Women's Writing (Poetry)

Contents;
Selected Poems:
1. “No Coward Soul is Mine” by Emily Bronte
2. “When I am Dead My Dearest” by Christina Rossetti
3. “This is a Photograph of Me” by Margaret Atwood
4. “A Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou
5. “Be Nobody’s Darling” by Alice Walker
6. “Fearful Women” by Carolyn Kizer

1. Poem “No Coward Soul Is Mine” by Emily Bronte

No Coward Soul Is Mine by Emily Bronte

No coward soul is mine
No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere
I see Heaven's glories shine
And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear

O God within my breast

Almighty ever-present Deity
Life, that in me hast rest,
As I Undying Life, have power in Thee

Vain are the thousand creeds

That move men's hearts, unutterably vain,
Worthless as withered weeds
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main

To waken doubt in one

Holding so fast by thy infinity,
So surely anchored on
The steadfast rock of Immortality.

With wide-embracing love

Thy spirit animates eternal years
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears

Though earth and moon were gone

And suns and universes ceased to be
And Thou wert left alone
Every Existence would exist in thee

There is not room for Death

Nor atom that his might could render void
Since thou art Being and Breath
And what thou art may never be destroyed.

Author: Emily Bronte

Emily Jane Brontë (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is
best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English
literature. She also published a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte and Anne titled
Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell with her own poems finding regard as poetic genius.
Emily was the second-youngest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest
Anne and her brother Branwell. She published under the pen name Ellis Bell.

Introduction
Emily Brontë first published "No Coward Soul Is Mine" in 1846 as part of the collection
Poems of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell being pseudonyms for
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, respectively). The poem is a meditation on the power of
faith: in it, the speaker describes their unshakeable belief in a divine power so all-
encompassing that it includes the speaker too. In this way, the speaker feels fortified against
any trials or tribulations that life—or death—may throw their way, because nothing can
compare to the vastness of this eternal life source.

Form
The poem is made up of seven quatrains, or four-line stanzas. This steadiness of these
stanzas, with their regular meter and rhyme, makes the poem feel predictable, confident,
and sure-footed. The poem's form thus reflects the speaker's steadfast faith: the poem's
form is as constant and unshakable as the speaker's belief in a vast, all-knowing, and "ever-
present Deity."

It's also worth noting that the poem is quite sparing in its use of punctuation. Many lines are
enjambed, which allows the poem to flow smoothly down the page even as its form remains
quite strict.

Meter
The poem is written in alternating lines of iambic trimeter and pentameter. Odd-numbered
lines contain three iambs, poetic feet that follow a da-DUM syllable pattern. Take line 21, for
example:

Though earth | and moon | were gone

Even-numbered lines, meanwhile, have five iambs. That means they have the same da-DUM
rhythm as the odd-numbered lines, but four more syllables (remember that each iamb
consists of two syllables, and there are two more iambs here). As an example, here's line 22:

And suns | and u- | nivers- | es ceased | to be

There are many moments in the poem when the speaker diverges from this pattern for
emphasis, however. Take line 2, which might be scanned as follows:

No tremb- | ler in | the world's | storm-troub- | led sphere

The fourth foot here is a spondee, meaning there are two strong beats in a row ("storm
troub-"). Combined with the iamb before it, there are actually three stressed beats in a row!
As a result, the troubles of the world stand out to the reader's ear. The forcefulness of the
phrase reflects the power of those troubles. (Some readers might heat a stressed beat on
that initial "No" as well!)

The speaker also often starts lines with stressed beats, adding a bit of oomph to the verse.
Take line 7:

Life, that | in me | hast rest

And line 9:

Vain are | the thou- | sand creeds

Both lines begin with trochees, feet that go DA-dum, before falling back into steady iambs.
Such moments add interest and intensity to the poem without totally diverging from its
steady beat.

The poem's meter defies expectations in a more subtle way as well. While common meter
was often used for hymns and ballads, and would perhaps have been an obvious choice for
a poem about God, the meter here is almost the opposite of common meter: common meter
uses longer lines of tetrameter (lines with four feet) followed by shorter lines of trimeter
(again, lines with three feet), but this poem starts with shorter trimeter lines and follows
them up with longer ones (in this case pentameter).

The effect is striking: short, declarative lines, such as line 1 ("No coward soul is mine") are
followed by longer, more expansive lines that seem to explain or build on the preceding
statements ("No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere"). By starting with more
declarative lines and then extrapolating, the poem takes on an assured, confident
tone—fitting for a poem about the power of unshakeable faith.

Rhyme Scheme
The poem follows a strict ABAB rhyme scheme in each stanza. That means that the first and
third lines of each stanza rhyme with each other, as do the second and fourth.

On one level, the steady rhyme scheme simply adds to the poem's confident, assured tone:
the predictable pattern of rhyme reflects the speaker's unwavering faith in God.

More subtly, the back-and-forth nature of the rhyme scheme might evoke the speaker's
relationship to God; God doesn't just exist above or around the speaker, but inside of and
through the speaker as well. In other words, the line between God and God's creations isn't
hard and defined, but instead is porous, a kind of exchange between creator and created.

And although Brontë chose not to use common meter (which was used for church hymns
and a lot of religious poems), it's worth noting that the rhyme scheme is the one generally
associated with church music. So even though the poem defies some expectations that
Victorian readers might have had, the rhyme scheme still evokes the sense of reverence that
a hymn might. This may not be a conventional Victorian poem about God, but it is still a
poem about God written during Victorian times.

Speaker
It's possible to read the poem's speaker as being Emily Brontë herself, and the poem as thus
expressing her personal beliefs about God. That said, the speaker remains anonymous
throughout the poem; there are no indications of this person's age, gender, occupation, etc.
The poem focuses entirely on the speaker's faith rather than their identity. This makes
sense, given that the speaker believes that "Every Existence" exists within God—that
everything that ever was is a part of God. God, in other words, is who matters here.

Setting
The poem doesn't have a specific setting. It's about the speaker's faith, which isn't tied to a
certain time or place. The closest thing to a physical setting in this poem is the speaker's
description of the "storm-troubled sphere" on which they live (i.e., the earth). In other words,
the world is a difficult place.

The lack of setting here reflects the speaker's belief that God encompasses the entire world;
that God's "wide-embracing love" permeates everything that is or ever was. The speaker is
so certain of God's infinitude that they go so far as to imagine a future in which the "earth
and moon [are] gone" and "suns and universes cease[] to be." Even in this difficult-to-
imagine future where everything the speaker has ever known is utterly unrecognizable, the
speaker is certain that none of these things would really be gone—they would continue to
"exist in [God]." In other words, God contains everything that's ever been or ever will be.

Paraphrase
My soul is no coward. It doesn't quiver with fear in the face of all the stormy troubles of
world. My faith glows just as brightly as the wonders of Heaven and shields me against fear.

Oh, God, who is inside my heart: you are a supreme, all-powerful being who is always there.
The life you created is welcomed in me, and I have immortality through you.

The countless religions that drive other people are completely, utterly ineffective, worth no
more than dried-up weeds or the most frivolous seafoam in the middle of the vast, open
ocean.

Those other beliefs have no power to whip up doubt in someone with such steady faith in
your endless existence, who is so tightly fastened to your unmoving stone of everlasting life.

With all-encompassing love, your essence is what fills everything with endless life. It feels the
sky above and hangs over the world, shaping, destroying, and nurturing everything below.

Even if the earth and the moon were to disappear, and all the stars and galaxies were to
blink out of existence, and you were left by yourself: even then, everything that has ever
existed would continue to live within you.

There is no space for death, no particle that death's strength could dissolve, because you are
the vital force of life, and what you are can never be destroyed.

Summary
The poem begins with the speaker stating that she is untouched by fear. The love she has
for God, and the power with which she has been bestowed, due to that love, make her
unafraid of death.

She describes others who are not of the same moral caliber as she is, and sees them as less.
She calls them “Vain” and makes sure to inform the reader that any temptation that might
come her way is hopeless against the “boundless main” which is her faith.

The speaker knows that God’s love is without limits. There is nothing that could happen to
her, or happen to the world that would eradicate that. The poem concludes with the speaker
once more stating that although death is powerful “he” is nothing against the strength of
God.

Analysis

Stanza One
No coward soul is mine
No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere
I see Heaven’s glories shine
And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear

The speaker begins this piece by making it clear to the audience that her soul is untroubled.
It is not cowardly, nor does it “tremble” at the troubles of the world. There is nothing in the
world, she claims, no matter how awful, that could shake the foundations of her soul.

In the next two lines, the reader is provided with the reasoning behind this assertion. She
has her faith in God, she sees “Heaven’s glories shine” and is protected from everything. The
power of Heaven is a part of her and it arms her from “Fear.” It is the only weapon, or
defense, that she needs to make her way through her life.

Stanza Two
O God within my breast
Almighty ever-present Deity
Life, that in me hast rest,
As I Undying Life, have power in Thee

The next stanzas of ‘No Coward Soul Is Mine’ are spoken directly to God. She is praising
“Him” while also explaining to the reader that the “Almighty,” omni, or “ever-present” force
of Him within her is what is giving her the confidence to face the world. He has provided her
with “Life” and that life within her is a representation of God’s “Undying Life.”

Stanza Three
Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men’s hearts, unutterably vain,
Worthless as withered weeds
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main

While the speaker’s heart might be pure and full of God, other people’s hearts are not so
well protected.

The speaker is meditating on all the endless things that “move men’s hearts.” They are
moved by “creeds” that are “unutterably vain.” She is speaking of all the human wants that
drive men and women forward from money to a love that is not for God. She condemns
these types of people. She feels utter contempt for how they live their lives and their faith, if
they have any, in God. The speaker refers to those that are not as strong as she is as being
“Vain.” These people might give in to the temptations of the world, but she would never do
that.

The next lines continue into stanza four. One must complete the phrase to the end, to
understand the beginning.

The speaker is saying that she is so steadfast in her morality and faith that any doubt that
might be present is “Worthless as withered weeds” in the “boundless” and endlessly
powerful ocean. If they are present, they are unable to influence her. Just as “idlest froth” in
the ocean has no impact on the currents.

Stanza Four
To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by thy infinity,
So surely anchored on
The steadfast rock of Immortality.
She is the one to whom she refers in this first line. It is her faith that is impenetrable and
without room for doubt. The speaker is the way she is because she is “Holding so fast” and is
“surely anchored” on the rock that is “Immortality.” She has her mindset on God and heaven
and there is nothing she would do to jeopardize that.

Stanza Five
With wide-embracing love
Thy spirit animates eternal years
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears

The “spirit” of God that is present in the world is all-powerful. It is like a “wide-embracing
love” that “Pervades” through all the years of life. It might change form, or create” or “rear,”
but it is always there.

Stanza Six
Though earth and moon were gone
And suns and universes ceased to be
And Thou wert left alone
Every Existence would exist in thee

In the second to last quatrain of ‘No Coward Soul Is Mine’, the speaker proposes a future in
which every part of our known world has vanished. There is no Earth, or Moon, and neither
are there “suns and universes.” All of these bodies have “ceased to be” but God has not. His
“Existence” would hold all that was lost.

Stanza Seven
There is not room for Death
Nor atom that his might could render void
Since thou art Being and Breath
And what thou art may never be destroyed.

The speaker concludes ‘No Coward Soul Is Mine’ by once more speaking of her lack of fear
about death. She makes clear to the reader that there is “not room for Death” in her world.
Death has no power over her and there is no “atom” of his “might” that would touch God’s
power.

