Question

what does the speaker compare her life with?
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Answer 1

Answer:

In the poem, the speaker is the poet's mother, who contrasts her life as to going up through a hard staircase. in the poem, a staircase is a means to get somewhere in the world or, literally, to move up. Hence, the mother metaphorically compares her life in the poem with a split and dilapidated stairway.