Women have no wilderness in them,
They are provident instead,
Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts
To eat dusty bread.

They do not see cattle cropping red winter grass,
They do not hear
Snow water going down under culverts
Shallow and clear.

They wait, when they should turn to journeys,
They stiffen, when they should bend.
They use against themselves that benevolence
To which no man is friend.

They cannot think of so many crops to a field
Or of clean wood cleft by an axe.
Their love is an eager meaninglessness
Too tense or too lax.

They hear in any whisper that speaks to them
A shout and a cry.
As like as not, when they take life over their door-sill
They should let it go by.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Louise Bogan's poem Women


  1. Ameera says:

    this poem deals with women in 19 century in the American and European communities .the scope upon women”s right.
    It was an age when there is a sharp differentiation between men and women .men are thought they have natures suited to the public world while women thought they are private .
    men are powerful ,brave ,active ,logical, dependence ,rational and ambitious . while women are weak ,timid,passive ,illogical,independence ,emotional ,and content .
    European and American women in 19 century lived in gender inequality .Bogan tried through this poem to reform the perspective about women”s rights.
    if we look to women “s right in employment.women are rejected because that opinion ,they are content passive and lazy.In the lower class women were working in only as servants and as factory workers they worked in home ,any serious study of ant subject was seen as harmful to family unless the serious study deals with social and religious issues.

  2. Ameera says:

    this poem , i think that written by bogan to break all the stereotypes of women in 19 century .they lived in gender inequality ,enjoyed few of legal rights .they could”t vote couldn”t testify in courts .have oppressions in education and marriage .they remained home ,not educated . so i think she wants to form the perception of the American community specifically and the west generally .

  3. Ameera zakaria says:

    well, i think that we are all human beings men and women,when Allah created us ,created men and women have the same rights and duties ,some times you will find women are more successful than men ,i think it depends on mind ,thinking ,dreaming ,experiences ,trials of life and y ideology , yes definitely may be culture forms our perceptions and ideologies but i think ,dreams knows no bounds ,just trust on your self and on your talent . i think we as women have the desire to succeed ,whatever the field. but one of the points which we should take it in our consideration that if we are talking about women ,so still some people think that women who are wearing veil are oppressed , they could n”t understand and accept this woman .
    What goes through your mind?
    As you sit there looking at me
    Well I can tell from your looks
    That you think I’m so oppressed
    But I don’t need for you to liberate me

    My head is not bare
    And you can’t see my covered hair
    So you sit there and you stare
    And you judge me with your glare
    You’re sure I’m in despair
    But are you not aware
    Under this scarf that I wear
    I have feelings, and I do care
    So don’t you see?
    That I’m truly free
    This piece of scarf on me
    I wear so proudly
    To preserve my dignity…

    My modesty
    My integrity
    So don’t judge me
    Open your eyes and see…
    “Why can’t you just accept me?” she says
    “Why can’t I just be me?” she says
    Time and time again
    You speak of democracy
    Yet you rob me of my liberty
    All I want is equality
    Why can’t you just let me be free?

  4. georgia says:

    it is basically explaining the stereotypes of women and how it restrains them from living a full and complete life

  5. tammy says:

    i ran across this poem & i really can not understand what she means

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