God consumes everything and everyone, from every “Being” to every “Breath.” He can never
be destroyed, even by something as seemingly powerful as “Death.”

Themes

The Power of Faith

The speaker of “No Coward Soul Is Mine” expresses an unshakeable belief in the strength
and goodness of God, that “ever-present Deity.” Despite living in a world of suffering and
loss, the speaker sees no reason to despair: a deep faith in God assures the speaker that all
life is everlasting and that death has no real power. Holding this kind of rock-solid faith, this
poem suggests, allows one to have courage in the face of even the most terrible trials.

The speaker sees God as both all-powerful and always around. The speaker says that God
“animates eternal years” (that is, gives life to eternity) and is “the steadfast rock of
immortality.” In other words, God will never ever die, and thus will always be creating things
and imbuing them with strength and power.

Not only is God all-powerful, this speaker argues: God, in fact, lives within the speaker—right
within the speaker's “breast” (or heart). God’s boundless power is thus always accessible to
the speaker. And because of this, the speaker feels that they, too, are a form of “Undying
life,” and that they “have power in [God].” In other words, God’s constant presence means
that the speaker is never alone nor vulnerable.

Unshakably convinced that this almighty God is always there for guidance and protection,
the speaker feels safe from all the dangers of the world. The speaker isn’t worried about any
of the world’s many “creeds” (or systems of belief) “waken[ing] doubt” in God. The speaker is
simply too convinced of God’s “wide-embracing love” to be shaken by merely human ideas
about what God might be like: the speaker's relationship with God is too personal for that!

That confidence isn’t just about the speaker’s own relationship with God, but about God’s
relationship with everything. In fact, the speaker says, even if the “earth and moon were
gone / And suns and universes ceased to be,” all of these things would somehow continue to
exist as part of God’s very being. And since God “may never be destroyed,” death cannot
“render void” (or annihilate) anything. Basically, the speaker sees God as a giant, protective
bubble inside of which everything, including the speaker, is safe from lasting harm.

A faith like this, the speaker suggests, keeps one from being a “coward”: belief in God lends
the speaker a kind of holy courage. Despite the “storm-troubled” world that the speaker lives
in, the speaker is “No trembler.” In other words, the speaker isn’t afraid even in difficult
times; faith in God “arm[s]” (or steels and fortifies) the speaker against fear. Feeling “God
within [their] breast” gives the speaker a sense of power. Knowing that God made the
speaker, and that the speaker is therefore part of God, assures the speaker that they, too,
are a part of “Undying life.” The speaker’s unshakeable faith thus means that not even death
seems frightening.

Literary Devices
Literary devices are tools that writers use to create meaning in their texts. It is through these
devices they convey their emotions, feelings, and ideas to the readers. The analysis of the
devices used in the poem is as follows.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound
of /e/ in “No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere” and the sound of /o/ in “Though
earth and moon were gone.”

Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the
sound of /r/ in “No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere” and the sound of /n/ in
“And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear.”

Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break;
rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

“No Coward Soul is Mine

No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere
I see Heaven’s glories shine
And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear”

Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Emily
Bronte used imagery in this poem, such as “And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear”,
“Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears” and “And what thou art may never be
destroyed.”

Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects

different in nature. The poet has used faith as an extended metaphor in the poem to show
how it gives power to those who hold it firmly in their lives.”

Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic
meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as
faith, death, troubles, and forbearance.

Poetic Devices
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an
analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and
impressive images.

End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. The writer has used end
rhyme in this poem, such as; “gone/alone”, “be/thee” and “death/breath.”

Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza
is quatrain.

Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABAB rhyme Scheme, and this pattern continues till the
end.

Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are seven stanzas in this poem, with
each comprising four verses.

Literary and Historical Context

Literary Context
Emily Brontë published “No Coward Soul Is Mine” in 1846. The poem appeared in Poems of
Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, these names being male pseudonyms for Emily and her sisters
Charlotte and Anne.

The collection was assembled after Charlotte Brontë discovered a manuscript of poems
Emily had been working on in secret. Emily eventually agreed to release the poems in the
hope that their publication would earn the sisters some much-needed money.
Unfortunately, the original edition only sold two copies, and despite sending it out to
prominent poets of the time, the sisters failed to drum up much interest. The little
commentary it did obtain, however, was particularly favorable towards the poems written by
“Ellis”—a.k.a. Emily. These were the only poems she published before her death (although
nearly 200 other poems would be later discovered).

Only a year after the disappointing reception to Poems, Brontë went on to publish her now-
acclaimed novel Wuthering Heights. Both her poetry and her novel stood out amidst the
prim, proper, and pious attitudes of Victorian society. The intense emotiveness of her work,
as well as her preoccupations with love, nature, the imagination, and death, linked Brontë
more to the earlier Romantic poets (such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor
Coleridge) and to Gothic writers.
Her other poems touch on themes similar to those found here: in “A Day Dream,” for
example, a dejected speaker is comforted by joyous spirits of nature who argue that life is
only a kind of prelude to death, and that death is therefore not something to be feared. “A
Day Dream,” like “No Coward Soul Is Mine,” also speaks to the “perva[sive]” nature of God as
the speaker says, “Methought, the very breath I breathed / Was full of sparks divine.”

Historical Context
Brontë was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1818. Her father, Patrick, was an ordained priest
for the Church of England, and both her parents were writers. Brontë admired her diligent
and pious father even while developing a rather nonconformist and individual relationship
to God. Like the speaker of this poem, who can be read as a representation of Brontë
herself, she was uninterested in the “creeds,” or religious doctrines, that dominated much of
Victorian life, and rarely attended church services.

The world in which Brontë lived and wrote could easily be described as the “storm-troubled
sphere” that the speaker references in this poem. Queen Victoria came to power in England
in 1837, right around the time that Brontë’s earliest poems are dated. The Victorian era was
a time of intense transformation in British life, thanks in large part to the industrialization of
society and the subsequent growth of the middle class. For someone who found solace,
inspiration, and a relationship to God through nature, the massive shift from country to city
life likely represented an unwelcome and uncertain future, perhaps prompting Brontë to
consider a time when "suns and universes" would "cease[] to be."

The Victorian era was also a time of religious upheaval, with various forms of Christianity
battling amongst each other and against a rise in secularism. This poem's focus on the
speaker's individual, unshakable faith can be read as a response to the many swirling
"creeds" of Brontë's day.

2. Poem “When I am dead, my dearest” by Christina Rossetti

When I am dead, my dearest by Christina Rossetti

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,

I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

Author: Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of
romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She
also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Britain: "In the Bleak Midwinter",
later set by Gustav Holst, Katherine Kennicott Davis, and Harold Darke, and "Love Came
Down at Christmas", also set by Darke and other composers. She was a sister of the artist
and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti and features in several of his paintings.

Introduction
The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti wrote "Song (When I am dead, my dearest)" in 1848 at
the age of 18, though it wasn't published until 1862 in her collection Goblin Market and
Other Poems. The poem focuses on death and mourning, with the speaker urging a loved
one not to waste too much time grieving for her when she dies. Instead, the speaker tells
this person to move on with life: while the speaker isn't exactly sure what happens after
death, she does seem sure that she won't notice whether or not the living remember her.

Form
The poem is made up of two octaves, or eight-line stanzas. These can be further broken up
into quatrains (four-line stanzas) based on their rhyme scheme (each set of four lines follows
an ABCB pattern).

The lines also predictably vary in length: odd-numbered lines are generally a syllable or two
longer than even-numbered lines. As such, readers might consider these to be loose ballad
stanzas (four-line stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes and alternating lines of eight and six
syllables). This makes sense, given that the poem is a "song": ballads were often set to
music.

Meter
The poem is written in loose ballad meter (a.k.a. a less strict version of common meter). Odd-
numbered lines use iambic tetrameter (four iambs, da-DUMs, per line) and even-numbered
lines use iambic trimeter (three iambs per line). This meter is common in church hymns and
adds to the musical feeling of this poem.

The meter isn't strict, however, as readers can see from the getgo:

When I | am dead, | my dear- | est,

The poem starts out in a clear iambic rhythm, but it's missing its final expected stressed beat
(the line has seven syllables instead of eight). In fact, there are only two odd-numbered lines
in the poem that are true tetrameter: lines 3 and 11. (As such, the meter is something called
catalectic iambic tetrameter here—which just means that the lines are missing their final
beats.)

The speaker also plays with the placement of stressed beats. While line 2 has the expected
six syllables of an iambic trimeter line, readers might hear a stress on that third beat
(creating a foot called a spondee):

Sing no | sad songs | for me;

Readers might even hear a stress on that initial "Sing," adding yet more force to the
speaker's instructions. The same thing happens in line 5:

Be the | green grass | above | me

The first foot here is a trochee (DUM-da) followed by another spondee (and, like line 1,
there's no final stressed beat here).
Moments like this add emphasis to the speaker's commands, granting the poem a sense of
confidence and authority even as the speaker is asking for something quite untraditional: to
be unmourned after she dies.

Rhyme Scheme
The poem has a specific rhyme scheme associated with ballads. Each quatrain, or four-line
stanza, rhymes:

ABCB

In other words, even lines rhyme with each other, while odd lines don't rhyme at all. In the
first stanza, this means that "me" in line 2 rhymes with "tree" in line 4, and "wet" in line 6
rhymes with "forget" in line 8. These rhymes add musicality to the poem, making it all the
more memorable and song-like.

It's also worth noting that, despite being a short poem, the speaker repeats a rhyme word:
"forget." The repetition of this word at the end of both stanzas emphasizes the possibility of
forgetting over remembering. It seems the speaker doesn't really imagine that she'll feel too
attached to this world after she has died, and for this reason, she doesn't expect her loved
one to spend too much time missing her.

Speaker
The speaker is someone who is imagining her own death and imploring a loved one not to
mourn her when the times comes. She believes that she won't be around to appreciate the
gestures of the living, and that the living have their own lives on which they ought to focus
(seeing as their time on earth is also limited).

The poem doesn't tell readers anything about the speaker's age, gender, health, etc., which
makes the poem's message feel universal: anyone considering their own mortality might
identify with it.

That said, it's worth noting the similarities between the speaker and the poet. Rossetti spent
most of her life struggling with illness and had reason to contemplate her own mortality
from a young age. She was only 18 years old when she penned this poem; by the time she
wrote "Remember" a year later, a poem which deals with very similar themes, her attitude
towards being remembered or forgotten after death seems to have deepened, though her
general argument remains the same.

Setting
In a way, the poem is set in the speaker's imagination: she's looking ahead to a time when
she has passed from this earth. In this imagined future, the speaker wants her loved one to
carry on with life and not bother with "plant[ing] roses" or "cypress tree[s]" at her
headstone. As far as she's concerned, the "green grass" that will continue to grow above her
body and the rain that falls on her plot of earth is enough.

She goes on to imagine a setting that she herself will not be able to "see," "feel," or "hear":
she describes "shadows" and "rain" and a singing "nightingale," a kind of songbird, all of
which she will be unaware. Instead, she will be "dreaming through [a] twilight / That doth
not rise or set." In other words, she will be asleep to the world; regardless of whether or not
she is able to remember it, she won't be able to experience it.

Paraphrase
When I'm no longer alive, my darling, don't sing any sorrowful songs for me. Don't plant any
roses or shade-giving cypress trees by my headstone. Just let the grass be green above me,
and wet with rain and dew. And if you remember me, then remember me. And if you forget
me, then forget me.

