argue that Larcom’s experience as a female worker at the turn of the 18th century is the over all them of the majority of her work. Specifically speaking, in the poem Weaving I see how her personal experience is used to construct the true vision for women working in the textile mills. Larcom does this perfectly by using imagery, nature, sociological issues, and poverty to construct her view of the world. This view cannot only be conveyed by her work but interpreted
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During the 1800s some kids like Larcom were forced to work in the mills by their parents in order to make ends meat. This photo shows girls working in the textile mills, but if you look closely you'll notice that there is an older women looking over their shoulders as if they are being watched to make sure they are working. This is a perfect example of one of the reasons why Larcom herself began to work. This photo relates to Larcom's poem when she says " I weave, to be my mother’s stay; I weave, to win my daily food: But ever as I weave, saith she, The world of women haunteth me" empathizing the exploitation of young girls and her torment of having to work and fit the gender roles of women during that era. In addition, Larcom emphasizes in her poem her acknowledgment for many slaves in the south who work endlessly yet get paid nothing, where she in fact she is working with the same cotton the slaves have to grow and pick. Larcom expresses this notion when she say's "And how much of your wrong is mine, Dark women slaving at the South? Of your stolen grapes I quaff the wine; The bread you starve for fills my mouth: The beam unwinds, but every thread With blood of strangled souls is red" (Larcom, Weaving) despite her opportunity to work and earn money she feels unhappy and ashamed for working in the mills. This can be conveyed in this photo by the girls posture, as they look unenthusiastic and sad while
During the 1800s some kids like Larcom were forced to work in the mills by their parents in order to make ends meat. This photo shows girls working in the textile mills, but if you look closely you'll notice that there is an older women looking over their shoulders as if they are being watched to make sure they are working. This is a perfect example of one of the reasons why Larcom herself began to work. This photo relates to Larcom's poem when she says " I weave, to be my mother’s stay; I weave, to win my daily food: But ever as I weave, saith she, The world of women haunteth me" empathizing the exploitation of young girls and her torment of having to work and fit the gender roles of women during that era. In addition, Larcom emphasizes in her poem her acknowledgment for many slaves in the south who work endlessly yet get paid nothing, where she in fact she is working with the same cotton the slaves have to grow and pick. Larcom expresses this notion when she say's "And how much of your wrong is mine, Dark women slaving at the South? Of your stolen grapes I quaff the wine; The bread you starve for fills my mouth: The beam unwinds, but every thread With blood of strangled souls is red" (Larcom, Weaving) despite her opportunity to work and earn money she feels unhappy and ashamed for working in the mills. This can be conveyed in this photo by the girls posture, as they look unenthusiastic and sad while