Poems by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Subtitle: songs of a housewife
By: edited by Rodger L. Tarr.
Contributors: Tarr, Rodger L.
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Gainesville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 276
Subjects: Married women -- Poetry; Housewives -- Poetry; Motherhood -- Poetry; Nature -- Poetry
Other titles: Songs of a housewife
Description: In the 250 poems collected here, Rawlings presents homespun advice on such subjects as the trials and tribulations of being a cook, mother, friend, relative, and neighbor. She dedicates many to her favorite subjects: gardening, cooking, pets, and nature. Throughout, her goal is to entertain, to educate, and to give a voice to the housewife who sees her role as a creative and important one.

In the process, of course, she also invariably reveals a great deal about herself, and devoted readers will be curious to see how the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings they know and love is evident here, in these early and spirited poems.

Because little is known about Rawlings's life during this period, Songs of a Housewife is valuable as commentary on her evolving attitudes as a woman and as a writer, and many of the same themes appear in her later works. As a reflection of the life of a middle-class woman struggling to carve out an independent and fulfilling role for herself, these poems also offer a rare insight into the life of women in the late 1920s.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Poems originally published between 1926 and 1928 in the Rochester times union under the by-line Songs of a housewife.