I won't see the gloominess. I won't feel the rain. I won't hear the nightingale singing as if it
were hurting. When I'm dreaming in that half-light of death, which that doesn't grow
brighter or fade into darkness, maybe I'll remember, and maybe I'll forget.

Summary
Christina Rossetti’s poem “When I am Dead, My Dearest” has two stanzas and each
addresses different issues. In the first stanza, she talks about what she expects her loved
ones to do after her death while in the second, she talks about what she will do after her
death.

In the first stanza of “When I am Dead, My Dearest,” the speaker asks her near and dear
ones not to sing sad songs for her. She further demands of them not to plant roses and not
even shady cypress trees. Instead, she asks them to let there be the green grass above her
that is soaked by showers and dewdrops. Finally, she asks them to remember if they wish to
and to forget if their wishes are so. However, this is only about living beings.

In the second stanza of “When I am Dead, My Dearest,” the speaker makes several
announcements about what she will do once she is dead. It specifically deals with the poet’s
experience in the grave. She says that she will neither see the shadows nor feel the rain.
Moreover, she will not even hear the sad songs of the nightingale. She promises to dream
during the twilight but cannot guarantee if she can remember or forget her dearest.

What the speaker is not certain about is whether she will still share emotions and feelings
after her death with her dearest.

Analysis

Stanza One
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

Song is divided into two verses, each with eight lines, each of which could be further broken
down into two quatrains, rhyming off an ABCB pattern. There is a clear rhythm and beat to
this work, and it is structured so as to flow in the most natural way for the reader. The
content of the poem follows an unnamed narrator speaking to another individual identified
only as “my dearest,” a strong word choice that instills deeply-felt emotion into the first line
of the poem. The verse uses alliteration heavily to create pleasant sounds; the “dead” and
“dearest” in the first line and the “sing,” “sad,” and “songs” in the second lie, for instance, give
off a simple and calm atmosphere to the work.

The speaker is saying to someone important to them that they should not grieve once the
narrator passes away. They cite off some of the things that people do in remembrance, such
as placing flowers at a gravesite, writing sad songs, and planting trees, and asks that these
rituals are not observed. Instead, they ask their companion to “be the green grass above
me.” Grass is a plant that can be stepped on, drowned in rain, or put through drought and
continue to grow. “Being the grass” is a likely metaphor for enduring, and continuing to
move forward with life. The last two lines use repetition to emphasize the idea that whether
their companion wishes to remember or forget the speaker, it is all the same. By changing
only one work in those lines, Rossetti creates a sense of calm and creed; “and if thou wilt”
very much embodies this idea that grief is personal and that it is important for their
companion to think about what they would like, rather than what the dead would like.

Stanza Two
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain;
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

In the second verse, the speaker discusses their own experience after passing, but there is
not much for them to say, as they are still alive. Instead, they focus on what they will not
experience, and in each example, a sense of sorrow is instilled in the poem. There will be no
“shadows;” no “rain,” and no “painful” songs from the nightingales. Each word creates an
image of dark, with the rain especially emulating the image of tears. Once again, repetition
is used to great effect, influencing what the speaker “shall not” know of, without really
understanding what they “shall” be. The unfathomable nature of death to the living is
another strong theme echoed throughout this poem, and just as the nature of grieving can
be embodied by “if thou wilt,” the abstract nature of death can be embodied with “I shall
not.”

In the second half of this verse, the speaker does touch slightly on what they believe death
will be like. This time, the images are ambiguous and vague; they consider it to be like
dreaming of an infinite twilight. The image of a dream calls to mind the idea of something
that is simultaneously real and imagined, while the image of twilight is one that is both light
and dark at once. The verse and poem concludes with an inverse of the theme that ended
the previous verse; this time it is the speaker who may be remembering or forgetting, but it
is unclear exactly what they have focused their mind on — life? Their companion? It is
ambiguous; vague. It is treated as such in the text, but that first verse that speaks of not
mourning death, but moving on with life suggests that while the speaker is not entirely
prepared to conceive of death as a good thing, it is certainly inevitable, and so they are
choosing not to think of it as a bad thing either.

Themes

Love, Death, and Mourning

The speaker of “When I Am Dead, My Dearest” tells a loved one not to worry about
remembering her after she has died, because she won’t be able to tell the difference: in
death, the speaker says, she will be far removed from the concerns of this world, with no
awareness as to whether or not her "dearest" mourns her. The speaker isn’t even sure if she
will remember her beloved in the mysterious “twilight” of death. For this speaker, the usual
ceremonies around death and grieving are done more for the living than the dead—on
whom there’s simply no point in wasting too much energy.
The poem begins with the speaker addressing a loved one who would mourn her if she were
to die. With a striking lack of sentimentality, the speaker instructs this person not to grieve
her when the time comes. This person should “Sing no sad songs” to mark the speaker’s
passing, nor plant “roses” and “cypress tree[s]” (plants often planted to commemorate the
dead) by the speaker’s grave.

Instead, all the speaker needs above her grave is green grass, wet with rain and dew. In
other words, nothing special! This growing grass reflects the natural world moving on above
the speaker's grave, unaffected by her passing. Symbolically, it also suggests that the
speaker hopes her beloved will likewise move on—that this person will focus on living rather
than on mourning the dead.

The speaker goes on to say that whether she’s remembered or forgotten doesn’t really
matter, given that she won’t be around to notice. After death, the speaker will no longer “see
the shadows,” “feel the rain,” nor “hear the nightingale” singing.

Whether this is because her spirit will have moved on to better things or because she has
simply ceased to exist, the speaker doesn't anticipate a lingering attachment to this world.
Instead, the speaker imagines death as “dreaming through [a] twilight / That doth not rise
nor set”—a kind of eternal sleep, in which she’ll be unaware of what’s happening on earth.

The speaker also doesn’t know whether she’ll be able to remember life on earth while in this
endless slumber. The speaker ends the poem by saying they may “Haply [...] remember” or
“haply [...] forget” the things that happened while she was alive. The word “haply,” which
means by chance or luck, implies that the speaker isn’t sure what will become of her own
memories after she dies. In a sense, she’s telling her beloved that it’s okay to forget her
without knowing for certain that the forgetting will be mutual.

The poem ultimately suggests that the mysteriousness of death justifies not wasting what
little time one has on earth. It’s important not to expend too much energy on those who
won't be around to appreciate it.

Symbols

Roses and the Cypress Tree

The roses and cypress trees in the poem symbolize traditional mourning—the typical ways in
which the living go about commemorating the dead.

This symbolism has deep roots: the ancient Greeks and Romans associated the cypress tree
with death because of its inability to regrow if cut back too much, and it's one of the most
common trees planted in cemeteries across European and Muslim countries. Roses, of
course, are linked with love and are often placed at loved ones' headstones.

Importantly, roses and cypress trees are also alive. In a way, then, they also represent the
idea that the mourning rituals people partake cannot reach the dead. Such rituals stem from
the world of the living, and are done for the living themselves.

That's why the speaker of this poem asks that she not be mourned with roses and cypress
trees. As far as she can see, there's no point in these rituals because once she's dead, she
won't be around to appreciate them. She would rather her loved one move on, regardless of
whether that means remembering or forgetting their time together.

Green Grass
The "green grass" here symbolizes the way that life carries on in the face of death. Such
grass will grow and thrive above the speaker's grave, and this speaks to the way that the
world will keep on turning after the speaker dies.

The grass, then, is also a symbol of what the speaker hopes for her beloved: that this person
will continue to grow and flourish in her absence.

The color green itself often symbolizes youth, spring, and rebirth. Perhaps, then, the green
grass here further suggests that the speaker will be reborn in some way, existing in some
kind of afterlife where she may or may not remember her time on earth (or simply that her
body will nourish the ground on which the grass grows).

The Nightingale
The nightingale (a kind of songbird) has been a symbol of lament (a passionate expression
of grief, sorrow, or mourning) in classical literature since the ancient Greeks first associated
it with Philomela.

According to myth, Philomela was a princess of Athens who was raped by her sister's
husband, King Tereus of Thrace. When she threatened to tell everyone about his crime,
Tereus cut out her tongue. Later, she exacted revenge on him (there are many variations of
this part of the story), and when he came after her in a rage, the gods turned Philomela into
a nightingale so that she could his wrath.

In this poem, the speaker says that once she is dead, she will no longer hear the
nightingale's lament. On the surface, this paints death as a kind of relief from the pain and
sorrow of this world. Yet, at the same time, the nightingale's song is also renowned for its
beauty. It commonly represents not just sorrow, but also the beauty of nature and the
artistry of poets. As such, the nightingale in this poem is a symbol of all the things the dead
can no longer feel once they are gone: sadness and beauty and sorrow and joy.

Literary Devices
Literary devices are powerful tools that allow writers to create meaningful nuances in the
poems. There are many literary devices used in the poem, whose analysis is as follows.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound
of /e/ in “When I am dead, my dearest” and the sound of /o/ in “Plant thou no roses at my
head.”

Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses.
The writer has repeated the words “I shall” in the second stanza of the poem to emphasize
the point, such as;

“I shall not see the shadows,

I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale.”

Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the
sound of /t/ in “And dreaming through the twilight” and the sound of /h/ in “I shall not hear
the nightingale.”

Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break;
rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,”

Epigraph: It is a device used in a form of a poem, quote, or sentence, usually placed at the
beginning of the poem to suggest the overall theme of the poem. Christina has used this
device in the opening lines where it is stated as;

“When I am dead, my dearest,

Sing no sad songs for me;”

Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses.
Christina has used imagery in this poem such as; “Plant thou no roses at my head,”, “With
showers and dewdrops wet” and “I shall not hear the nightingale.”

Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects

different in nature. The poet has used death as an extended metaphor to show how it
transports us to a new world and cuts our connection to the previous world.

Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic
meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem uses symbols like death,
acceptance, and suggestions.

Poetic Devices
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an
analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and
impressive images.

End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Christina Rossetti has used
end rhyme in this poem, such as; “tree/me”, “wet/forget” and “rain/pain.”

Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are two stanzas in this poem, with each
comprising eight verses.

Literary and Historical Context

Literary Context
Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) was well-known in her lifetime, a rarity for poets, and
particularly rare for a woman in Victorian England.

She began writing at an early age, finishing "Song (When I am dead, my dearest)" when she
was only 18. A year later, Rossetti would revisit themes of death and mourning in her poem
“Remember." In this second poem, she again urges a loved one not to worry too much about
forgetting her after her death. Both poems would later appear in her first collection, “Goblin
Market and Other Poems,” which was published in 1862.

Many of Rosetti's poems focus on mortality, religious devotion, and the complexities of
women’s lives in a conservative Victorian society. She has often been compared to her
predecessor Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whose work shares some similarities with
Rossetti's. However, Rossetti’s work is generally considered to be less political and simpler in
its language and expression of ideas. Other influences include Dante and Petrarch (her
father’s ties to Italy meant that she was well-schooled in Italian forms such as the Petrarchan
sonnet), the Bible, and fairy tales and folklore.

Many of Rosetti's early poems were also imitations of other poets’ work, and “Song” has
often been compared to John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” particularly in
its attitude towards mourning. Its ideas also resemble some of those presented in John
Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale."

Rossetti wrote more than a dozen books over her lifetime. There was a resurgence of critical
interest in her work towards the end of the 20th century as feminist scholars took interest in
it. Part of her mass appeal has been what her brother, the famed Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante
Gabriel Rossetti, described as her talent for “artless art”—that is, art that appears simple and
uncontrived on the surface, but which is effective, moving, and nuanced when readers dig
deeper.

