Coal by Audre Lorde

From blackwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Coal is the first 1976 Audre Lorde’s collection of poetry published by a major publisher. The theme explored the identity as a "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet."

Every section of the poem expresses Lorde’s identity and race which plays a significant role. A major theme is the anger reaction toward racism, Lorde expressing anger not in a destructive way, instead "rage at racism into triumphant self-assertion.” In addition, another part of the Poem Coal explores the personal life of Lorde which talks about her existence as a lesbian, friend, and former lover, especially in the fourth section, a poem titled Martha outline Lorde’s recovery for her former lover after a car accident. [1]

Poetry

I

Is the total black, being spoken

From the earth's inside.

There are many kinds of open.

How a diamond comes into a knot of flame

How a sound comes into a word, coloured

By who pays what for speaking.

Some words are open

Like a diamond on glass windows

Singing out within the crash of passing sun

Then there are words like stapled wagers

In a perforated book—buy and sign and tear apart—

And come whatever wills all chances

The stub remains

An ill-pulled tooth with a ragged edge.

Some words live in my throat

Breeding like adders. Others know sun

Seeking like gypsies over my tongue

To explode through my lips

Like young sparrows bursting from shell.

Some words

Bedevil me.

Love is a word another kind of open—

As a diamond comes into a knot of flame

I am black because I come from the earth's inside

Take my word for jewel in your open light. [2]

Author

Audrey Geraldine Lorde, well known as Audre Lorde (/ˈɔːdri lɔːrd/) was an American writer, feminist, librarioan, womanist and civil rights activist. Describing herself as a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” is best knwon for technical mastery and emotional expression. [3]

Born on February 18, 1934 in New York City of the youngest of three sisters, raised in Manhattan and attended Catholic school. Her first poem appeared when she was in high school in Seventeen magazine. [4]

Lorde attended Hunter College to receive her B.A. degree in 1959 and master’s degree in library science, in 1961. Her first volume of poetry, The First Cities was published in 1968. [5]

Racism Issue

The poem explores the author’s identity as a black woman, wife, lesbiand, and mother; this is reflected and examined in the Coal. Also, the author lifelong journey claiming her West Indian, African American heritage is voiced in this poem, her motherhood is the subject, “Now That I Am Forever with Child” as well as her attraction over women described in “On a Night of the Full Moon.” [6]

In addition, this poem also describes the racism incredibly marked to those affected most directly. The metaphorical impact described of different words can impact on the person to whom they are spoken. These are described between lines regarding diamonds, blackness, and the inside of the Earth.

Personal pronouns used in discussing blackness and the effect of words reflected on the author’s role in society. The poem served as a social commentary about racism and how social resistance against it. Coal was written just after the peak of the Civil Rights Movement when racial tensions and racism rans both deep and high. It was reflected on the poem on, “who pays what for speaking” (7), the repetitive phrase of “some words” gives meaning, citing the various effects that they (black people) have, with some remaining as “an ill-pulled tooth with a ragged edge” (15), while others “bedevil [her]” (22). In line 8-9 are “open / Like a diamond on glass windows.”

The anguish that she has experienced directly correlates to the words that have left their lasting mark. This goes with they way diamonds are used to cut glass, while in the first and the last stanza, the author said, “black because [she comes] from the earth’s inside” (25), which hits differently to the speaker as having a lasting impact, sharp, uncomfortable, and tormenting the speaker. [7]

References

  1. Coal (book). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 17, 2021
  2. Coal BY AUDRE LORDE. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved January 17, 2021
  3. Audre Lorde. Wikipedia. Retreived January 16, 2021
  4. Audre Lorde. Poets. Retrieved January 16, 2021
  5. Audre Lorde American poet and author. Britannica. Retrieved January 16, 2021
  6. Coal by Audre Lorde. Enotes. October 26, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2021
  7. The Theme of Racism in the Poem Coal by Audre Lorde. Kibin. Retrieved January 17, 2021