A Work of Artifice by Marge Piercy: ICSE Class 9 Explanation and Questions
Updated 15 October 2026 · Fact-checked
In Marge Piercy's A Work of Artifice, a bonsai tree that could have grown eighty feet tall on a mountain is pruned by a gardener to nine inches, while he tells it that it is lucky to have a pot. The tree stands for women whom society limits from childhood while pretending to protect them.
What A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy is about
A Work of Artifice is a short free-verse poem by the American poet and novelist Marge Piercy (born 1936), published in her collection *To Be of Use* (1973). It is one of the five Treasure Chest poems prescribed for ICSE Class IX in CISCE's 2028 syllabus.
The poem is an extended metaphor. It begins with a bonsai, a tree kept tiny in a pot by constant pruning, and describes how the gardener stunts its growth while singing to it that smallness is its nature. In its final lines it turns directly to people: living creatures, it says, must be dwarfed early, and it lists images such as bound feet and hair in curlers. The bonsai becomes a symbol of how women (and, more widely, anyone) can be shaped by society to stay small, decorative and dependent.
The title is itself a pun: 'artifice' means skilful craft, but also trickery. The bonsai is a work of art, and also the product of a deception. The poem is in copyright; this page quotes only a few short phrases reproduced in a published study guide. Read the full text in your Treasure Chest.
Weightage: CISCE publishes no Class IX paper layout; the Class IX examination is set by schools on Acts I-II of Julius Caesar and five stories and five poems from Treasure Chest. In the board pattern, poetry supplies one-mark MCQs and 16-mark extract questions.Source: CISCE ICSE 2028 English syllabus (Paper 2, Class IX portion); CISCE ICSE 2027 Specimen Question Paper, Literature in English
A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy: explanation
In our own words, in the order of the text. Read the NCERT text itself too: the board quotes from it.
The tree that might have been. The poem opens with a bonsai tree in an attractive pot. On a mountainside it could have grown eighty feet tall, until perhaps one day it was split by lightning: a life that was free and natural, with real risks.
The gardener. Instead, a gardener has carefully pruned it, and it is only nine inches high. Every day he cuts back its branches. The word 'carefully' sounds gentle, but what he does is cut the tree down to size.
The gardener's song. As he works, the gardener croons to the tree that it is its nature to be small and cosy, domestic and weak, and that it is lucky to have a pot to grow in. This is the poem's central irony: the restriction is presented as kindness, and the victim is told to be grateful.
The turn to people. In the last lines the poem leaves the tree and speaks of living creatures in general: with them, one must begin very early to dwarf their growth. It then lists a series of images: the bound feet (the old Chinese custom of binding girls' feet to keep them small), the crippled brain (denying girls education and independent thought), the hair in curlers (beauty routines that keep women busy pleasing others), and finally 'the hands you / love to touch', soft, delicate hands that are admired precisely because they are not used for strong work. The ending makes the reader, and society, part of the 'gardening'.
Themes and message
Women's oppression disguised as care
The gardener stunts the tree while telling it that smallness is its nature and that it is lucky. Piercy suggests that society limits women in the same way, praising qualities like being 'cosy' and 'domestic' that keep them from growing.
From the text: The gardener's song; 'how lucky, little tree'.
Lost potential
The contrast between eighty feet and nine inches shows how much potential is cut away. The mountain life had dangers, such as lightning, but it was free and full.
From the text: 'could have grown eighty feet tall'.
Conditioning from childhood
The poem stresses that dwarfing must begin 'very early': girls are trained from childhood to accept limits as natural, so that they do not question them later.
From the text: The lines on living creatures and the list of images.
Beauty as a cage
The bonsai is admired as a beautiful work of art; women are admired for small feet, curled hair and soft hands. The poem asks whether such 'beauty' is worth the freedom it costs.
From the text: The 'attractive pot'; 'the bound feet', 'the hair in curlers', 'the hands you / love to touch'.
The speaker and the people in the poem
The bonsai tree
Symbol of a person (especially a woman) whose growth is restricted.
- Full of natural potential.
- Kept small, decorative and dependent.
Eighty feet versus nine inches.
The gardener
Symbol of society or of those who control others.
- Careful and patient, but controlling.
- Persuasive: sings comforting lies to justify his pruning.
His daily pruning and his crooning.
Poetic devices
| Device | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Extended metaphor | The bonsai and the gardener throughout the poem. | A simple image carries a powerful social message. |
| Irony | 'how lucky, little tree' to have a pot; 'carefully pruned'. | Exposes control dressed up as kindness. |
| Contrast | Eighty feet on a mountain versus nine inches in a pot. | Shows the scale of lost potential. |
| Pun in the title | 'Artifice': craft and trickery. | The bonsai is both a work of art and the result of deception. |
| Free verse and short lines | No regular rhyme or metre; very short lines. | The clipped lines seem to be 'pruned' like the tree. |
Key quotations
Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.
could have grown eighty feet tall
The poet: The opening description of the bonsai.