Historical Context
In 1843 Rossetti's father became ill and was unable to continue teaching and supporting the
family. Rosetti was left at home to take care of her father, though she herself fell ill in 1845.
This illness was diagnosed as a heart condition at the time, though a different doctor
believed her symptoms were psychosomatic and that she was dealing with mental illness. In
any case, according to her brother William in a posthumous preface to her poetry, she went
from being a vivacious and passionate girl to a formal, controlled, and restrained adult.

Poems like “Song” and “Remember” reveal Rossetti’s preoccupation with her poor health and
her fear that she would die an early death. But she also lived in a world that was defined by
drastic, revolutionary change and the conservative backlash that followed.

England reinvented itself under Queen Victoria, and while this time period prompted a great
deal of expansion and innovation, it also saw the return to traditional family values. Women
were expected to conform to strict expectations regarding everything from education to
sexuality and marriage. In spite of—or, perhaps, in reaction to—these restrictive norms,
female writers such as Rosetti began to write about (and receive popular and critical
recognition for) their own lives, affirming the importance and meaningfulness of women’s
experiences.

3. Poem “This Is a Photograph of Me” by Margaret Atwood

This Is a Photograph of Me by Margaret Atwood

It was taken some time ago.
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

then, as you scan

it, you see in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.
In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken

the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center

of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where

precisely, or to say
how large or small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion

but if you look long enough,

eventually
you will be able to see me.)

Author: Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary
critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published
18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight
children's books, and two graphic novels, and a number of small press editions of both
poetry and fiction. Atwood has won numerous awards and honors for her writing, including
two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Governor General's Award, the Franz
Kafka Prize, Princess of Asturias Awards, and the National Book Critics and PEN Center USA
Lifetime Achievement Awards. A number of her works have been adapted for film and
television.

Introduction
“This is a Photograph of Me” opens The Circle Game, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood’s
1964 collection of poetry. As the speaker of this free verse poem describes a blurry
photograph to the audience, the image's implications continuously transform. As such, the
photograph becomes a means of exploring the malleability of history and truth, particularly
with regard to the suppression of marginalized voices. In doing so, it sets the stage for the
rest of The Circle Game, which centers female perspectives and experiences that have long
been subsumed under male-dominated histories. The poem’s short, uneven lines and
stanzas mirror the fragmented, ever-changing nature of history.

Form
This poem does not follow a traditional, established form, and is instead broken six stanzas
of varying length—some as short as two lines, others as long as seven. The stanza breaks
demarcate individual vignettes within the photograph, providing organization as the
speaker moves between them, guiding the audience through its image.

In the first stanza, the speaker introduces the photograph as a blurry, ambiguous print. In
the second stanza, a picturesque landscape begins to take shape, though its precise subject
matter remains vague (“balsam or spruce,” “a thing that is like a branch,” “what ought to be a
gentle slope”). At five and seven lines respectively, these first two stanzas are relatively long
in comparison with the rest of the poem. They are also syntactically complex and their
imagery is hazy.
Conversely, the next three stanzas are succinct couplets that each consist of a single,
comparatively straightforward sentence. These couplets offer brief moments of clarity as the
speaker plainly states information about the photograph, including the fact that it pictures
the speaker’s lifeless body. The simplified structure helps ground the reader before
additional ambiguities are introduced in the following stanza, which contains five lines and
marks a return to more complex language. The final stanza is a tercet (meaning it has three
lines) that encourages the audience to consider the photograph at length.

Parentheses enclose the second half to the poem, which explains that the speaker is in fact
in the photograph, as a drowned body. Parentheses indicate that the information they
contain is supplemental and non-essential. As such, they suggest that the speaker’s
experience and perspective are de-prioritized (if not entirely absent) within the photograph’s
composition and standard presentation.

Plus, the revelation that the speaker is dead occurs halfway through the poem, so it is
physically "under the surface" of the photograph's surface meanings. Due to the relatively
symmetrical form of the text, those earlier interpretations appear as a distorted reflection of
what the photo truly represents.

In general, the poem’s lines are very short, containing between 2 and 11 syllables. Further,
most lines are enjambed, creating a choppy rhythm. The fragmented lines reflect the
speaker's commentary on the nature of history—the photograph represents multiple,
disparate truths, none of which are complete on their own. Additionally, as the reader’s gaze
traces the short lines, it rapidly shifts from the end of one to the beginning of the next,
creating a scanning effect. Here is a look at lines 6-7:

then, as you scan

it, you see in the left-hand corner

As such, the poem’s structure causes the audience to move through the poem in the same
manner that it encourages them to consider the photograph—carefully examining it from
corner to corner.

Meter
This is a free verse poem, so it does not have a consistent, underlying pattern of stressed
and unstressed syllables. On the contrary, its meter is unpredictable, constantly changing to
steer the poem’s rhythm and emphasize key ideas. For example, the first stanza contains a
high concentration of stressed syllables:

It was taken some time ago.

At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

The abundance of stresses slows the rhythm, lingering at length on important phrases like
“smeared / print: blurred lines and grey flecks.” The meter thus immediately establishes and
characterizes the poem’s subject matter—an old, blurry print. At the same time, by drawing
out the first lines, the stresses ease the audience into the poem’s choppy, erratic structure.
In the second stanza, three stresses in a row land on the phrase “left-hand corner,” calling
the reader’s attention to the location of the first concrete image within the picture:

then, as you scan

it, you see in the left-hand corner

The several unstressed syllables that appear directly before this phrase exaggerate the
rhythmic emphasis that it receives. Three stresses also land on “small frame house,”
highlighting another distinct detail within the photo and leaving the reader with a strong
image at the stanza’s conclusion. Though not as dramatically, the rhythm slows again in
lines 15-16:

(The photograph was taken

the day after I drowned.

Here, stresses call attention to assonance and consonance amongst “photograph” and
“after” as well as “taken” and “day.” As such, the meter creates sonic interest and a drawn-
out cadence, slowing the reader down as an important revelation is made. Elsewhere, the
meter reflects the poem’s meaning, as in line 24:

but if you look long enough,

In this case, stresses elongate the line, mirroring the speaker’s suggestion that the audience
consider the photograph at length to understand what it truly represents.

Rhyme Scheme
This poem uses rhyme very sparingly, and the rhymes that do appear are partial and
internal—making them difficult to detect. For example, the poem’s first rhyming pairs occur
in lines 7-9:

it, you see in the left-hand corner

a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging

Here, very subtle rhyme links the forms that begin to take shape with verbs that describe
their materialization, calling attention to the first concrete image that the speaker offers.
(The "ing" sound of "emerging" is unstressed, however, so the resonance is quite subtle.)
Within these first few lines of stanza 2, there are also partial rhymes between “scan,” “left-
hand,” and “branch,” creating additional sonic interest that slows the reader down and
increases the image’s impact.

Shortly thereafter, the phrase “the day after I drowned” alerts the reader that the speaker’s
corpse is pictured in the photograph’s “background,” tainting the seemingly tranquil setting.
Rhyme exaggerates the juxtaposition of the two scenes, in turn highlighting the disparity
between what the photograph seems to represent and what it really captures.

The partial rhyme of “lake” and “taken” in the first lines of stanzas 3-5 creates continuity
among the couplets, while also bringing the speaker’s passivity and the location of the
speaker’s body to the fore. Similarly, there are partial rhymes within stanza 5 that also
underscore the speaker’s position within the photo:

I am in the lake, in the center

of the picture, just under the surface.

As the speaker is difficult to discern, the presence of rhyme helps orient the audience and
encourages them to identify the body. Finally, the poem’s only end rhyme appears within its
final two lines:
eventually
you will be able to see me.)

Internal rhymes reinforce the end rhyme, which gives authority to the speaker’s claim that
the body is discernible and implicitly urges the reader to do so. Moreover, the end rhymes
provide a sense of completion at the poem’s conclusion.

Speaker
Very little information is revealed about the speaker over the course of the poem. The only
biographical details provided identify the speaker as someone who drowned “some time
ago.” The speaker’s language is plain and straightforward—not particularly emotional or
forceful. The fact that the speaker narrates from beyond the grave accounts for the
detached tone. Meanwhile, the directness of the speaker’s commentary gives it credibility, so
that the audience has confidence in the speaker’s account even after learning that the
speaker is dead.

The speaker essentially functions as a guide, steering the audience through the photograph.
Because the speaker spends about half of the poem pointing out the corpse’s position within
the image, it is safe to say that the speaker wants onlookers to understand what this
photograph really captures “under the surface.” However, the speaker establishes that the
corpse is difficult to make out and as a result, the photograph initially presents a very
different scene. Further, the description of the body is contained within parentheses,
functioning only as an addendum. Thus, even while trying to write this reality and personal
perspective back into the photograph’s narrative, the speaker emphasizes its exclusion in
the first place.

Setting
Because the poem’s speaker has passed away, it is difficult to imagine where the audience
might gain access to the speaker’s consciousness, or vice versa. As such, it is impossible to
determine where exactly the presentation and narration of the photograph take place. Thus,
the poem’s setting is indiscernible much in the same way that the speaker’s precise location
within the photograph is hard to pinpoint.

Interestingly, the reader learns that the speaker's lifeless body is pictured about halfway
through the poem, after a blurry construal of the photograph gives way to a serene
landscape. Thus, as the photograph’s setting comes into focus, gaining depth and clarity, the
poem’s setting becomes increasingly ambiguous. This unreconcilable tension between
clarity and ambiguity is consistent with the speaker’s message that one’s understanding of
history is always incomplete.

Summary
The speaker begins to describe an old photograph from many years ago. The speaker notes
that, upon first glance, the image appears blurry, all of its fuzzy shapes mingling on the
photo paper.

The speaker then guides the reader through the photograph, first pointing out a fragment
of an evergreen tree that creeps into the frame from one of its left corners. To its right is an
incline, which the speaker says should be gradual. Halfway up the incline is a little house
whose weight is supported by a wooden frame.

The speaker describes the background of the image, drawing the audience’s attention to a
lake, behind which sit short hills.
The speaker claims, in a parenthetical statement, to have drowned on the day before the
photograph was taken.

The speaker points the audience back towards the lake at the center of the photo, where the
speaker lies lifeless right beneath its surface.

The speaker explains that it is hard to make out the corpse’s form—its exact size and
position—because light reflects off of the water, warping the body’s appearance.

However, the speaker maintains that if the audience contemplates the photo for a while,
they will be able to recognize the speaker.

Analysis

Lines 1–5
It was taken some time ago.
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

‘This Is a Photograph of Me’ begins with the description of a photograph of the speaker.
From the preliminary description, the identity of the narrator is not clear. Just like the hazy
picture, the description does not give a clear answer at all.

The title of the poem acts as the first line of this piece. It helps readers to understand what
the first stanza is all about. The poetic persona or the speaker points at the photograph by
saying it was taken a few years ago. It has a smeared print, just like one can see in an old
photograph.

Besides, there are a few hazy lines on it. Some “grey flecks” are blended with the paper of it.
The features create an image of a photograph that belongs to an old family album. Atwood
uses the epithets such as “blurred” and “grey” to help readers imagine the appearance of the
photo. After reading the next few lines, they can imagine what’s there in it.

Lines 6–12
then, as you scan
it, you see in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.

This section is connected with the previous stanza as it reveals a few characteristics of the
image. Here, Atwood’s speaker converses directly with the readers. This one-sided
conversation gives this piece an outlook of a dramatic monologue.

