The Song of the Old Mother
The Song of the Old Mother - context Summary
Published in 1899 Collection
A dramatic monologue by an elderly woman, the poem appears in Yeats's 1899 collection The Wind Among the Reeds and uses plain, colloquial speech to evoke Irish folk life. It contrasts the speaker's ceaseless domestic toil and physical decline with the younger generation's leisure and vanity, stressing social and generational inequality. The poem reflects Yeats's interest in rural tradition and the struggles of common people rather than personal autobiography.
Read Complete AnalysesI rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow; And then I must scrub and bake and sweep Till stars are beginning to blink and peep; And the young lie long and dream in their bed Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head, And their day goes over in idleness, And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress: While I must work because I am old, And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.
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