The Secretary Chant

Piercy’s “The Secretary Chant” is a 27-line poem written in free verse. The poem is composed of a single stanza containing no breaks but relies on punctuation within the lines to signal shifts and pauses in the reading. Piercy’s lines vary in length, ranging from one to ten syllables. While the poem has no set meter or rhyme scheme, its consistent use of end punctuation and enjambment provide the reader with guidance as to how the lines should be read and understood.

Piercy’s poem is rife with metaphor. In addition to the many line level metaphors, the entire poem functions as an extended metaphor: The secretary’s chant is equated with the sounds of the office expressed through various instances of onomatopoeia: “Buzz. Click,” and “Zing. Tinkle” (Lines 7, 17). As a device, metaphor refers to one thing by mentioning another, effectively providing space for the poet to create an interesting array of images.

Poets most commonly rely on metaphor to create deeper levels of meaning within the logical context of their poems. Piercy relies on metaphor to do just that, but also as a means to alert readers to her more socially pointed critique of women in