The narrator welcomes readers to imagine what is there in the photograph. In the left
corner, there is a thing appearing like a branch of a tree. It seems here the speaker is
referring to her family tree. She is an integral part of the image, like a tree branch.
Whatsoever this emerging branch can be of balsam or spruce. As the image is blurry, it is
hard to say what tree is there. While on the right side, there is a small house.

The onlookers do not have to move their eyes all way long to the right. It appears just
halfway to the right. The speaker might be a member of that house. In this hazy image, the
house appears to be a gentle slope. So readers have to imagine this slope is a reflection of
the house.

Lines 13–18
In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken

the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center

of the picture, just under the surface.

From this section, the description becomes clearer. At first, readers may have thought that it
was an old family photograph. From the previous stanza, it is clear there are none of them
except a branch of a tree and a small house. In this section, Atwood depicts the image’s
background showing a lake. Beyond it, there are some low hills. It can be referred to that the
speaker might live in that place or somewhere nearby.

From line 15, there is a roundabout shift in the subject matter. It topples the mental image
of the photograph in a reader’s mind. In this line, the speaker casually says that it was the
photograph taken after her death. To be specific, it was taken the day after she drowned.

Till now, it is not clear where the speaker is in that photograph. According to her, she is in
the lake. Her depiction takes the center spot just under the surface. It becomes very clear
that the poem is metaphorical. The situation is entirely conceived to convey a message; it is
not describing a real, physical situation. The photograph is a symbol. But, what it’s a symbol
of may not be entirely clear to readers yet.

Knowledge of what the poet wrote about in the rest of the collection is helpful. The Circle
Game is devoted to elevating marginalized voices, those who have been overlooked in favor
of male-dominated world history.

The photograph represents history itself. It is blurry, grainy, and hard to understand. It
conceals the truth, represented by the body in the water. If you look hard enough, you
might see the reality of society peaking through the haze.

Lines 19–26
It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion

but if you look long enough,

eventually
you will be able to see me.)
The penultimate section of the poem delves deeper into the image on which ‘This Is a
Photograph of Me’ is based. According to the speaker, it is difficult to locate her precise
position inside the lake, but if readers are attentive enough, they can visualize the image/the
true state of the world and the lives/histories of marginalized groups.

Themes

History and Erasure

The speaker of the poem describes a photograph, first presenting the whole, blurry image
and then calling the reader’s attention to various details within its quaint landscape.
However, about halfway through the poem, it is revealed that the speaker’s lifeless body is
also pictured, barely perceivable. As the photo’s narrative becomes increasingly dark and
complex, the speaker exposes the limitations of recording history. It requires simplification,
the poem implies, centering certain experiences as others fade and effectively resulting in
the erasure of those with less power.

After presenting the reader with a vague image, the speaker points out specific features and
a picturesque scene begins to take shape. This initial scan of the photograph reflects the
ease with which documents can be used to fabricate an uncomplicated version of past
events.

When first introducing the picture, the speaker emphasizes its cloudiness, using descriptors
like “smeared,” “blurred,” and “blended.” The speaker goes on to point out one corner of the
photograph, from which a tree emerges. In doing so, the speaker subtly hints that one’s
understanding of history materializes based on how that history is presented.

Indeed, the speaker says, “At first it seems to be / a smeared / print,” indicating that history
is at least as much based on interpretation of records as it is grounded in raw data. The
speaker continues to guide the reader through the image, delineating a slight incline and a
humble house in the foreground, beyond which lie a lake and hills. The speaker uses soft
language to describe the scene, such as “gentle slope,” “small frame house,” and “low hills.”
As a result, the scene appears quaint and calm.

This tranquility disappears, however, as it is revealed that the image was taken on the day
after the speaker died. The speaker urges the reader to look more closely and identify the
corpse submerged within the lake, showing that the speaker’s experience has been
obscured.

The speaker’s body is not readily apparent—so obscured, in fact, that even the speaker is
unable “to say where / precisely” it is. The speaker’s body will “eventually” emerge only after
an extended period of intent observation, indicating that the ugly, complicated realities of
the past are harder to discern than glossy, oversimplified narratives.

The speaker also calls the reflection of light off of the lake “a distortion,” suggesting that the
photograph misrepresents the scene that it captures. This “distortion” makes the speaker
unsure of “how large or how small I am,” signaling that the suffering of “small” or
disenfranchised people is easy to write off as insignificant to history.

Moreover, parentheses surround the revelation that the speaker is pictured, indicating that
this information could easily be left out. As such, they imply that the speaker’s experience of
events is seen as secondary or insignificant. Indeed, the speaker has no input into the
photo’s composition, twice saying passively that it “was taken.” Therefore, without this easily-
excisable commentary, the speaker’s perspective is entirely absent.
By uncovering multiple truths contained in the photograph, the speaker reveals that
historical narratives are often simplified and exclusionary, shaped by whoever is recording
them. As a result, the experiences of marginalized people are often erased from prevailing
histories. Still, the speaker’s form is at the “center” of the photograph, “just under the
surface,” suggesting that such obscured stories are central to understanding the past and
can be accessed.

The poem itself is an example of this—it opens Atwood’s The Circle Game, which amplifies
and immortalizes female perspectives long subsumed under male-dominated histories.
Thus, “This Is a Photograph of Me” vocalizes the experiences of those who feel shut out of
their own histories and indicates that the poems to come will illuminate such truths.

The Subjectivity of Truth

Throughout the poem, the speaker provides commentary on the photograph and calls
attention to particular details, shifting the reader’s understanding of what the photograph
represents. By providing multiple readings of the photograph and calling the reliability of
even the speaker's own interpretation into question, the speaker reveals that one’s
understanding of the “truth” is always subjective.

As the speaker describes the image, the reader’s understanding of what it depicts
continuously changes, revealing that even “objective” documents like photographs can be
interpreted in many ways. Initially, the image is hazy and difficult to make out—little more
than “blurred lines and grey flecks / blended with the paper.” This description of the
photograph as a “smeared print” is highly abstract and emphasizes the lack of clarity with
which it presents its subject.

The speaker then guides the reader through a more detailed analysis of the photograph,
using directional language (“in the left-hand corner,” “in the background”) to point out
specific forms. The speaker identifies “part of a tree” and “a small frame house” that sits on a
slope, as well as “a lake” and “some low hills.” As such, a scenic natural landscape takes
shape.

The speaker’s use of simple, understated language projects a quaint and benign image.
However, the atmosphere shifts suddenly when the reader learns that “the photograph was
taken / the day after [the speaker] drowned.” The speaker draws attention back to the lake,
which is now regarded as the resting place of the speaker’s corpse. As such, the reader is
presented with three distinct interpretations of the photograph.

Though the speaker provides a detailed, nuanced analysis of the photograph, many aspects
about it remain unknown, demonstrating that the “truth” it captures is never completely
fixed and knowable. The speaker is unable to distinguish if the tree in the corner of the
photograph is “balsam or spruce” and says that the picture contains “what ought to be a
gentle slope,” never confirming if the slope is, in fact, gradual.

The precise size and location of the body in the lake are also impossible to determine, even
by the speaker. The corpse is obscured due to “a distortion” caused by light reflecting off of
the water. The warped image further undermines the photograph’s reliability and
contradicts the idea that photographs are “objective,” as they can create optical illusions.
Moreover, the account of the photograph as a record of the speaker’s drowning is contained
within parentheses, indicating uncertainty about the necessity and significance of the
information they contain.
Therefore, rather than providing clarity about what the photograph represents, the
speaker’s narration offers several different interpretations and calls the validity of each into
question. As such, the speaker illustrates that one’s concept of the “truth” itself is based on
perception—something unfixed and easily manipulated.

Symbols

The House
The speaker points out “a small frame house” in line 12, a seemingly quaint image. However,
given the feminist themes in The Circle Game (the collection this poem opens) and Atwood’s
work more broadly, this house can also be interpreted as a symbol of domestic confinement.

The traditional, expected role of women within society has long been relegated to the
domestic sphere, and that was certainly the case in the 1960s, when this poem was
published. The speaker’s specification that the house is “small” implies restriction, while
“frame” denotes a structure supported by a wooden frame, suggesting rigidity.
Furthermore, the house is positioned “halfway up / what ought to be a gentle / slope.” The
inclusion of “ought” could indicate that the audience should be able to identify the slope
within the image, but it also suggests that the slope is not gentle, but steep. Thus, it can be
read as a signifying an unexpectedly difficult “uphill” battle. Overall, then, the house can be
interpreted as a symbol of the arduous, restrictive nature of women’s expected role within
society.

Water
Throughout the poem, water is an obscuring force—something that conceals or hides the
full reality of the situation. Water first appears in the form of a lake within a picturesque
natural landscape. However, the audience soon learns that it conceals the speaker’s lifeless
body, which is submerged “just under the surface.” The speaker goes on to comment that it
is essentially impossible to determine the body’s exact size and location—even though it is
the speaker’s own body.

The body's imperceptibility is attributed to “a distortion” caused by “the effect of water on

light.” Presumably, the speaker means that light reflects off of the water, warping the body’s
likeness within the photo. However, the speaker frames water as the distorting force,
tampering with light, which is traditionally associated with truth and clarity. In short, water
makes the speaker imperceptible to the photograph’s viewers. Thus, in the context of the
poem’s themes, water symbolizes erasure and the distortion of truth.

Light
Light makes one brief appearance in line 23, where the speaker explains why the body is so
difficult to make out, stating “the effect of water / on light is a distortion.” Among other
things, light has long been associated with truth, purity, insight, and clarity. Such an
interpretation is consistent with its usage within the poem, as water obscures a critical truth
about the image.

It is interesting to note that light plays a critical role within photography, which translates to
“drawing with light.” Photographs essentially record the amount of light that various sources
reflect or emit over the course of a timed exposure. Thus, the photograph within the poem
might be seen as a record that captures the truth of a particular moment in history, as well
as the distortion of that truth.

Literary Devices
The most important literary device of ‘This Is a Photograph of Me’ is enjambment. It is used
to internally connect the lines. Readers can find the use of this device throughout. Apart
from that, Atwood uses imagery to detail the photograph and the things present in it.

The use of simile can be found in the line, “a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree.” In this
line, the speaker compares herself to a branch of a tree. There is a metaphor in the line, “…of
the picture, just under the surface.”

In the last section, readers can find an alliteration. It is present in the phrase, “look long
enough.” Here, Atwood uses the repetition of the “l” sound for creating a transient rhythm.

Literary and Historical Context

Literary Context
“This Is a Photograph of Me” opens Atwood’s first major collection of poetry, The Circle
Game, which was published in 1964 and received the prestigious Governor General’s Award.
The title poem describes children playing Ring Around the Rosie and other games,
contrasting images of childhood frivolity with those of adulthood isolation and monotony. In
doing so, the speaker reveals that, although such games appear cheerful and innocent, they
condition young people to mindlessly conform to social expectations and remain
emotionally detached from others.

Indeed, The Circle Game takes seemingly benign objects and behaviors as its subjects and
explores the dark truths that they reveal about society. “This Is a Photograph of Me” follows
this approach by presenting a photograph that appears to depict a tranquil landscape and
later disclosing that the speaker’s lifeless body is also pictured.

