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The speaker in ‘Any Woman’ is proud as a homemaker. But I do not think the present day women are as proud as the mother in ‘Any Woman’. The present day mothers are not so sincere as the mother in the poem. I have often heard mothers complaining about their chores in their homes. Many of them do the work at home because they have no other way! They complain of disobedient and careless children and their unhelpful and domineering husbands who do not help them in their household chores. The sincerity shown by the mother in ‘Any Woman’ cannot be seen, in my opinion, in the modem women who would like to spend a lot of their time watching serials or spending time in their Women’s Clubs. Generally speaking, the attitude of women has changed!

The symbolic significance of the toys is that they represent our pleasures. While children find pleasure in simple toys, grownups find pleasure in some undesirable and sinful acts.

The poem ‘Any Woman’ by Katharine Tynan speaks of the importance of the woman in the family. She is the pillars of the house. She is the keystone of the arch. She is the roof and walls. She is the re upon the hearth. Without her, the home would be colder than a stone. The children come to her for love and affection. She is the light of their love. The children could hardly thrive without her support. She is the one who holds the family together. No child wants to get away from the close-knit family group. She is all over the house, from the floor to the roof. Nothing happens without her knowledge. She decorates the house and makes the children’s bed cosy and warm. She also protects the children from all dangers. She is the door that guards against all kinds of troubles and tribulations that come to pester the inmates. At the end of the poem, the woman prays to Jesus to spare her life till her children are properly grown up.

The poem has simple language. The entire poem is an exquisite metaphor. The imagery is great. The poem is in rhyme. Except in the first stanza, the rhyme scheme is abab.

The poem ’The Toys’ is different from ‘Any Woman’. Here the plight of a boy, whose mother is dead is depicted. The boy disobeys

the father and he loses patience and beats up his won. He sent him away with hard words. He did not kiss him when the boy went to bed. The boy’s mother was a patient woman, but she is no more. Thinking that the sorrow at his beating his son and scolding him might prevent him from sleeping, the father goes to the boy’s bed. He found him in a deep sleep. But the eyelids were dark and his lashes were wet because of his earlier crying.

The father feels very sad at his condition and he too weeps. He kissed away the tears from the boy’s cheeks but left his tears there instead. On a table near the boy’s head he had kept within his reach a box of counters, a stone with red lines, a piece of glass worn by the sand on the beach and six or seven shells, a bottle with bluebells and two French copper coins. He had kept all these to comfort his sad heart. When the man prayed

o God that night, he wept. He requested God to forgive his disobedience and not to punish him for the sins he had committed in his life. He punished the boy for disobedience because he is made of clay. But God can forgive because God is love and not made of clay.

The poem uses simple language. It has ne imagery. The boy sleeping with dark eyelids and wet lashes, surrounded by toys, is an exquisite picture. The poem is in rhyme. In the first 6 lines the rhyme is aabbbb.

Between the two poems, I prefer ‘Any Woman’ as it has made a greater impression on me.

Floor to roof means from the start to the finish, from the beginning to the end. All aspects of the home are connected with the woman, the mother of the house. Nothing in the home is away from her or unknown meaning would be ‘from top to toe’ or ‘head to foot’.

The woman is the focal point of the family. She is the pillar of the house. She is the keystone of the arch. Without her, the roof and wall will collapse. She is the heat upon the hearth. She is the heat that warms the home. Without her the home will be colder than a stone.

The children get their warmth from her. She is the light of their love. Without her, her children will not thrive. She holds the children together in the love ring of the home. They are tied together with the knots of love. The children would not like to break the thread and go away wandering.

The woman is everything in the house. She is the one filling the bed of the children with down (soft hair of animals) and covering them with leather. She is the wall that protects the members of the family against all kinds of dangers. She prevents dangerous winds and snow from harming the members. Without her a family is unimaginable.

The father is a human being and it is natural that he gets angry when his orders are disobeyed by his son. The son had disobeyed him seven times. In the circumstances, I justify the father’s action. The father is a loving father and that is why he goes to check if his son is sleeping. A loving father has to punish his son for disobedience, especially when it is repeated.

