Imagery

Picture courtesy of Antonio Pizzileo

• Each morning she blows at "the seed of the fire" (line 2) until it "flickers and glows", and she can get on with the rest of her work. The seed metaphormetaphor: A description of one thing in terms of another - implicitly comparing the two, but without using 'as' or 'like'. 'Sea of troubles', and 'drowning in debt' are metaphors. Something that represents another thing. suggests that the fire is alive and growing.
• However, when "the seed of the fire" is repeated at the end of the poem (line 10), it refers to the 'fire' within herself. She is dying, so her own seed is not glowing/growing, but becoming feeble and cold. (And what about her own seeds - her own children?)
• The Old Mother's day is dictated by the stars - she starts work at dawn and doesn't stop "Till stars are beginning to blink and peep". The burning stars echo the "seed of the fire", glowing in the dark sky like coals in the hearth.