Stanza 11 Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

Lines 31-33

We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door

  • The speaker ends the poem with an allusion to the Bible. 
  • Matthew 5:5 contains Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount in which he says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
  • This reference definitely lines up with the way the speaker describes the mushroom ladies' meek behavior throughout the poem.
  • However, is also declares boldly that, one day, their time will come. They will come through the long night in which they've spread and multiplied, and they will come into the power that they deserve.
  • In the final line, the speaker references the common saying, "A foot in the door," to show how her fellow mushroom ladies may not have come into their own yet...
  • But soon...
  • They will.