the carpet weavers, morocco

 

Carpet-Weavers, Morocco by Carol Rumens

The children are at the loom of another world.
Their braids are oiled and black, their dresses bright.
Their assorted heights would make a melodious chime.

They watch their flickering knots like television.
As the garden of Islam grows, the bench will be raised.
Then they will lace the dark-rose veins of the tree-tops.

The carpet will travel in the merchant’s truck.
It will be spread by the servants of the mosque.
Deep and soft, it will give when heaped with prayer.

The children are hard at work in the school of days.
From their fingers the colours of all-that-will-be fly
and freeze into the frame of all-that-was.

 

Carol Rumens

He was born in Forest Hill, in South London.  She studied Philosophy at London University, but left without completing her degree.  She received Postgraduate Diploma for Stage Writing from City College Manchester.  

Rumens was Poetry Editor for the publisher Quarto and the Literary Review.  Her work has appeared in The Guardian and Harper’s.  She was honored as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Summary of the poem

The poet has given the real picture of small part of life from Morocco, a foreign country.  Small school going children are occupied at loom as if they are in another world. They work very hard for their survival.  They are living without any entertainment.  Their only source of life is weaving and most of their valuable life and time is spend in weaving.  They are depicting the culture through their work.  Rumens portrays the tradition and culture.   Their hard work becomes a commercial trade as they would be taken by truck to various places. The entire poem talks about the lives of child laborers in Morocco. It builds an oppressive feeling on the children.

 

Detail Analysis of the poem

The poem starts with the children at the loom of another world.  This shows that the children occupied with a hard work. “Another world” shows the difference of their nationalities.  The “loom” represents the control over them by the adults.  They are under the watchful eyes of the employers who employ them.   The children are not allowed to enjoy their ordinary childhood life.  The poet brings out their unbearable condition as they don’t belong to this kind of hard work.  They are supposed to enjoy their life with fun and education.

The second stanza “Their braids are oiled and black, their dresses bright” is a description of their beauty.  The children look beautiful as the carpets they make but in reality they are not allowed to enjoy their beautiful world as they are not allowed to go anywhere. The use of “would make” and “melodious chime” refer that the children are forced to work as carpet weavers.  They sacrifice their childhood.  The children world is full of fun and musical chimes.  But here they give up all their melodious chimes due to their situation.  The children are describes as they have been

mesmerized at their works of art.  They look focused as if they have seen more in the carpets than ”flicking knots”  they see their life, hopes and dreams. They earn to live.  They hope to make a good profit in their carpets so that they could escape from this hard job.  They like to enjoy their childhood life.  They are attracted to the carpets as the children would be drawn to television to enjoy the time. It’s a temporary escaped from their painful life as said by the “Garden of Islam”

“Garden of Islam” refers to Paradise or heaven.   “The bench will be raised” says that the children would be raised into heaven to be with god.  “Lacing the dark-rose veins of the treetop” suggests the divine power of the children when they are one with God the life giver.  Now the children have the ability to give life to the lifeless.  This makes the readers to understand that the children put more effort to make the carpet beautiful.  They give life to the carpet by sacrificing their life.  If they are outstanding, then they have less chances to leave the factory as the employers don’t show any interest to release them for business.

In the third stanza the poet creates sympathetic feeling.  The image of a carpet being thrown into the “merchant’s truck” brings out the ignorance of their hard work.  They brilliant creations go far away from them for the benefits of others.  They won’t see them again.  These carpets are used to do the prayers with comfort and solemn atmosphere.  The children cannot do their prayers in such comfortable carpets, but they are happy that their hard work going to give comfort to worshipers

to pray and they will be blessed.  They are happy with their hard work even though they don’t get anything from their work except a minimum amount. Their life is not going to change.

In the last stanza the poet brings out the educational facilities of the children of the present. There is a difference between these children and the ordinary children.  “School of days” refer that the children are not in a position to get good education to learn and grow.   Carpet weavers are forced to work as they have the responsibilities to support the low income of the family.  The repetition of “F” in “fingers, “fly”, “freeze” and “frame” brings out their boring life.  each day they produce quality carpets to improve the business.  Every day they hope that their carpet would bring a better future for them to leave the factory, but each day each carpet says that their moment of future is gone.  Future and freedom both are not in these children’s life.   Each child has the right to lead his life as he wish.  The message the writer wants to say is the children are cursed with the carpet weaving.  They will do until they become unfit to do the work.  Until their eyes become dim and their fingers lose their strength they will do this job.

Carol Rumens conveys that the children of the present are lucky.  They are allowed to go to school and have all chances and facilities to get their education.   Their future is in their hands and they are free to do what they are capable of.

Poetical devices

The poem brings out many techniques which depicts the hard work of the children. Careful study of the poem would shows various interpretations.  Children all over the world in general are busy with their school studies and even their parents are quite busy in motivating their children in right direction to achieve their goals.  But in Morocco the situation is completely different.  The children become the breadwinners of their family. They suffer with poverty and they don’t have any choice other than go to work.  The image of the children with oiled braids describes their beauty.  Rumens respect other cultures.  The image of the children of different heights working with the carpet is described in musical term. It also says there is no age limit for the work.  They all joined together and make beautiful carpets and Rumens compares the children and their work to a chime and its sounds harmony with a musical beauty.

Working with loom in the opening gives a great shock to the readers, on one could expect such a situation for children. “Another World” is a good diction to bring out that the children are far away not from other countries but also from the bright future.  “The garden of Islam” is used as metaphor for paradise. “The bench will be raised” gives various meanings.  As they have to weave a lengthy carpet the children would sit in a raised position so as to carry out their work.  Another way we can thing the children are so skillful and their work make them brilliant creators of quality carpets.

The final stage is about the transportation of their hard work. “They will l
ace dark rose veins” Veins is a meaning full choice of work which creates the impression that the art the children have done on the carpet seems so real as if they have life with blood and flesh. Their devotion to the work is a significant part of their lives. “Will” shows their strong sense of purpose of life and also their helpless situation.

The carpet is for the mosque, where the worshippers could use them.  It would be a soft cushion for their knees when they do their prayers. Carpet is a religious symbol.  It is used for prayers.  Rumens uses imagery, metaphors and similes to show the various aspects of the poem.  The theme of the poem is the hard work of the children in Morocco, they are supposed to enjoy the life, instead they sacrifice their life for others benefits. “Watch their flickering knots like television” Implies their skillful hands and the creative works.

Thus the work is their life.  The children give life to their creations.  The poet uses metaphors to bring to show their total dedication and involvement of the works.  They didn’t divert their focus from the carpet as each child knows the situation of their family and how important to support their family.