Like Beat Generation writers, Atwood cites romantic poet and visual artist William Blake
(“London”) as a key influence and adopts his works’ rebellious bent and socio-political
concerns. The Circle Game was published as the counterculture of the 1960s and '70s began
to take shape. The corresponding series of liberation movements and emerging subcultures
opened up new space for women writers, whose contributions were generally wrapped up in
specific movements—sharing an emphasis on female perspectives rather than a common
style. For example, Atwood’s contemporaries include Ann Sexton (“Her Kind”) and Sylvia
Plath (“The Applicant”)—major figures in confessionalism—as well as Adrienne Rich (“Diving
into the Wreck”) and Audre Lorde (“A Litany for Survival”), who contributed to the Gay
Liberation Movement, among other causes.

One of Canada’s best-known and most prolific writers, Atwood has also published essays,
novels, graphic novels, stories, reviews, criticism, children’s books, a play, and scripts for
televisions and radio, in addition to some two dozen collections of poetry. In her 1972 survey
Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, Atwood identifies survival, particularly of
the victimized, as the preeminent concern of Canadian literature. “This Is a Photograph of
Me” directly engages with this tradition, scrutinizing the limitations of recording
history—unable to capture every coexisting narrative, it is inherently exclusionary,
threatening the survival of marginalized voices.

Historical Context
Atwood was born in Canada’s capital of Ottawa, Ontario, in November 1939, just two months
after the beginning of World War II. The conflict would continue through 1945, depleting
much of the workforce as (mostly) men fought overseas. As a result, the number of
Canadian women who held jobs doubled during the war. Further, women entered male-
dominated sectors like manufacturing, construction, logging, and farming.
However, the birthrate ballooned in the 20 years following the war’s end (1945-1965) and
women began to get married younger. Having endured the Great Depression of the 1930s
and WWII of the 40s, Canadians now faced the Red Scare. Seeking stability and security,
people turned to traditional family structures, in which a man is the breadwinning head of
the household, while his wife's responsibilities are strictly domestic. Furthermore, men’s
wages increased during this time, making it possible for more and more families to live off
of one income. Women who entered the workforce faced harassment and discrimination, in
addition to social stigmas that cast working mothers as neglectful of their familial duties.

Still, during the '60s, women entered the workforce at increasing rates, in large part due to
the introduction of “the pill”—oral contraceptives that freed women from unwanted
childbearing responsibilities. Additionally, growing movements for social and political justice
radicalized many women. In the year before Atwood published The Circle Game, Betty
Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique helped catalyze a new Women’s Movement (known today
as Second-wave Feminism). This nonfiction volume gets its name from a term that Friedan
coined to describe the societal expectation that women find fulfillment through
(heterosexual) marriage, childbearing, housework, and sexual submission—an idea she
proves false.

The Feminine Mystique, which advocates female resistance and liberation, was the best-
selling book of 1964, the year that The Circle Game was published. “This Is a Photograph of
Me” questions mainstream history’s tendency to subsume the voices of marginalized groups
under male-dominated narratives, and can thus be seen as an early example of the
intersection of literature and Second-wave Feminism.

4. Poem “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Author: Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an
American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven
autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of
plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards
and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven
autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her
international recognition and acclaim.

Introduction
"Phenomenal Woman" is a poem by Maya Angelou, first published in 1978. The poem rejects
narrow societal expectations of women and proposes an alternative perspective on what
defines real beauty. Confidence and comfort in one's own skin, the speaker insists, are the
markers of true beauty.

Form
As a (mostly) free verse poem, "Phenomenal Woman" doesn't follow a particular form. The
60-line poem consists of four stanzas that are all 14-16 lines long and end with the same
four lines (which serve as a refrain throughout the poem).

All stanzas follow the same basic structure: the first few lines are original to the specific
stanza at hand; the middle set of lines describe the speaker's body; the final four lines are
marked by the poem's refrain. The middle set of lines in each stanza is further characterized
by the ongoing use of anaphora and asyndeton, which creates a sense of consistency
throughout the poem.

The fact that the poem doesn't use a traditional form makes sense, given that the speaker
declares that she doesn't fit in with traditional ideals of beauty. She creates her own poetic
form to reflect her own phenomenal beauty instead.

Meter
This poem doesn't use a regular meter. It does have a loose rhyme scheme, which means it's
not technically free verse, but it's still quite unpredictable. The meter fluctuates significantly
throughout the poem, with line length varying greatly as well.

Some lines do have a clear meter, though, and the poem relies a lot on trochees (stressed-
unstressed) and iambs (unstressed-stressed). For example, lines 1-2 are filled with consistent
trochees, while lines 3 and 4 are purely iambic:

Pretty | women | wonder | where my | secret | lies.

I'm not | cute or | built to | suit a | fashion | model’s | size
But when | I start | to tell | them,
They think | I’m tel- | ling lies.

("I'm not" in line 2 could arguably be scanned differently without changing the overall feel
drastically.) Broadly speaking, this gives the poem a bouncy musicality that prevent it from
feeling out of control. The speaker has her confident grip on all the lines here, even if she
chooses to vary that grip at her pleasure—keeping the poem interesting and engaging on
the level of sound throughout.

The lack of a strict meter also goes hand-in-hand with the free-spirited nature of the poem,
which is centered around the rejection of social norms. Just as the speaker refutes social
ideals of the perfect size, the poem also resists traditional notions of the "proper" meter.

Rhyme Scheme
Rhyme occurs sporadically throughout the poem, mainly in the form of end rhymes. Some of
these end rhymes are consecutive (see: "lies" and "size" in lines 1 and 2) whereas others are
separated by one or multiple lines (see: "hips" in line 7 and "lips" in line 9).

Although there is no strict pattern applied to the end rhymes, the rhyming is frequent and
has a strong effect on the flow and overall rhythm of the poem. There are also some internal
rhymes—"cute" and "suit" in line 2; "and"/"man"/"stand" in lines 17-18—which further adds
to the poem's musicality.

This flexible rhyme scheme creates a sense of lyricism and jazziness throughout the poem
without committing to a specific structure or set of rules, echoing the speaker's own
independent mindset.

Speaker
Throughout the poem, the speaker presents herself as an exuberant and lively woman who
has full confidence in her worth, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Rather than being insecure about the standards that society imposes upon her, the speaker
embraces herself as she is. The speaker feels beautiful despite not strictly conforming to
common beauty standards. She does not care about fitting society's mold and she would
rather embrace the qualities that make her extraordinary and set her apart. The speaker
knows her value and her beauty; nothing and no one can take that away from her.

The context of Angelou's writing enriches the poem's ideas as well. The fashion industry has
historically not been just about promoting thinness, but also whiteness; models of color
remain less represented in the industry to this day. Broad societal ideals of beauty in the
western world have been tied to whiteness for centuries, with traits like straight hair and fair
skin long upheld as the epitome of attractiveness. Such arbitrary ideals are rooted in racism
and white supremacy.

Angelou was undoubtedly responding to this reality as well in "Phenomenal

Woman"—asserting her worth and beauty specifically as a Black woman in a society deeply
prejudiced against people who looked like her.

Setting
This poem doesn't have a clear setting, which allows its message to resonate broadly with
women in various contexts. All readers really know is that the poem is modern in its scope,
given the reference to "fashion models."

Summary
The speaker refers to an elusive "secret" about herself that conventionally attractive women
struggle to understand. She explains that she doesn't look like the models glorified by the
fashion industry, and that when she stars to reveal her secret these other women don't
believe her. The speaker claims that her beauty is manifested in her wide hips, her confident
gait, and her smile. She's an extraordinary woman. When you think of an extraordinary
woman, that's the speaker.

Whenever the speaker calmly walks into a room, every single man present desperately
competes for her attention. These men are drawn to the speaker, buzzing around her like
honey bees. This is because her passion for life manifests in her physical appearance—in her
flashing eyes, her vibrant smile, the way her waist sways as she walks, and the happy
lightness in her step. She again declares that she's an extraordinary woman. When you think
of an extraordinary woman, that's the speaker.

Men have also asked themselves what it is about the speaker that makes her so attractive.
But no matter how hard they try to pin down the speaker's mysterious appeal, they can't
come close. Even when she tries to reveal her secret to these men, they just don't get it. The
speaker says that her beauty exists in the way she carries herself—in her confident posture;
her bright, sunny smile; the shape of her breasts; and her elegant style. She's an
extraordinary woman. When you think of an extraordinary woman, that's the speaker.

This, the speaker says, is why she insists on moving throughout the world confidently and
boldly. She doesn't have to overcompensate in any way or prove herself to anyone. In fact,
when other women see the speaker, they should be inspired to be more confident
themselves. The speaker's appeal exists in the way she struts in heels, in the way her hair
falls, in the way she holds out her hands, in the way others want her to care for them. She's
an extraordinary woman. When you think of an extraordinary woman, that's the speaker.

Analysis

Stanza One
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

In the first stanza, Angelou’s speaker bluntly tells her reader that other women wonder what
she has that they are missing, even though she lacks the traits that society most often
judges to be beautiful; she intuits that the other women are jealous of her. She writes, “They
think I’m telling lies.” The speaker continues on, telling the reader her appeal lies in her
arms, hips, and lips.

Her voice reflects a sense of confidence. She does not hesitate to talk about the span of her
hips or the stride of her steps. Her body is unique, and she is satisfied with how she is.
Besides, she doesn’t care about the so-called “fashion.” She is confident that it’s in the reach
of her arms.

The last four lines of this stanza are repeated in the following stanzas with slight variations.
These lines act as a refrain that expresses the speaker’s inner happiness for being a
“phenomenal woman.”

Stanza Two
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
In her second stanza, she moves away from discussing women and begins to discuss the
spell she seems to have over the men she encounters. Her attractiveness goes beyond the
physical: it is something innate inside her that makes her so irresistible to men. While
women can change the way they look, Angelou insinuates that they will never be able to
replicate what she naturally possesses inside herself.

Stanza Three
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

The third stanza contains only two lines. These lines are a part of the refrain. Separating
these lines in this stanza, Angelou tries to emphasize the idea. Besides, she uses this scheme
to give special stress to the words. It enhances the confident mood of the poem. As readers
can see, these lines need special emphasis. The repetition of the same idea also expounds
on how she feels when men hover around her like honeybees. She feels confident by
thinking about men’s reactions and celebrates her phenomenal beauty.

Stanza Four
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

This idea continues into the fourth stanza, where the speaker discusses the fact that even
men cannot pinpoint what it is about her that is so irresistible. Her answer to them is that
she’s a woman. She is saying, “Unbelievably, I’m a woman. I’m an extraordinary, amazing
woman. That’s who I am.”

Readers can find a metaphor in this stanza. It is present in the phrase “inner mystery.” The
“mystery” is nothing but the speaker’s self-confidence. Besides, the “sun of my smile”
contains another metaphor. Here Angelou implicitly compares her smile to sunshine. The
“sun” is also a symbol of energy as well as self-sufficiency. So, her smile is energetic, like the
sunlight.

Stanza Five
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

In the last lines of the poem, Angelou speaks directly to her reader after explaining her
appeal to her audience. She explains that she does not need to draw attention to herself; the
attention is naturally given to her because she is a woman. Her last line, set apart in its own
stanza, simply says, “That’s me.” Because she is a woman—a phenomenal woman—she has
the confidence and pride to walk with her head held high.

