in seeking it.

Interestingly, the speaker addresses potential readers of his poetic “work,” telling them,

if you're
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.  
Forget you.  (3-6)

Here the tone is momentarily bitter. Whom does the speaker have in mind?  Is he referring to readers in general?  Is he referring to the kinds of students who are old enough to do manual labor, who know what it is from having read about it, but who are privileged enough not to have to do such work themselves?  Is the speaker implying that some of his readers are lazy, unmotivated, or so economically secure that they are not as hard-working – or as willing to work – as he is?

In any case, the definition of “work” begins to change slightly from this point onward. Instead of focusing on the literal job that may (or may not) be waiting for him at the end of the line, the speaker now begins to think about his relationship with his literal brother (not merely a figurative brother or co-worker).

Although the speaker of the poem is demonstrably tough in various ways (as his mere standing so long in line in the rain suggests), he is also capable of deep love for his brother. Feeling alienated, isolated, and vulnerable as he stands in the line, the speaker begins to meditate on the importance of his relationship with his brother. This relationship provides him with a sense of security and affection that seems otherwise missing in his life.

The brother himself is a hard worker and is apparently employed in a factory job similar to the one the speaker seeks. Indeed, he works not only at his literal job but also on his on his language skills: He

Works eight hours a night so he can sing 
Wagner . . . (30-31)

Thus the title of the poem takes on yet another meaning.  This singing is work done for pleasure and for personal fulfillment. It is work the brother chooses to do, not anything he is compelled to do merely for physical survival.

But the poem ends by implying yet another kind of work, perhaps the most important work of all: the work involved in building, sustaining, and strengthening the human relationships that give our lives their deepest meaning. This kind of work, like the brother’s singing, is the kind of effort that can both give pleasure and also bring it.

The language of this poem is harsh and skeptical. The overall metaphor is of a man waiting in line for a job. The author, Philip Levine, worked by day in a car manufacturing plant in Detroit while he was going to night school, so he knows how hard it is to have to stand in a long, long line all day, waiting to see if the company is hiring, only to be told that no, there are not jobs today.

We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work

"Ford Highland Park" is the Ford plant. Men used to wait outside in the rainy, freezing weather in the hopes that there would be work. Most often, there was no work.

This is an angry poem. There is a lot of cold, angry imagery. The author uses metaphors and similes to show this.

Feeling the light rain falling like mist
into your hair, blurring your vision

The falling rain is "like mist".

Up ahead in front of you in line, you think you see your brother. This indicates that many, many people are out of work. Even your own brother may be in line.

with the same sad slouch, the grin
that does not hide the stubbornness,
the sad refusal to give in to
rain,

No one wants to give up, to go inside, to stop waiting in line for work.

We glimpse a bit of the author's own life, when he says his brother is actually:

home trying to
sleep off a miserable night shift
at Cadillac so he can get up
before noon to study his German

This is an image of the author himself who had to work by night and study by day.

If you go through the rest of the poem, you can pick out more metaphors and angry language.

A discussion of language usage usually covers diction and vocabulary. For instance, is the diction low (uneducated), middle (average conversational), or high (well educated and formal). Is it abstract diction (about concepts and feelings) or concrete (about things and actions). What is the vocabulary like? Is it flowery or elegant; terse or poetical? Are there a lot of adjectives; concrete nouns; abstract nouns; simple monosyllabic words; polysyllabic words?

A discussion of "metaphorical references" covers the metaphors that are used in the text and their meaning. A metaphor is a comparison of two things that are generally thought to be unlike each other but that are brought together in a metaphor to show new truth or meaning in one of the them. A metaphor compares without using the words "like," "as," or "as though." A metaphor example is, "A streetcar is desire." Comparing these two unlike things presents a futile idea of desire: it's stuck on a track that never gets anywhere (sounds like Tennessee Williams...).

To get you started, the first five lines reveal that the poem starts in casual conversational middle diction with simple, mostly monosyllabic vocabulary.

We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.
You know what work is--if you're
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.

However, though there is symbolism and allusion, there are no metaphors that compare two unlike things in a phrase in Philip Levine's poem "What Work Is," which accentuates Levine's diction and vocabulary choices.