Point of View

This poem is written in an intimate first-person point of view using the pronoun “I”. This is apparent from the very first line: “I have gone out” (Line 1). This pronoun continues consistently throughout the poem, most emphatically in the poem’s refrain: “I have been her kind” (Lines 7, 14, 21). The poem remains predominantly focused on the speaker’s internal self and experience, with only one moment where the speaker looks outward and addresses someone outside the page: “I have ridden in your cart” (Line 15). Although there is only a singular speaker, she recounts events in the form of memories, and at times the distinction between the speaker and these historic women become blurred. The implication is that although the speaker is an individual, she contains within her the entire landscape of women.

Language and Meaning

The speaker uses mainly straightforward language that is accessible to most...