Themes

The Liberation of Self-Acceptance

Throughout the poem, the speaker presents herself with an evident sense of pride,
confidence, and self-worth. Those around her wonder where her confidence comes from,
particularly considering that she doesn’t fit the conventional profile for female
attractiveness. The speaker herself acknowledges that she isn’t conventionally pretty: “I’m
not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size” (line 2). Even so, she understands that
physical beauty isn’t the only—or even the primary—source of attractiveness. More
important than a person’s physical form alone is how a person inhabits their form. By
liberating herself from socially imposed perspectives on female beauty, the speaker feels
less constrained and more playful in how she carries herself. As she unleashes herself and
allows herself to fully embody her femininity, she notices the positive attention she gets
from men and women alike. This attention creates a feedback loop that she finds deeply
empowering. Not only does it feel empowering to her personally, but she also hopes to
empower others. In the final stanza, she says:

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.

In other words (lines 46–51), the speaker’s self-acceptance endows her with a self-confidence
that she wants to make accessible to others as well.

The Power of Female Sexuality

The speaker of “Phenomenal Woman” exudes sexual energy in a way that proves equally
mysterious and powerful. She references this sexual energy most clearly in the poem’s
second stanza, where she describes how men can’t resist her:

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
 Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.

In this passage (lines 14–20), the speaker likens men to a swarm of bees, buzzing around her
as if she were the queen of a honey hive. The metaphor of the honey hive has a strongly
sexual connotation. Indeed, honey often appears as a symbol for female sexuality, and
particularly for female genitalia. In this case, then, the male bees swarm around their queen
in a frenzy of irrepressible sexual energy. The speaker references this sexual energy
elsewhere in the poem, albeit more subtly. Specifically, the speaker locates the source of her
sexual allure in the way she embodies her femininity. It lies in “the span of [her] hips” (line 7)
and “the curl of [her] lips” (line 9), she says in stanza 1. Later, she locates the source in “the
arch of [her] back” (line 38) and “the ride of [her] breasts” (line 40). Through all these
examples, the speaker makes a case for the power of her sexuality.

The Difference Between Prettiness and Beauty

In the opening lines of “Phenomenal Woman,” the speaker draws a broad distinction
between shallowly conventional ideas of prettiness and a more deeply substantive notion of
beauty. The speaker makes this distinction implicitly when she says, in the first line, “Pretty
women wonder where my secret lies.” With these words, the speaker excludes herself from
the category of “pretty women,” and she confirms this conclusion in the following line: “I’m
not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size.” These lines set up an opposition between
conventional prettiness and some other form of attractiveness, which has a “secret” source.
Conventional prettiness is defined solely by physical appearance. It’s precisely because the
speaker isn’t skinny like a fashion model that the “pretty women” feel baffled by her evident
allure. In contrast to the shallow convention of prettiness, the speaker emphasizes the way
she carries herself. She embodies her femininity in a uniquely animated way that draws the
attention of men and women alike. It is this deeper source of attractiveness that the speaker
celebrates throughout the poem. Though she uses the word “phenomenal” to describe her
embodiment of femininity, we could also refer to it as an authentic form of beauty that
stands in contrast to shallow ideas of prettiness.

Literary Devices
Literary devices serve as a tool for writers to bring clarity and richness. With the help of
literary devices, they not only give underlying meanings to their texts but also make their
texts unique and appealing. Maya has also exercised this artistic skill in this poem using
various literary devices. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem is
given below.

Metaphor: There are two metaphors in the poem. The first is used in the second stanza,
where it is stated, “Then they swarm around me, / A hive of honey bees.” Maya compares the
admiring men with honey bees. The men surround her, as they are attracted to her. The
second one is used in the eighth line of the second stanza, where it is stated, “it’s the fire in
my eyes,” and here she compares her confidence and passion with fire.

Hyperbole: Hyperbole is used to exaggerate a particular condition or situation. Maya has

used hyperbole in the start of the second stanza, “I walk into a room just as cool as you
please, / and to a man, / The fellows stand or fall down on their knees.” Through this
hyperbole, she shows her superiority over men.

Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers feel things through their five senses. Maya
Angelou has skillfully created a visual description of a phenomenal woman who enjoys her
beauty and loves being a woman. The images in this poem are plenty. Examples of images
are: “The curl of my lips”, “The swing of my waist”, “The ride of my breast”, “The stride of my
steps”, “The flash of my teeth”, “and The palm of my hand.” The poet has used powerful
imagery to describe the body of a woman. These images help readers to visualize the
personality of a strong woman.

Irony: Irony is a figure of speech that states the opposite meanings of the situation being
discussed. Similarly, the poet presents the image of a woman according to her perception in
contrast with the opinion of the world. She beautifully mocks at the concept of beauty held
by most people in society which is primarily concerned with external beauty. Hence, she
emphasizes that real beauty comes with inner strength and poise.

Personification: Maya has used personification which means to use emotions for inanimate
objects. She has personified joy in the third stanza of the poem, where it is stated, “the joy in
my feet” as if feet are human, and that they rejoice while dancing or walking.

Alliteration: An alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines
of the poetry such as the use of /f/ in “fall”, “fire” and “flash.” This use has enhanced the
musical quality of the lines.

Assonance: An assonance is a repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line such as the
sounds of /i/ in “its fire in my eyes”.

Poetic Devices
Although most of the poetic devices are the same as the literary devices, a few of them
differ, for they highlight the structure of the poem. The analysis of some of the prominent
poetic devices in the poem is given below.

Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. In this poem, there are four stanzas, with
each stanza having a different number of verses.

Rhyme Scheme: There is no specific rhyme scheme used in this poem. It is a free-verse
poem. The meter of the poem is a combination of Trochee and Iamb which means a
combination of stressed and unstressed syllables or alternately of unstressed and stressed
syllables.

Repetition: Repetition creates musical quality in the poem. The poem used repetition at
various places such as “The Phenomenal Woman” and “that’s me.” These two phrases are
repeated in each stanza.

Refrain: The lines that are repeated at some distance in the poems are called refrain. The
phrases “phenomenal woman” and “that’s me” has become refrain because of the repetition
of the same words in each stanza of the poem.

Literary and Historical Context

Literary Context
"Phenomenal Woman" was originally published in 1978 as a part of Maya Angelou's
collection And Still I Rise. This was one of the most productive and creative times in
Angelou's career. At this point, she was a well-established poet known for her writing on
racism, sexism, and oppression in the United States. The publication of And Still I Rise led to
increased public recognition of her work.

Angelou was a prolific writer whose work frequently addressed anti-Black racism and
women's empowerment. She detailed her own life extensively over the course of seven
autobiographies, including the famous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou's
insistence on placing her own experiences front and center at a time when Black women in
particular remained intensely marginalized by society cemented her status as a steadfast
and invaluable defender of Black culture.

Angelou also drew from Black oral traditions and blues rhythms in much of her work, which
has gone on to influence countless writers as well as many modern-day hip-hop artists.

Historical Context
The poem is, in part, a reflection of the ideals that emerged in the fashion industry during
the 1960s and continued to solidify throughout the following decades. Broadly speaking, the
feminine ideal at this time began to shift away from curvier figures and towards thinner
body types, demonstrated by the rise in popularity of slim supermodels like Twiggy.

This was also the era of second-wave feminism, a time when activists pushed for more than
just basic enfranchisement. Feminists turned their focus to issues such as equality in the
workplace and reproductive freedom, seeking to expand women's roles and responsibilities
throughout society.

In "Phenomenal Woman," Angelou rejects the reduction of a woman's beauty or value to the
size of her waist or the number on the scale. The speaker of "Phenomenal Woman" offers a
powerful critique of this feminine ideal by suggesting that a woman's real beauty stems
from loving herself and rejecting unrealistic standards that objectify and diminish all
women.

In addition to critiquing the detrimental norms of the fashion industry, "Phenomenal

Woman," if read autobiographically, is also an implicit rejection of anti-Black racism. Angelou
herself was a staunch activist, and the poem was written on the heels of the civil rights
movement, just 10 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Black people had
secured many basic legal protections, but societal prejudice didn't simply disappear.

This prejudice manifested in many societal depictions of beauty, which were overwhelmingly
tied to whiteness. While all women were subjected to unrealistic expectations propagated by
the media and fashion industry, Black women were doubly so.

5. Poem “Be Nobody's Darling” by Alice Walker

Be Nobody's Darling by Alice Walker

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.
Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.
Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone
(Uncool)
Or line the crowded
River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.

Make a merry gathering

On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.

But be nobody's darling;

Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.

Author: Alice Walker

Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short
story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman
to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple.
Over the span of her career, Walker has published seventeen novels and short story
collections, twelve non-fiction works, and collections of essays and poetry. She has faced
criticism for alleged antisemitism and for her endorsement of the conspiracist David Icke.

Introduction
When Alice Walker writes her pointed poetry, it’s often a good idea to pay close attention to
the words she chooses to use to get her points across. Well-known for her blunt, to-the-point
declarations of good advice, for her verses of short lines and creative metaphors, Walker’s
poetry is always worth reading simply for the ideas and ideals contained within. Be Nobody’s
Darling is no exception — and, as the title gives away clearly — is another of Walker’s poems
born from her own life’s experiences that provide her with unique insight. Born to a poor
family who was informed that their black children had no true need of an education in her
early years, and later blinded in one eye, Walker learned early on in life what it meant to be
an outcast, and it truly shows in her powerful works, such as Be Nobody’s Darling.

Explanation
Alice Walker's poem, "Be Nobody's Darling" encourages women to embrace their
individuality and to not fear what other people may think, but simply to have the courage to
go your own way. Walker utilises a variety of poetic techniques to illustrate this message.
Short sentencing provides the reader with a deeper insight into each word, sending a more
powerful message across. There is contrast within the poem. In the context of the stanzas,
the first stanza is very long, whereas the last two stanzas are rather short, which emphasises
her key points in a succinct manner at the end of the poem . This poem uses no rhyme
scheme, so it is considered as ‘free verse’. "Be Nobody's Darling" gives the readers a feeling
of understanding and warmth, "And wrap around you like a shawl", yet confronts readers
with the harsh reality of the world, "Be an outcast/Be pleased to walk alone". Its meaning to
the reader is not to strive to fit in, and be like everyone else. Be different, and strive to stand
out from the crowd. The simile, “Take the contradictions of your life and wrap around you
like a shawl”, is telling the reader to embrace the faults and mistakes in their life and make
them become a part of who they are. Alice Walker is saying to let them shape and mould you
into a stronger person. She adds to this by suggesting that being an outcast allows us to
define our sense of self and enhances our self-esteem and confidence. There is also a theme
of despair in this poem. Walker uses phrases like “impetuous fools” to describe all of
humanity, and at the end she suggests the natural consequence of man’s existence in a
world of “dead” people. We can interpret this to mean that they are not actually dead, but
dead inside in such a way that they are dull to their own individuality.

Summary
‘Be Nobody’s Darling’ by Alice Walker begins with the main idea of the poem. The poet
supports a person if society treats him/her as an outcast. She is always there to assist a man
who never sheds off the individual qualities which make the person different from others.
The poet advises to “take the contradictions” of life and wrap it around like a shawl.

There is nothing unpleasant if someone walks alone. It is foolish to be in the herd following
the meaningless norms blindly. The poet tells them to be brave if blind men verbally attack
them. Nothing matters if the soul is happy with what the person chooses in life. At last, the
poet harks the message of “living life to the fullest” to rejuvenate them with her poetic spirit.

Analysis

First Stanza
Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.
Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.
Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone
(Uncool)
Or line the crowded
River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.

The first and longest verse of the poem, which can be read in full here, follows a simple
structural pattern, wherein no line is particularly long, regardless of sentence or thought.
This works as a tool to keep the reader interested — since it’s natural to keep moving from
line to line to finish previous thoughts — but also works to effectively highlight the
important lines. “Let them look askance at you” for instance, is given a line, and it is one of
the longest lines in the poem, presumably because Walker did not want to divide up such an
important element of the verse. As such, it stands on its own and stands out as a result.
Similar structural decisions can be found throughout — “Fools” being its own line
emphasizes scorn, while “Be pleased to walk alone” to stands alone as a rare complete
thought on one line.

