"Her hands were strong in the earth, ... her song was sweet on the wind." The first part referring to her doing physically demanding work, getting her hands soiled by the earth. She is showing her capablility to do labour and challenging the stereotype of women being weak and needing help from men. In the second part, the song refers to the singing of lovesongs to court a woman. However, the addition of 'her' in front of the word shows that it is not a man singing it but it is the person herself. Her singing a song for herself depicts an adamant rejection of the men's courting. These two stanzas thus show her lack of needing a man, deeming herself perfectly capable to do things more traditionally masculine.

Furthermore, in the fourth stanza, it reads "Year-long, wind turns her grindstone heart and whets a thornbranch like a knife," The intimidating imagery of weaponry in a stereotypically frail woman's possession shows contrast, emphasizing the fact that she would go to such lengths to defend herself from the suitors, using even violence. To add on, this imagery has a cold and rigid atmosphere, highlighting how cold-hearted she is in the constant rejection of the suitors and her defiance to getting courted.

Therefore, the poem portrays the woman as a feminist who is independent and able to stand up for herself regardless of the societal norms for women.

Throughout the poem i noticed that they constantly mention arching, bending and anything related to bending. "would bend their slim boughs in graceful curtsies". This could be a metaphor comparing fruit bearing trees to child bearing/pregnant mothers. This line talks about how the "mother" is willing to distort their bodies for their children, a direct reference to pregnancy, which shows how sacrificial and loving a mother can be. This line "bend the slim boughs in graceful curtsies" also portrays how mothers are willing to give up things they hold dear to themselves (their beauty) for their children further showing how they are very sincere. They also in a very graceful manner to hide pain as they do so This shows how women and mothers alike can be strong and resilient.

These references can be used to counter the metaphor used against them when compared to bland boring trees. In stanza 1, there are all sorts of fruits "apple, cherry, two kinds of oriental pears". However, those same fruits were most likely all bore by similar looking trees. This shows how women are only seen for their ability to give birth and are mere "vessels". However the references back in stanza 2-4 can show how women and mother alike are more than that.

“No one is here for you” this strong opionated line indicates that though she is the only person around the area, she was not in existence for the knight who was looking for a wife. She strongly refused to be courted by the knight on the horse, as she believed to be well off on her own. She was adamant on not to be married. Though the societal laws during the medicinal times were that a woman only existed to get married and birth children, she refused to give in and succumb to these laws. Instead, she revoked these laws and insisted on being alone, saying that she most definitely could live without the help of a man.

“Unkempt like an old tree”

This line serves as a simile which highlights the fact that her appearance has not been maintained, and that she looks . This further emphasises that’s she has no requirements to look pretty and presentable for a man to court her, as the role of a woman was to do just that in the medevial times. She refused to seek for men’s validation, explaining why she believed that her appearance did not need to be clean and proper. Thus, it is clear that she refuses to change her appearance just for a man, so it is known that she doesn’t want to depend on anyone but herself.

“Whets a thorn branch like a knife”

This line acts as a simile once again is threatening, linking back to how she wants to be seen as mad and scary and is not afraid to use it as a weaponShe sharpens the thorn branch like a knife, to be defensive of her area. She gestures in a way, that she has no desire to be courted by the man, thus the knife lies as something that should scare future knights looking for his suitress.

“Her hands as strong as the earth” this line also further inaugurates the fact that her hands have been modeled into strong and girthy ones, further emphasising the fact that she has been doing all the work in her house by herself, without looking out for any help from the possible suitors.

All in all, this poem enunciates how this “mad old” character strongly believes in being independent, and that she did not need no help from a man.

Later in the poem, there is a shift in womens role which follows suit with the shift in tone from the poem, maturing as it progresses. The women in the poem go from lovemakers to more motherly figures, kind and caring, ready to start a new life and raise their child. In stanza 4 it is stated that "lovingly to prime through successive seasons , through the year, to attain these perfect forms". This segment alludes to pregnancy in women and how the child in nurtured inside the womb. This highlights womens motherly role in this part of the poem and follows suit with the theme of life in the poem as growing and maturing is an essential part of life. Just like how the women in the poem go from adolescent romantics to more mature mothers.

The idea of arranged marriages paint the women as a doll and talks about how they were made to be displayed like a museum artifact, dehumanizing them. In stanza 1 "her eyes, downcast, become modest behavior" and stanza 4 "smile gently at the groom" This shows how even though the woman wants to be expressive (negative, human like, UGLY emotions), they (possibly by force of habit...) are forced to be modest and doll-like.

Additionally in Stanza 3 "twice, a hand gently steals out & pats any suspected flaws of coiffure into perfection" This further emphasizes on the museum artifact metaphor by saying that the women must look prim and proper and no flaws should exist (forced to be perfect). The word "twice" may also hint at the idea that the woman (like a human) is flawed by nature by showing how the hair is stubborn and does not want to be perfect.

Lastly, we can see more proof on how women were never meant to be "dolls" and are actual humans with genuine emotion. The woman in the poem is actually able to show emotion (sadness) In stanza 1 "having a respite before the dinner" showing how even she gets tired and nervous (unlike a doll or museum artifact) and stanza 3 "most of the time, looking at her gloves, her eyes downcast" showing how the woman can feel emotions like sadness and discomfort. Additionally also showing how the woman feels restrained and helpless under the control of men and her parents.

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Additionally, there is a section in the first stanza where chores and tasks were continuously listed without any commas or punctuation. "Exceeding expectations: rubbish to clear lists to make curtains to hang covers to change ... and so on and so forth etcetera etcetera etcetera e t c e t e r a–" Firstly, the lack of punctuation shows the urgency and how tremendous of a load these tasks are. Secondly, the use of white space where the words are tightly packed together create a stressful and confined atmosphere, similar to how the woman is trapped by the burden of these chores. Thirdly, the ending of the list shows repetition of 'etcetera', ending with a version with spaced out letters getting cut off. This represents the anger building up like how her list of things to do are too, before she finally snaps, hence the abrupt dash used after the last 'etcetera'. The use of white space is a visual representation of the prolonged list.

"Exceptional in having one gender as the butt of prosperity" The gender here refers to females, and how we get the short end of the stick in Chinese New Year celebrations, having an unreasonably large amount of household matters to settle alongside our careers. The effort put in is not appreciated or rewarded, as it is seen as the bare minimum for a woman. There is a hint of sarcasm in the sentence, the woman's feelings of injustice seeping through the sarcastic facade.

"Such suckers we make of ourselves" shows the acknowledgement of how women are put into demeaning positions, even careerwomen reduced to an object solely for domestic duties. Furthermore, this sentence, "Respecting the expletive-deleted Annual Ritual for the Enslavement of Women" shows her resignation. The 'expletive-deleted' which first appeared in the first stanza is repeated here once again, using the effect of parallelism to amplify the constant rage she feels for this annual event. "Annual Ritual for the Enslavement of Women" is a metaphor for Chinese New Year, depicting how such a supposedly festive and cheery celebration has morphed into the blatant exploitation of women, having them work tirelessly like slaves with no freedom. Additionally, the title 'CNY' is used instead of the full word 'Chinese New Year', showing the reluctance to using its proper term as she sees it as a demeaning event for women.