Inhabiting and Transforming a Poem

You're a girl
and you'd better not forget
that when you step over the threshold of your house
men will look askance at you
When you keep on walking down the lane
men will follow you and whistle
When you cross the lane and step onto the main road
men will revile you and call you a loose woman

If ou've got no character
you'll turn back
and if not
you'll keep going
as you're going now.

This poem is about a girl who is growing up to be a women and what she will face from men when she steps out into the real world. In the poem someone is giving the girl advice for when she steps out into the world. The person tells her what to expect when shes out there. The person tells the girl that guys will be whistling and following her but if she has any character she will not turn back.

askance: look with a side glance
revile: to degrade, abase
The story of this poem is about a girl who is growing up and becoming an adult about to face men on the streets who will degrade her. Its about a girl who in order to keep her character she needs to follow the advice given to her about the men she will face.

1. The narrator in this poem is an adult, mother, or parent.
2. The narrator is speaking to a young girl or daughter who is approaching her years of becoming a woman.
3. The girl is either a girl who is being given advice to by a mentor or a daughter of the narrator.

I think the peom means that inorder to keep your character or self respect you must never look back when passing by the evil temptations in this world. The reason I think this is because it mentions the degrading men she will pass by and that in order for her to keep her character she must never look back.