The Secretary Chant

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 the workplace. The metaphors used in Piercy’s poem all make more or less the same point: Women in the workplace are reduced to little more than their gender, just as a stapler might be seen as little more than its form and functions. Piercy does not vary her metaphors much or use them sparsely; instead, she offers one metaphor after another, all similarly functioning in structure and conceit. The barrage of similar metaphors creates off-putting images of women’s body parts mixed with inanimate office supplies, but also emphasizes the general frustration of the speaker as it relates to her role in the workplace.

Much of the technical power of Piercy’s poem is derived from its use of metaphor and repetition. The term refrain refers to repetition within poems, specifically words, groupings of words, or complete phrases that are repeated with some measure of regularity. In the case of “The Secretary Chant,” there are two notable refrains: “[M]y hips are,” “my breasts are,” “my feet bear,” and “my navel is” (Lines 1, 5, 6, 18) all function as a refrain. Similarly the three lines beginning with “[m]y head is” (Lines 8, 10, 12) act as a modification of the aforementioned refrain, but the uniformity in repeating the specific body part, the head, draws additional focus and adds weight to these lines. Refrain in Piercy’s poem also serves to draw attention to the lines that don’t include the device. Since seven out of the 27 lines begin with a refrain, the lines without it stand out due to the change in syntax.

The term enjambment refers to how a complete sentence or phrase can be broken across multiple lines of poem. Enjambment is often used to create a double meaning, allowing for unexpected stops and turns. In the case of “The Secretary Chant,” Piercy uses enjambment in several lines to add suspense and weight to her lines, like, “[s]wollen, heavy, rectangular / I am about to be delivered / of a baby / xerox machine” (Lines 20-23). Enjambment here allows for the pregnancy metaphor to intensify, giving space to words like “swollen, heavy, rectangular” (Line 20). That the line ends on “rectangular” following two descriptors regularly used to discuss pregnancy creates a sense of strangeness. Breaking the line at rectangular leaves the reader momentarily wondering what is pregnant, as rectangular suggests something inhuman.

Enjambment is used in many other instances in Piercy’s poem, some to less effect than others, though it can be presumed that every line break and period was an intentional choice of Piercy’s behalf. This device is significant to the poem and its structure as a whole, determining, beyond the bounds of traditional punctuation, where many of the lines begin and end.