Onions
The woman in “Market Women’s Cries” urges the people passing her by to buy some onions from her to use when cooking. The seller agrees not everyone likes onions and sees them as being more suitable for the lower classes. During the 19th century, onions were seen as ingredients used by low-income families and as such the onions here are a symbol for the working class.
Symbol for wealth
The woman, Cecilia, in “The Lady’s Dressing Room”, is a woman who can afford to spend a couple of hours in a day just to take care of her appearance. The various beauty products described by the narrator can be seen as being luxuries which not many could afford. Because of this, the beauty products enumerated in the poem are sees as a symbol for wealth.
Easy life
The death of the general in “A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” is painted as being a shameful one since the general died in his old age, surrounded by his family and in his comfortable bed. The narrator implies the general should have died a violent death because of his profession but because of his money, he was spared a horrible ending. Because of this, the bed is used as a symbol for the easy life and death the general experienced.
Pills
The death of Stella in “Stella's Birthday March 13, 1727” is associated with pills and suffering, two elements which went hand in hand during a normal 19th century birth. Childbirth in those times was an extremely dangerous affair, the life of the mother and of the child always in danger. Because of this, the pills are used here as a symbol for death and suffering caused by childbirth and its complications.
The house
The decapitated house in “To Quilca, a Country House not in Good Repair” is the main element described in the poem. The home is an important element and is used in this context as a symbol. The house represents the state of the current society and the way in which, just like an unattended house eventually decays to the point where is no longer habitable.