Appreciation of the poem

The poem ‘Any Woman’ by Katharine Tynan speaks of the importance of the woman in the family. She is the pillars of the house. She is the keystone of the arch. She is the roof and walls. She is the re upon the hearth. Without her, the home would be colder than a stone.

The children come to her for love and affection. She is the light of their love. The children could hardly thrive without her support. She is the one who holds the family together. No child wants to get away from the close-knit family group. She is all over the house, from the floor to the roof. Nothing happens without her knowledge. She decorates the house and makes the children’s bed cosy and warm.

She also protects the children from all dangers. She is the door that guards against all kinds of troubles and tribulations that come to pester the inmates. At the end of the poem, the woman prays to Jesus to spare her life till her children are properly grown up.

The poem has simple language. The entire poem is an exquisite metaphor. The imagery is great. The woman doing all kinds of jobs and standing guard at the same time make us admire her capabilities. Her love is superb and there is utter unselfishness in her activities. At last we also see the birth of Jesus in the manger. We see the woman standing before Jesus praying to him to let her live till her children grow up. Katharine has painted a ne picture of a devoted mother with words.

The poem is in rhyme. Except in the first stanza, the rhyme scheme is abab.

The theme of the poem is Toys’. But in a deeper way the poem talks about mistakes and their punishments. We human beings tend to punish children when they make some mistakes; when they disobey us. But the poet believes that God will not punish us harshly for our disobedience.

The quantum of work done by a woman is tremendous. She cooks for everyone in the family. She washes the plates, pots and pans. She washes the clothes and irons them and keeps them in the cupboard. She has to clean the house and the yard. She has also to take care of the children’s discipline as well as their education. Indeed, she has a lot to do.

Her work can be reduced in two ways. One way is taking mechanical help by using some modern labour saving machines. But, more importantly, her work can be reduced by an understanding husband and loving children. They can lend a helping hand in the various jobs she is doing at home.

It is a prayer that the woman makes to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the person whom a woman (Mary) laid in the manger. The woman is praying to Jesus not to take away her life until her children have grown. She knows without her, her children won’t be able to live and thrive in the world.

The symbolic significance of ‘wind and snow’ is the troubles and tribulations that come to life. Life is affected by problems of various sorts. They can be diseases, financial problems, emotional problems or some other tragedies. The mother tries to prevent all these things from entering the family and bothering its members.

A woman should have many qualities to face the challenges of life. First of all she should be educated. Education tells a woman her rights and duties. Secondly, she should have some employment which brings her some income. Income empowers her. Then she should have leadership qualities. These include wisdom, understanding, courage, determination, compassion, sympathy and empathy. Women should not remain the weaker sex. There is nothing ‘weak’ about them. They should dare the difference and come into leadership roles acquiring equality with men in all walks of life.

The major figure of speech used in the poem is a metaphor. A metaphor is a comparison where one thing is seen as another. The entire poem is a metaphor because the woman thinks she is the pillars, walls, roof and doors of the house. She is the heat and light of the house. In fact she is the house!

The theme of the poem is the importance of the woman in the family. Without a woman, a family is simply unimaginable. This is more so in the case of Indian women. Women take care of the children, cook, wash and do all other household chores. Nothing at home happens without her knowledge or without her participation. She is the pillars, roof, walls and doors of the house. She is the one who gives love to all. It is the woman who makes home a sweet place.

The anonymous poem ‘What Women Wanted” speaks about the needs of women and what they were able to achieve after all the marches and protests. Long ago there was no freedom for women. The men said that a woman’s job is cleaning the house and looking after the children. But women wanted more. They wanted to get pay and they wanted to vote. They were able to get these things after a lot of struggle.

The poem ‘Any Woman’ by Katharine Tynan speaks of the importance of the woman in the family. She is the pillar of the house. She is the keystone of the arch. She is the roof and walls. She is the re upon the hearth. The children come to her for love and affection. She holds the family together. She is everywhere in the house – from floor to roof. She protects the children from all dangers. At the end, the woman prays to Jesus to spare her life till the children are grown up.

