Ackland and Warner

I particularly enjoyed Sylvia Townsend Warner's poem "Ornaments of Gold".  Though somewhat simplistic in style, I thought the message was somewhat heavy.  The stanzas, which are just a few lines alternating the speaker, make it more as a conversation and less as something complex and more so a bold statement.  The ending of the poem where she says, "yes child, you may depend/woman-kind shall go thus to our world's end" leaves sort of a bitter taste in your mouth.  Considering the time period, women were not nessecarily allowed to live freely. There were norms and unspoken rules that women adhered to, such as the way of dress Warner describes, as well as the earrings and the ring.  She is making her audience aware of the suffocating social placements of women, and what it is they are "supposed to" do.  I found this poem to be powerful, yet somewhat dark since it seems Warner is speaking from oppression.