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Carpet-weavers, Morocco

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.

Commentary:

“Carpet-weavers, Morocco” by Carol Rumens is a poem that vividly describes the looming of a carpet, a work done by children. In this poem, the carpet isn’t just a commercial product, but also a religious symbol; it is used for praying and connects daily life, commerce and religion, in the Islamic culture. The poem presents the idea of social injustice and child labor in third world countries through the use of metaphors, similes, and visual imagery.

First of all, in the first stanza, Rumens uses visual imagery and metaphors in order to show that the children are a unified group. Rumens describes how “Their braids are oiled and black, their dresses bright” (Line 2). The use of the words “oiled and black” conveys the idea that they are very clean and tidy. The adjective “bright” enhances their appearance, and portrays the idea that they are properly dressed to work rather than messy. Moreover, Rumens is able to create a very effective image of the children weaving by using a metaphor: “Their assorted heights would make a melodious chime” (Line 4). The use of the words “assorted heights” conveys the idea that the children are of different stature and ages. It also shows that they are united and joined together by work by comparing them to a “melodious chime”, because by working all together they will create a melodious music, in other words a beautiful carpet.

The theme is introduced in the first stanza of the poem and emphasized throughout. The poem opens describing that “the children are at the loom of another world”. The opening line has a double meaning; it first suggests that the children are weaving “another world”, an Islamic paradise. However, it also conveys the idea that they are facing the challenges imposed by developing countries, “another world” but still have the perspective of a third world country. Furthermore, in the second stanza, the poet describes how the children weave and “watch their flickering knots like television”. The use of the words “flickering knots” portrays how quick and skilled the children are with their hands. They are so able with their hands and crafts because they have probably been doing it all their lives and it is how they contribute to their family’s income. This is a controversial simile because Rumens compares them to children who are able to indulge in the pleasures of technology, such as the television, in more developed countries. However, these children probably do not have a television. Nevertheless, this is the only way the poet can share her experience with the reader. Both lines suggest the theme of social injustice and child labor because the children are forced to work to help their families, since they lived in a less developed world. Moreover, they cannot go to school but “are hard at work in the school of days” (Line 10). For these children, it is their life experiences that shape and educate them rather than school. They do not have education since their families depend on their full time work.

Finally, the poet also uses imagery and metaphors to describe the carpet the children are working on. The design in the carpet represents the Islamic paradise. The children weave and “as the garden of Islam grows, the bench will be raised. Then they will lace the dark-rose veins of the tree tops” (Line 5-6). The use of the word “veins” to describe the designs portrays the artistic abilities of the children, since they are able to weave such delicate and fine patterns. Therefore, the carpet is a religious item, which will then be “spread by the servants of the mosque” and will be “heaped with prayer”.

Carol Rumens uses imagery throughout the poem in order to show how the carpet woven by these children is a way of connecting the Islamic culture together; the carpet is not only a commercial product but also a religious symbol. Nevertheless, no matter how beautiful the carpet turns out to be and how important it is to the culture, the poet emphasizes that it is a creation of uneducated children, whose future still seems bleak because they are forced to work.