Ada Negri, with her poem “Worker Mother”, outlines an intense and moving portrait of a woman whose existence is marked by sacrifice for her son’s future. Set in a woolen mill, the scene is filled with a sense of daily struggle against oppression and exhausting fatigue. The working mother is portrayed as a heroic figure, whose determination and personal sacrifice risk going unnoticed in the eyes of the world, but not in the eyes of those who understand the weight of her actions.
The poem opens by describing the harsh and noisy working environment of the woolen mill, where the incessant clamor does not seem to affect the mother, intent on her incessant work. For thirty years she has carried out her task with an almost mechanical precision, an example of resilience that defies tiredness and physical pain. Despite her fatigue, she always gets back up, ready to continue her arduous journey.
The motivation for this relentless resistance is the son, “the immense pride of his poverty”, whose education is seen as the only escape route from poverty and oppression. The mother’s sacrifice is not only physical but also emotional and psychological: she pours her life “drop by drop” into the factory, dreaming of a better future for her child.
The figure of the son, student and bearer of hope, is depicted with almost mystical tones. Ada Negri transforms the dark hovel where the boy studies into a place of spiritual elevation, underlining the transcendence of his intellectual mission. The mother, despite the awareness of her inevitable physical decline, continues to sacrifice herself with the hope that her son will one day “weave garlands” of success and recognition.
The last verse is an appeal to the son to recognize his mother’s sacrifice and continue the fight for justice and truth, armed with voice and pen. It is an invitation not to forget his roots and to remain “uncorrupted, firm and honest”, because his mother consumed her life for this noble purpose.
In “Worker Mother”, Ada Negri not only celebrates maternal sacrifice but elevates the figure of the worker to a symbol of struggle and resistance. It is a poem that still resonates powerfully today, reminding us of the importance of education as a tool for liberation and social change, and the often invisible but fundamental role of women in building a better future.
“Working Mother” by Ada Negri
In the woolen mill where harsh clamor
the broad vault is struck darkly,
and between screeching wheels
the vigor of a thousand women has been exploited,
she has been toiling for fifteen years already. — Quick
his nervous hand runs to and fro,
nor the loud and loud one
voice the Scote of the great storm
that explodes around her. — She’s so tired
some time; oh, yes tired and weakened!…
But the forehead suffered
flattens and raises, with frank firmness;
and it seems to say: Go ahead!… — Oh, woe!
oh, woe if she were to fall ill one day,
and to his place I return
could not do, oh unfortunate, ever!… —
He doesn’t have to; he can’t. — Son of him, the only one,
the immense pride of his misery,
which in the vast and serious one
front of genius it divines flight,
his son studies. — And she to the factory
drop by drop he will leave his life,
and heartbroken, refined,
will offer the sacrifice of herself;
and the trembling and freezing old age
will offer, like youth one day,
and health, and sweetness
of rest she will offer, holy worker;
my son will study. — Feared and great
the future will see it; and the brunette
luck is his head
of gold and laurel he will weave garlands!…
…. Nor the hovel where the sun does not reach
study, son of the people, what do you bring
written in the absorbed eyes
the mystical words of the genius,
and in proud muscles and in health
green energy from your Serbian fibers
the proud daring
of the indomitable popular race.
To open the way for you your mother will die;
to his intrepid fallen body
throw a kiss and a greeting,
and run towards the enemy teams,
and fight with voice and pen,
of high horizons the sublime lightning,
nine and lofty peaks
points to the old century that wavers:
and you are incorrupt, steadfast and honest…
in the watchful clamor of a woolen mill
your mother the sacrifice
he spent his life for this.
Poem by: sololibri.net
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