The Steam Loom Weaver

The Steam Loom Weaver (p.489) was an interesting exercise in symbolism.  The writer clearly used the symbols of a steam loom weaver and an engine driver in an encounter that was clearly sexual in nature.  The discourse between the woman and the man was clever and left little doubt about the intent and action of the participants.  What struck me most about the ballad was the conspicuous absence of any romance.  That absence of romance was what I believe the writer intended to convey. 

An interaction between the man and the woman in the ballad was initiated on a June morning.  There was a little description of the birds singing and flowers blooming but the ballad got right into the play on words involving their physical desires.  “All their discourse was about weaving.  And the getting up of steam.”   I think this ballad would have taken a much different approach if it were not written during the Industrial Revolution.  Had this ballad been written before that time I believe there would have been more time spent on romance.  There would have been some description of the woman and of the young man.  There would have been more feeling and words devoted to conjuring that feeling.  The writer clearly wanted to avoid that because, I believe, the writer was bemoaning the loss of romance in society at that time. 

In an industrial age where machines drive production and that push for production drives life itself, there is little time and energy left for romance.  The writer conveyed that without having to bluntly say it by getting right to the point.  The absence of romance and the symbolic use of machinery parts to convey the woman’s desire gave the cold impression of a couple having sex rather than making love.  The writer’s description of the woman’s invitation, “So work away without delay,/ And quickly muster up the steam.” (line 15&16) provided precious little in the way of foreplay.

When the invitation was given the man surely responded.  His response, however, was just as mechanical and without feeling.  “Dear lass these things I will provide,/ But when to labour will you begin/ As soon my lad as things are ready/ My loom shop you can enter in./ A shuttle true and pickers too, /This young man did provide amain./ And soon her loom was put in tune/ So well it was supplied with steam.”  (lines 25-32) After that stanza of the ballad there was little imagination about the action.  It was sadly without romance or joy. 

The stanza that followed used the mechanical symbols to describe the encounter between the man and woman and when it was over “The young man cried your loom works, light /And quickly then off shot the steam.” (lines 39&40) It was not surprising that given the absence of romance and the imagery provided by the writer that after the act there was no feeling.  I think the act was expected, it happened and when it was over there was no further obligation.  I think that would encapsulate the feeling of the average worker at the time who probably believed his employer expected the labor of the worker, the worker provided his labor and when it was over he was paid and there was no further obligation.  There was no love, no loyalty and no feeling.  It was all simply mechanical just like the encounter between these two young people.

After the act was complete the young woman wanted more.  The man, however, said, “This steam loom weaving well I like./  He said good lass I cannot stay.” (lines 44&45) There wasn’t much surprise because why would he stay?  He made the woman an offer, “If ready when I come this way,/ I’d strive for to get up the steam.” (lines 47&48) I think the writer was again making a reference to the relationship between labor and employer.  Why would an employer be obligated to keep a workforce that was rapidly being replaced by mechanical means?  The use of the labor was not unlike this young man’s use of the woman in that it filled a desire and a temporary arrangement was all that was needed.  Beyond that there was no lasting relationship and no need to remain. 

The ballad was interesting when viewed in a societal context and I think it was meant for that purpose.  If the writer believed relationships between men and women were being altered with the influx of women in the workplace and the increasing potential for promiscuity, it might explain why the woman in the ballad was so forward in her invitation to the engineer.  That point can be taken from the ballad but I think the main point was to point out how life after the Industrial Revolution had lost its romance and its appeal.