Poetry Precis 12- "Domestic Work, 1937" by Natasha Trethewey

In "Domestic Work, 1937", Natasha Trethewey writes in a dramatic tone and uses form to help relay the message that often times, in the world of hardship, all one has to hold onto is something small that brings them happiness. In this case, a maid who slaves away holds on to Sundays as it says "Sunday mornings are hers".  The speaker's use of stanzas, with short lines separated in between them puts emphasis on her message. After each stanza, the speaker writes a line which capture's the subject's hope and motivation despite the difficulty of her life. The first line set in between two stanzas "Let's make a change girl", giving the reader an idea of what this girl tells herself to keep moving forward. The next one "Cleanliness is next to godliness" again reemphasizes this positivity that the servant relies on and thinks about when doing her difficult job.Each of these lines set in between the stanzas are statements of positivity, which allow the reader to understand how the subject of the poem, the servant, gets through her days- by looking forward to the small things that make her happy.