The tree's natural potential.
how lucky, little tree
The gardener: His crooning as he prunes.
Control presented as good fortune.
the bound feet
The poet: The list at the end.
A historical example of deforming women's bodies in the name of beauty.
the hands you / love to touch
The poet: The closing words.
Admiration of women's softness implicates the reader in their restriction.
A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy in real life
Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.
Limiting expectations
Suppose a girl who loves cricket is told, 'That's not for girls; learn cooking instead, you're lucky you don't have to play in the sun.'
How is this like the gardener's song?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- A restriction presented as a favour.
- Her potential is pruned.
Answer: Like the gardener, the speaker cuts back her growth while calling it care. The poem helps us recognise such 'pruning'.
Memory hook: If someone calls your pot lucky, look at the mountain.
Beauty pressures
Imagine advertisements telling teenagers they must look a certain way to be liked.
How does this relate to 'the hair in curlers'?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Time and money spent on appearance.
- Less attention to growth and talent.
Answer: The poem suggests that beauty routines can become another pot, keeping people busy pleasing others.
Memory hook: Curlers can be a cage.
Letting people grow
Suppose a teacher encourages a quiet student to lead a project.
How is this the opposite of the gardener?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Encouragement instead of pruning.
- Room to grow.
Answer: Good mentors plant on the mountainside rather than in a pot: they give space to grow, even with some risk.
Memory hook: Plant people on mountains.
Topics in this chapter
How the school exam asks A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy
The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.
| Question type | How it is asked | Method |
|---|---|---|
| MCQ (1 mark) | What the bonsai symbolises, the meaning of 'artifice', the gardener's words, or a device. | Keep the metaphor in mind: tree = woman, gardener = society. |
| Extract question | Lines on the gardener's pruning and song, or the closing list. | Explain the literal meaning, then the symbolic meaning. |
| Theme and title | 'What is the central idea?' / 'Comment on the title.' | Women's restriction disguised as care; the double meaning of 'artifice'. |
| Personal response | 'Is the poem relevant today?' | Modern examples of limiting expectations, with reasons. |
Tricks to remember A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy
Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.
80 ft vs 9 in
Potential versus what is left.
Use it when: Contrast questions.
Feet, brain, hair, hands
The four closing images from bottom to top and back to the hands.
Use it when: The ending.
Artifice = art + trick
Two meanings in one title.
Use it when: Title questions.
A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy: exam-level solved questions
Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.
Example 1: MCQ: symbol · 1 mark · MCQExam level
In the poem, the bonsai tree mainly symbolises:
(a) the beauty of nature (b) women whose growth is restricted by society (c) the art of gardening (d) a child who refuses to grow
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- The ending links the tree to bound feet and hair in curlers.
Answer: (b) women whose growth is restricted by society.
Example 2: MCQ: 'artifice' · 1 mark · MCQHarder exam level
The word 'artifice' in the title suggests:
(a) only skill (b) only nature (c) both skilful craft and trickery (d) a factory
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Artifice = clever art; also a trick.
Answer: (c) both skilful craft and trickery.
Example 3: The gardener's song · 3 marks · Short answerHarder exam level
What does the gardener croon to the tree, and why is it ironic?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Content: its nature is to be small, cosy, domestic and weak; it is lucky to have a pot.
- Irony: he is the cause of its smallness.
Answer: He tells it that it is its nature to be small and cosy, domestic and weak, and that it is lucky to have a pot to grow in. It is ironic because its smallness is not natural at all: he creates it by pruning every day, and he calls the pot that imprisons it a piece of luck.
Example 4: The closing images · 3 marks · Short answerHarder exam level
Explain any three of the closing images and how they relate to women.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Bound feet; crippled brain; hair in curlers; hands you love to touch.
Answer: Bound feet: the old Chinese practice of binding girls' feet to keep them tiny, crippling them for 'beauty'. The crippled brain: denying girls education and independent thinking. Hair in curlers: time-consuming beauty routines to please others. The hands you love to touch: soft hands admired because they do no strong work (any three).
Example 5: Mountain versus pot · 4 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Contrast life on the mountain with life in the pot. Which would you choose for the tree? Why?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Mountain: freedom, growth, danger (lightning).
- Pot: safety, smallness, control.
Answer: On the mountain the tree could grow to its full height of eighty feet, free and natural, though it might be split by lightning. In the pot it is safe and admired, but kept to nine inches by constant cutting. Choice with reason, e.g. the mountain, because a full, free life with risks is better than a safe but stunted one.