The actual meaning behind the words is fairly straight forward and examines Walker’s own
experience growing up as an outcast in a variety of ways. Be Nobody’s Darling starts off with
the titular expression and follows it with “be an outcast,” suggesting that it is better to be an
outcast and shunned than to be nothing more than someone else’s favorite person — be
your own favorite person, it’s saying. The poem compares life’s contradictions to a shawl but
makes it the choice of the reader to create that simile. Should you choose, these lines say,
the confusing contradictions of life can be made into a shawl, turning something stressful
and confusing into something warm and beautiful.

After this, a more pointed exchange occurs when the poem says “Let them look askance at
you / And you askance reply.” The repetition of “askance” is an interesting choice, because it
adds a more grim tone to the poem briefly — it reminds the reader that there is a negative
element to this outcasted life, either because other people will be staring in a suspicious
way, or because the listener will be glaring back. It indicates defiance and independence, but
it also indicates a difficult struggle. This is alleviated somewhat by the next few lines, which
utilize words such as “pleased,” and “beds” to light the tone somewhat. When the verse
references “impetuous fools,” it is an idea filled with scorn, suggesting a speaker who feels
liberated by being an outcast, and therefore less well-associated with those they consider
impetuous fools. This is also reflected in the use of “(uncool)” as a description of what is
being said in a more “modern” way – and ultimately demonstrates what poor ammunition it
is by using such a hollow and relatively meaningless word to demonstrate.

Second Stanza
Make a merry gathering
On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.

This verse of Be Nobody’s Darling is significantly shorter than its predecessor, as though the
author is trying to bring the idea of emphasizing shorter lines onto the verses themselves.
This stanza stands out for being so much shorter than the first one, and is also notable for
being a culmination of one sentence: “Make a merry gathering on the bank, where
thousands perished for brave hurt words they said.” In isolation, this is a strong statement,
one that ties the present to the past. It is difficult to say who is being spoken to at this point
— it seems as though this verse is directed at the aforementioned impetuous fools, who are
“making a merry gathering” (i.e. celebrating) some kind of event of remembrance for
outcasts, but it could also be a message to the reader outcast, who should remember that at
one point, outcasts were doomed to lose their lives for being something other than
whatever society dictated. It suggests a sense of pride by making note of this, as though the
reader should be proud of the things they feel that were once worth dying for.

Third Stanza
But be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.

At its end, Be Nobody’s Darling cycles back to its original message, adding to the idea of
being an outcast by suggesting that the best company for the outcasts is other outcasts,
who, by definition, wouldn’t join them. They are like the dead, and in many ways, they are
the dead — this is literal and metaphorical at the same time. It is better to be an outcast, to
be independent, to be one’s own person than it is to be someone else’s person, and better to
relate to those who have died for being different than to someone that you don’t like.
It seems as though the primary themes written into this poem by Walker have to do with
remembrance and independence. There is a strong theme of “think for yourself” running
through Be Nobody’s Darling, written alongside an idea of remembering that such an idea
was one shunned and held in disdain. It ties in well with Walker’s own history and
experience, and coming from her, is a valuable bit of advice and a well-written story as well.

Interestingly, because of the brief nature of the lines that make up the structure of Be
Nobody’s Darling, the entire work can be summarized in only a few sentences; Alice Walker
wants the reader to be no one’s darling, but to be their own person, and take comfort and
inspiration in being different from the majority. If the reader walks alone, they should do so
gladly, and understand how truly important such a privilege is, and be proud of that — and
she says so in a truly inspirational way.

Themes
‘Be Nobody’s Darling’ by Alice Walker talks about the themes of individualism and cynicism.
The poet supports individual choice a person makes without bothering about the norms of
the society. The choice is good as long as it doesn’t harm society. If it makes a person happy
without damaging others’ liberty, society should not condemn the person. The poet doesn’t
focus much on what society thinks. She thinks being an outcast is better than remaining in
the herd. Individualism is not always bad. Each person has different needs and it is their
right to fulfill them.

The poet also refers to the cynicism of society. People who follow the customs of society
blindly are always cynical about the person choosing the other way. They cannot tolerate
uniqueness. Their heart becomes charged with animalistic spirit whenever they find
someone in their small world. Firstly, they force the person out of society. It doesn’t end
here. They even try to kill their spirit. They hurt them with words showering like arrows on
the person who chose to be different from others.

Non-Conformity/ Individuality
In the poem Be Nobody's Darling Alice Walker uses repetition of the imperative title in the
first stanza and the last stanza to bookend this poem with the importance of being an
individual. She further emphasizes how one must stand out from the crowd in more
imperative and emphatic language such as 'Be an outcast,' and 'be pleased to walk alone.'

Death
Walker deals with death in Be Nobody's Darling through the juxtaposition of 'Make a merry
gathering, and 'on the bank / where thousands perished.' The contrast between the trivial,
frivolous adjective 'merry,' emphasized by alliteration, creates a sudden solemn tone
surrounding the death of so many people.

Literary Devices
‘Be Nobody’s Darling’ by Alice Walker is not thronged with the excessive use of literary
devices. Yet there are some important figures which make her thoughts inspiring to the
readers. In the poem, the first two lines contain an anaphora as these lines begin with the
word “Be”. The next literary devices used in the poem is a simile. The poet uses it to compare
“contradictions” of life with a “shawl”. There is a metaphor in the line, “To parry stones”. Here
the “stones” are the metaphor of harsh words.

There is a metonymy in the line, “Or line the crowded/ River beds”. The “river beds” in the
poem is a reference to the norms of society. In the last two lines of the poem, the poet uses
a paradox. Here the reference is made to “dead thoughts” which are unacceptable to the
society. Those thoughts generate in the heart. Like babies, the thoughts grow up. For not
getting a proper outlet in the end those thoughts die. Yet the poet assures the readers to be
happy as they are gallant enough to accept all the ordeals of life and sustain till the end.

6. Poem “Fearful Women” by Carolyn Kizer

Fearful Women by Carolyn Kizer

Arms and the girl I sing - O rare
arms that are braceleted and white and bare

arms that were lovely Helen's, in whose name

Greek slaughtered Trojan. Helen was to blame.

Scape-nanny call her; wars for turf

and profit don't sound glamorous enough.

Mythologize your women! None escape.

Europe was named from an act of bestial rape:

Eponymous girl on bull-back, he intent

on scattering sperm across a continent.

Old Zeus refused to take the rap.

It's not his name in big print on the map.

But let's go back to the beginning

when sinners didn't know that they were sinning.

He, one rib short: she lived to rue it

when Adam said to God, "She made me do it."

Eve learned that learning was a dangerous thing

for her: no end of trouble would it bring.

An educated woman is a danger.

Lock up your mate! Keep a submissive stranger

like Darby's Joan, content with church and Kinder,

not like that sainted Joan, burnt to a cinder.

Whether we wield a scepter or a mop

It's clear you fear that we may get on top.

And if we do -I say it without animus-

It's not from you we learned to be magnaminous.

Author: Carolyn Kizer

Carolyn Ashley Kizer (December 10, 1925 – October 9, 2014) was an American poet of the
Pacific Northwest whose works reflect her feminism. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985.

According to an article at the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, "Kizer reach[ed]
into mythology in poems like Semele Recycled; into politics, into feminism, especially in her
series of poems called "Pro Femina"; into science, the natural world, music, and translations
and commentaries on Japanese and Chinese literatures".
Carolyn Kizer was born in Spokane, Washington on (1925-2014). She graduated from Sarah
Lawrence College, studied at Columbia University as a fellow of the Chinese government
and, in 1946, became a graduate fellow at the University of Washington. In 1948, she
married Stimson Bullitt, by whom she had three children; they divorced in 1954, and that
same year she began studying poetry. She served in Pakistan as literary specialist for the
U.S. State Department (1964–65).

Introduction
The poem Fearful Woman is written as a succession of couplets. In this poem each pair of
lines have its separate point. The rhyme and rhythm are beautifully giving the poem a
pleasing tone.In the poem, Kizer has used several poetic techniques. These techniques help
the reader to get a deeper understanding of the poem and make the reader think carefully
of what message she is trying to convey.

Analysis
In the poem ‘Fearful Woman’, Kizer has used several poetic techniques such as rhyme,
rhythm and imagery. These techniques help the reader to get a deeper understanding of the
poem and make the reader think carefully to what message she is trying to convey.

Kizer uses rhyme, ‘But let’s go back to the beginning when sinners didn’t know that they
were sinning.’ to produce sounds appealing to the readers’ senses and make them focus on
the message. Rhyme is used with this phrase to make a connection between the two lines
and bring focus to the overall meaning, where she wants to take the readers to the incident
of Adam and Eve.

In this poem, Kizer uses rhythm to describe the thoughts that some men have of women, ‘An
educated woman is a danger. Lock up your mate! Keep a submissive stranger.’ These beliefs
that educated women are a danger to society are offensive. Also, the fact that men thought
they must have an obedient stranger with them, enforces how they would not be able to live
without them. The rhythm in this phrase highlights the contrast between who women are
and that even though men might not believe that ‘educated’ women should have the same
rights as them, men would not be able to do the same things they do in life without them,
they want to keep them but locked.

Imagery is used in this poem, ‘Like Darby’s Joan, content with church and Kinder, not like
that sainted Joan, burnt to a cinder’ to outline the difference between Darby’s Joan as a kind
person to the sainted Joan as an unkind person. The imagery is used to give a picture to the
reader of these differences and to make them understand how different they are.

Kizer takes allusions from Greek mythology and Christian literature. The allusion of Greek
mythology can be seen from the first until the sixth stanza. In Greek mythology, Helen of
Troy, also known as Helen of Spartan was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, she was
considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She was wanted by many Kings in
Greece that caused the Trojan War. The society blamed Helen to cause the war. This allusion
of the Trojan War demonstrated that the society was looking for someone responsible, they
chose an easier target in the society: the woman.

The seventh until tenth stanzas are using the allusion of Adam and Eve where the blame was
also fall upon woman. This allusion of Adam and Eve demonstrate that woman was weak
and easy to affected with sweet words, woman thought to be the cause of the first sin and
blamed for making Adam (men) sinning. In ninth stanza, it illustrated the desire of Eve about
knowledge and then she is punished of her own curiosity. In last four stanzas, it is illustrated
that Darby's Joan was submissive, she played the role that was given to her by declaration of
her sex, but Joan of Arc did not play that role and therefore was burned.

She doesn't end on a negative note, but an empowering one. She uses ‘if’ instead of ‘when’ in
And if we do -I say it without animus- It's not from you we learned to be magnanimous.

Overall, Kizer has used alludes to different instance of female inferiority, due to man’s wrong
ways. Several poetic techniques have helped to depict to the reader the overall message
being conveyed in this poem and provide a deeper understanding of how women were
treated and thought of by some men. Kizer has demonstrated when women remains fearful,
men will continue to abuse their power, through imagery and allusions. However, if women
embrace their magnanimous selves, they can get on top then women can finally be in
control of their own lives and end the suffering.

Edited by; AAMIR SAQIF (ASK)

Whatsapp; +923426550185

College: Government Degree College Takht-e-Nasrati, Karak

Affiliation: Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak (KKKUK)