What does the bent body of the man with the hoe signify?
Question: What does the bent body of the man with the hoe signify?
The bent body of the man with the hoe in the poem "The Man with the Hoe" symbolizes the laboring man's burden of constant toil in order to survive. This burden is represented by the "weight of the centuries," or the struggle humanity has long had to endure to work the land and create food. As a result, the man is left "dead to rapture and despair," or unable to even comprehend joy and pain due to his numbness from labor. He is likened to a "brother to the ox," referring to his status as a beast of burden and separate from the "seraphim," or heavenly angels. The poem ends with the hope that someday rulers will help the working class lead a better and more humane life, thereby straightening out the bent body of the man with the hoe.
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