Example 6: Relevance today · 4 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Is the poem's message relevant today? Give two examples.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Expectations that still limit girls.
- Wider application to anyone.
Answer: Yes. Girls in many places are still discouraged from certain careers, sports or higher studies, or expected to put appearance and housework first; and pressure to look a certain way still shapes young people's lives. The message also applies more widely: any child pushed into a narrow role can be 'pruned'.
Where the marks are
How a typical answer is marked: the value points the examiner looks for and the marks each earns.
4 marks: 'Contrast life on the mountain with life in the pot. Which would you choose for the tree? Why?' Indicative split (Class IX papers are marked by schools). (4 marks)
| Step | Marks |
|---|---|
| Mountain: full growth, freedom | 1 |
| Mountain risk (lightning) / pot safety and smallness | 1 |
| Clear choice | 1 |
| Reason linked to the poem's message | 1 |
Where students lose marks in A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy
The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.
Mistake: Explaining only the literal bonsai
Pupils describe gardening.
Do this: Always explain the symbolic meaning: women and society.
Usually costs: Theme marks.
Mistake: Missing the irony of 'lucky'
Pupils take the gardener's words at face value.
Do this: Point out that he causes the smallness he calls natural.
Usually costs: Interpretation marks.
Mistake: Not explaining 'bound feet'
Pupils do not know the custom.
Do this: Explain the old Chinese practice of binding girls' feet.
Usually costs: Explanation marks.
Mistake: Misquoting
Pupils reconstruct lines from memory.
Do this: Quote only short phrases you are sure of, from your textbook.
Usually costs: Accuracy.
Practice questions on A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy
Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.
Q1 · 1 mark · MCQExam level
How tall could the tree have grown on the mountain?
(a) nine inches (b) eighty feet (c) eight feet (d) ninety feetHint
Compare with nine inches.
Answer
(b) eighty feet.
Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level
What is a bonsai?
Hint
Japanese art.
Answer
A tree kept very small in a pot by regular pruning of its branches and roots, as an art form.
Q3 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder exam level
Why does the poet say the gardener 'carefully' pruned the tree? What does the word suggest?
Hint
Gentle word, harmful act.
Answer
It makes the act sound gentle and caring, but the 'care' is in cutting the tree down; it suggests that restriction is often done politely and lovingly, which makes it harder to resist.
Q4 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder exam level
Who or what does the gardener represent? Give two possibilities.
Hint
Society, family.
Answer
Society and its traditions, or those with power over women's lives such as parents, husbands or institutions.
Q5 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Why does the poem end with 'the hands you / love to touch'? Who is 'you'?
Hint
The reader.
Answer
'You' includes the reader, especially men who admire soft, delicate hands. The ending suggests that admiration of women's weakness is part of what keeps them small, so the reader is also a 'gardener'.
Q6 · 4 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Write a short paragraph from the tree's point of view, replying to the gardener.
Hint
Use the poem's images.
Answer
Creative answer: the tree recalls the mountain and the height it could have reached, questions whether smallness is its 'nature', rejects being called lucky, and asks to be allowed to grow.
Test your recall
Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.
1.Who wrote A Work of Artifice?Show answer
Marge Piercy.
2.In which collection did it appear?Show answer
To Be of Use (1973).
3.How tall is the bonsai?Show answer
Nine inches.
4.What does the gardener say is the tree's nature?Show answer
To be small and cosy, domestic and weak.
5.Name two closing images.Show answer
Any two: the bound feet, the crippled brain, the hair in curlers, the hands you love to touch.
6.What form is the poem in?Show answer
Free verse.
Quick revision checklist
The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?
- Can you explain the extended metaphor of the bonsai?
- Can you explain the irony of the gardener's song?
- Can you explain the four closing images?
- Can you explain the double meaning of 'artifice'?
- Can you give a modern example of 'pruning'?
A Work of Artifice – Marge Piercy: frequently asked questions
Is the poem only about women?
Its images (bound feet, curlers) point mainly to women, but its idea of stunting someone's growth while calling it care can apply to anyone.
What is foot-binding?
A former custom in China in which young girls' feet were tightly bound to keep them small, causing lifelong pain and disability, because tiny feet were considered beautiful.
Why are only short phrases quoted?
The poem is in copyright and the Treasure Chest text was not available to us; read the full poem in your textbook.
Is this poem in Class X?
No. It is one of the five Class IX poems in CISCE's 2028 syllabus.
Based on: CISCE ICSE 2028 English (01) syllabus (Classes IX and X); CISCE ICSE 2028 Appendix I: List of Prescribed Textbooks; CISCE Regulations for ICSE Examination Year 2028; CISCE ICSE 2028 Appendix I: List of Prescribed Textbooks; A Work of Artifice: summary and analysis (Englicist)