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- ‘What Work Is’ by Philip Levine explores the tension that exists between the speaker’s relationship with their brother and their understanding of work. ‘What Work Is’ unfolds as the stream of conscious thoughts of a speaker who is waiting in line in the hopes of being given some work to do.
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The main theme of “What Work Is” by Philip Levine is the influence of “work” on the human mind. It also explores the themes of brotherly love, struggles for employment, frustration, and passivity.
Speaker: A brother looking for work. Emotions Evoked: Hopelessness, Love for Him, Regret. Poetic Form: Free Verse. Time Period: 20th Century. Philip Levine's poem provides an incisive and tormented understanding of work.
- Male
- May 13, 1994
- Poetry Analyst
Dive into Philip Levine's "What Work Is," a poignant reflection on the realities and emotional depth of blue-collar labor in America. Discover themes of identity, hardship, and the human condition in this masterful poetic work.
It also reveals the poet’s love toward his brother, which he never expresses, but can be easily read from his thoughts on brother while waiting. The poem uses free verse, the language Levine...
Feb 20, 2015 · What Work Is – A Poem by Philip Levine. On Fridays, at the end of the traditional work week, I want to share the poems that have given voice over time to workers and their work. The poem this week is by former United States poet laureate Philip Levine who died on February 14.
the presence of another man, no, just because you don’t know what work is. from What is Work (Alfred A Knopf, 1992), © Philip Levine 1992, used by permission of Alfred A Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. Poetry Foundation recording made on 13 September 2007, New York.
Nov 7, 2011 · What work is gets revealed through what work is not: grinning, singing opera, loving your brother. Typically for a Levine poem, there’s a resistant dignity in the small acts that keep us human, even when there’s little of that in labor itself, and none at all in being denied work.