Both poems are in simple language. “What Women Wanted” stresses their rights whereas ‘Any Woman’ emphasizes the duties of a woman. The tone of “What Women Wanted” is playful and humorous whereas the other poem has a serious and sincere tone. The imagery in both the poems is good. Both poems have made use of metaphors. Both poems are in rhyme. The rhyming scheme in ‘Any Woman’ is abab except in the first stanza. In the other poem the rhyming scheme is aabb. Between the two poems, I prefer ‘Any Woman’ as it talks of the real feelings of a devoted mother.

Stanza 1: I am the pillars of the house. I am the keystone of the arch. If you take me away, the roof and wall will fall down and ruin me completely.

Stanza 2: I am the re upon the hearth. I am the light of the sun. I am the heat that warms the earth. Without me the earth will be colder than a stone.

Stanza 3: The children get their warmth from me. I am the light of their love. Without me the hearthstone will be cold and the children will not thrive.

Stanza 4: I hold the children together in the love ring of the home. We are tied together with the knots of love. They would not like to break the thread and go away wandering.

Stanza 5: I am the bouse from floor to roof. I am the walls and the board. I am the one who opens and closes the curtains. I am the one filling the bed of the children with down (soft hair of animals) and cover them with leather.

Stanza 6: I am the wall that protects them against all kinds of dangers. I prevent dangerous winds and snow from harming my children. Lord Jesus, whom Mary delivered in the manger, please keep me alive till my children are grown up.

The pillars are the main supports of the house. It is not possible to have a house without pillars. The pillars support the weight of the house and make it stand without crumbling.

(a) Jesus Christ. 

(b) The birth of Jesus. 

(c) The mother’s prayer is that she shouldn’t die until her children grow.

Now, read the poem ‘The Toys’ by Coventry Patmore :

Meaning of The Poem : 

In the poem a father is talking : 

My little Son …. being dead. 

My little son looked at me with thoughtful eyes. He moved and spoke as if he had grown up. He had disobeyed my instructions 7 times and so I beat him. I sent him away with hard words. I did not kiss him when he went to bed. His mother was a patient woman, but she is dead. 

Then sobbing wet.

Thinking that his sorrow at my beating him and scolding him might prevent him from sleeping, I went to his bed. I found him in a deep sleep. But his eyelids were dark and his lashes were wet because of his earlier crying.

And I, …. sad heart.

I felt very sad at his condition and I too wept. I kissed away his tears but left my tears on his cheek. On a table near his head he had kept within his reach a box of counters (metal or plastic pieces), a stone with red lines, a piece of glass abraded (worn or rubbed by the sand on the beach) and six or seven shells, a bottle with bluebells (owers) and two French copper coins which were arranged in an artistic manner. He had kept all these to comfort his sad heart.

When I prayed to God that night, I wept. I spoke to God something like this. When we lie with silent breath, not annoying you as we are dead, you may remember what toys made us happy when we were alive. We did not properly understand the good things you commanded us to do. But you are a much greater and more merciful father than I am, as I am made of clay. You will be not so angry like me when I beat and scolded my son. When you see our disobedience, you will only say, like a kind father, that how sorry you are for our childishness and not punish us harshly

According to the poet, children get their love from their mother. She is their light of love. Without her, the children can’t thrive. She is the twist that holds the children together in the sacred ring of the family. The children do not want to leave her and go away. The bond between a mother and her children can be compared to a stem and its branches.

• “Take me not till the children grow” (Any Woman) 
• “His mother, who was patient, being dead.” (The Toys)

 Both the lines signify the importance of a mother in the house. Mother is the synonym of love. A child without a mother does not develop properly and that is why the mother in ‘Any Woman’ prays to God to spare her life till her children grow up. In the second example, we see how the son is beaten and scolded by the angry father. The boy’s mother would not have done it because she was patient. Both poems stress the importance of a mother in the family, especially for the welfare of the children. She is the backbone which keeps everything tidy and neat and makes everybody comfortable and happy.