263. A Work of Artifice (page 321)

The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightening.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be so small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.

Marge Piercy (b. 1934)

This poem, A Work of Artifice, is abstractly promoting feminism. The poem begins with a description of a domesticated bonsai tree, but then the focus shifts to human rituals. The poem describes how people can suffocate potential and growth of each other and creatures. The female is metaphorically compared to a bonsai tree. Their potential and growth are stifled by males (gardeners) who tell them that they should be happy with their domestication, weakness, and lovely things (like pots and coziness). Females are told that they are lucky, they are meant to be weak and small, and they are told this from the very beginning. The meanings and experience of this poem are shown and described through title, shift, irony, and diction.

First, the title is a key element. An artifice is a clever trick, an act of cunning, or ingenuity. The title is saying that a work of trickery is taking place, and this is true. The gardener is crooning to the tree that it is meant to be small and weak, and he ignores the fact that it could be huge and wild. The same is true for the male telling the female that she should be pleased with life the way it is; the way she is made to dress, the jobs she should do, how she is treated, is all how it is supposed to be and she should be happy with it . But the title says that these words are all trickery. Women and trees are not meant to be so restrained, and the caged lives they are forced into are through a state of mind and cunning that is inflicted and enforced by the gardener, the males. The title emphasizes the subject of the poem, though its words seem a little separate.

Next, the shift in the poem takes place in line 18. Before this line, there is a description of a bonsai tree, but line 18 starts off “with living creatures” and then goes on to describe human actions. This shift shows a change in idea and creates a metaphor between female humans and bonsai trees. The shift directs the reader’s attention to the meaning of the poem. With the switch from a tree to all creatures that are dwarfed from a young age, the reader connects the ideas given in both sections of the poem. Just as trees are pruned and restrained in a small pot, women are dressed up in clothes, told to wear their hair certain ways, and caged up in their houses and working spaces; told to be weak and inferior to what they could be. The shift allows the reader to realize the bigger picture that is being expressed.

After this, there is irony. The poem begins with the proposition that the bonsai tree could have grown to be eighty feet tall had it been allowed to live in its natural habitat. But instead it is “nine inches high” (line 9) and growing in a pot, tended by a gardener. As the gardener prunes this tree, he tells it that “it is your nature to be small and cozy, domestic and weak” (lines 13-15). What is true and what has been told to the tree is obviously contradicting. It is ironic that the tree, which could have been wild and nearly one hundred feet tall, is only inches and is tamed by a gardener who keeps it in a pot. The tree is meant to be big and wild, a giant in the outside world. Its nature is not to be tiny, flimsy, a decoration. This is true of women as well, for they are not to be cozy decorations of an attractive home, their nature is to love and be strong and follow their dreams, just as men do. The irony, the comparison of what the tree should be, and what it is and what the gardener tells it that it should be, attracts the reader’s attention and contributes to the subject of the poem along with the flow of ideas.

Last, there is the diction and word choice that was used throughout the poem. The “attractive pot” is a compromise for the world in which the little tree could live, and is, in a way, a rationalization. The tree is kept in a nice looking pot, and made to look nice as well; it is an object only. Also, the gardener “prunes” and “whittles” the branches. These words are a little harsher for they depict that the gardener is shaping the tree, forcing it to develop a certain way and not allowing it to grow. The gardener is an oppressive force. Furthermore, the last few lines of the poem are also significant. The author states “with living creatures one must begin very early to dwarf their growth” (lines 18-20). The ideas of the tree have broadened to all living creatures, and the meaning of the poem is stated. The author says that to “dwarf” the growth, or to stop a creature from reaching its full potential, the oppressor must begin their work immediately so that the creature will always be small and believe it should be so. The wording here is harsh and the tone is darker. Besides this, there are the last five lines of the poem, “the bound feet, the crippled brain, the hair in curlers, the hands you love to touch.” These lines relate to the human females of the world and how they are or were treated. Women in China bound their feet so that they would stay small. The feet were broken and disfigured, they were unable to walk. But they were told that small feet were a sign of beauty. The female brain is crippled; she was told that she is inferior to male counterparts and that her place was in the home, she was to take care of the children and the house. Also, it used to be that women were not allowed to have the same education that men could. Some could not go to school, while others were blocked from universities or further forms of education. Then, women often put their hair in curlers because of the society; many other women are doing it and the “true, virtuous woman” is often seen with curly, tamed hair. And then is the final line, the hands that you love to touch. Here the author speaks directly to the reader or another person, almost in accusation. The woman is seen only as her hands, an object to be touched. Her mind and personality was not mentioned. Also, this could be a form of babying, for with too much love and protection a human is suffocated and unable to be adventurous and branch out. There are indications and meanings, feelings, behind all of the words that the author uses.

The poem shows how creatures, like bonsai trees or females, are molded into shapes that aren’t natural to them. Bonsai trees are not meant to be small, weak, and domestic and women are not meant to have broken, restrained feet, sheltered educations, or one style of hair. The growth of women is dwarfed by society and men; her body, mind, and actions are forced into one state of being. The meaning and subject of this poem are created and emphasized by the title of the poem, the shift and the metaphor it creates, diction that was used, and the irony that is shown.

I really liked this poem for its creativity in promoting feminism and equality, and uncovering the lies and social expectancies in which women are force-fed. I think that this poem may have been written during, or about, the Women’s Rights Movement. The poem first describes a small tree, and though I think this poem could also be about the taming of nature and humans in general, I think that its main subject is how women are “whittled” into certain shapes and states of mind. The attractive pot is like the pretty house that she was meant to keep, and the gardener could represent the male force or society telling her what her roles are. Women were told to be small, domestic, weak, and create a cozy atmosphere for their husbands who would tell them how lucky they were to live such nice lives, while they, the husbands, had to work and provide. The potential and growth of women are chipped at from the time they are little. They are told how they have to be, made to dress a certain way, not allowed to pursue education, and are blocked from certain rights (this was so in the past and in other areas of the world). The wording and imagery of the poem creates a darker, more sarcastic tone. The true nature of women does not lie in an attractive pot.