Audre Lorde published "Power" in 1978. The poem was written in response to the death of Clifford Glover, a 10-year-old Black child who, in 1973, was shot and killed by a white police officer named Thomas Shea. Without identifying the subjects by name, Lorde portrays Glover's death in graphic detail, expressing deep rage and sorrow over the brutality of his killing. "Power" also speaks to the systemic racism that led to Shea's acquittal by a jury of eleven white people and a single black person. Featuring stark free verse and intense imagery, "Power" condemns racial injustice and police brutality in America, while also capturing one writer's search for words that can make a difference.

• Read the full text of “Power”

• “Power” Summary

• “Power” Themes

  • 

    Poetry vs. Rhetoric

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4
    • Lines 16-18
    • Lines 43-48
  • 

    The Pain and Burden of Racism

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-55
  • 

    Police Brutality and Racial Injustice

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-20
    • Lines 21-28
    • Lines 29-33

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Power”

  • Lines 1-4

    The difference between ...
    ... of your children.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-7

    I am trapped ...
    ... of my sleep

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-16

    blood from his ...
    ... I am lost

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    without imagery or ...
    ... his bones quicker.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-24

    A policeman who ...
    ... At his trial

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-28

    this policeman said ...
    ... prove that, too.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 29-33

    Today that 37 ...
    ... had been done

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 34-42

    and one Black ...
    ... for our children.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 43-48

    I have not ...
    ... an unconnected wire

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 49-55

    and one day ...
    ... beasts they are.”

    

    

    

    

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• “Power” Symbols

  • 

    Motherhood

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4: “The difference between poetry and rhetoric / is being ready to kill / yourself / instead of your children.”
    • Lines 19-20: “trying to heal my dying son with kisses / only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.”
    • Lines 39-42: “until she let go / the first real power she ever had / and lined her own womb with cement / to make a graveyard for our children.”
    • Lines 51-52: “raping an 85 year old white woman / who is somebody's mother”
  • 

    The Desert

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “I am trapped on a desert of raw gunshot wounds”
    • Lines 15-16: “as it sinks into the whiteness / of the desert where I am lost”
    • Line 20: “only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.”

• “Power” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “rhetoric / is”
    • Lines 2-4: “kill / yourself / instead”
    • Lines 5-6: “wounds / and”
    • Lines 6-7: “black / face”
    • Lines 7-8: “sleep / blood”
    • Lines 8-9: “shoulders / is”
    • Lines 9-10: “miles / and”
    • Lines 10-11: “stomach / churns”
    • Lines 11-12: “while / my”
    • Lines 12-13: “lips / without”
    • Lines 13-14: “reason / thirsting”
    • Lines 14-15: “blood / as”
    • Lines 15-16: “whiteness / of”
    • Lines 16-17: “lost / without”
    • Lines 17-18: “magic / trying”
    • Lines 18-19: “destruction / trying”
    • Lines 19-20: “kisses / only”
    • Lines 21-22: “Queens / stood”
    • Lines 22-23: “blood / and”
    • Lines 23-24: “and / there”
    • Lines 24-25: “trial / this”
    • Lines 25-26: “defense / “I”
    • Lines 26-27: “else / only”
    • Lines 27-28: “And / there”
    • Lines 29-30: “man / with”
    • Lines 30-31: “forcing / was”
    • Lines 31-32: “free / by”
    • Lines 32-33: “satisfied / justice”
    • Lines 33-34: “done / and”
    • Lines 34-35: “said / “They”
    • Lines 35-36: “meaning / they”
    • Lines 36-37: “frame / over”
    • Lines 37-38: “coals / of”
    • Lines 38-39: “approval / until”
    • Lines 39-40: “go / the”
    • Lines 40-41: “had / and”
    • Lines 41-42: “cement / to”
    • Lines 43-44: “destruction / within”
    • Lines 45-46: “use / the”
    • Lines 46-47: “rhetoric / my”
    • Lines 47-48: “mold / or”
    • Lines 48-49: “wire / and”
    • Lines 49-50: “plug / and”
    • Lines 50-51: “socket / raping”
    • Lines 51-52: “woman / who”
    • Lines 52-53: “mother / and”
    • Lines 53-54: “bed / a”
    • Lines 54-55: “time / “Poor”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 24: “it. At”
    • Line 27: “color”. And”
    • Line 55: “thing. She,” “soul. What”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “a desert of raw gunshot wounds”
    • Lines 8-9: “blood from his punctured cheeks and shoulders / is the only liquid for miles”
    • Line 12: “my mouth splits into dry lips”
    • Lines 14-16: “thirsting for the wetness of his blood / as it sinks into the whiteness / of the desert where I am lost”
    • Line 20: “only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.”
    • Lines 41-42: “and lined her own womb with cement / to make a graveyard for our children.”
    • Lines 49-50: “and one day I will take my teenaged plug / and connect it to the nearest socket”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 47-49: “my power too will run corrupt as poisonous mold / or lie limp and useless as an unconnected wire / and one day I will take my teenaged plug”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-9: “I am trapped on a desert of raw gunshot wounds / and a dead child dragging his shattered black / face off the edge of my sleep / blood from his punctured cheeks and shoulders / is the only liquid for miles”
    • Line 12: “my mouth splits into dry lips”
    • Line 14: “thirsting for the wetness of his blood”
    • Line 20: “only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.”
    • Line 22: “stood over the boy with his cop shoes in childish blood”
    • Lines 36-37: “they had dragged her 4'10'' black Woman's frame / over the hot coals”
    • Line 41: “and lined her own womb with cement”
    • Line 53: “and as I beat her senseless and set a torch to her bed”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “desert”
    • Line 6: “dead child dragging”
    • Line 8: “punctured cheeks,” “shoulders”
    • Line 9: “only liquid,” “miles”
    • Line 12: “my mouth,” “splits into,” “lips”
    • Line 13: “loyalty”
    • Line 14: “thirsting,” “wetness”
    • Line 15: “sinks,” “whiteness”
    • Line 17: “imagery,” “magic”
    • Line 20: “bleach,” “bones”
    • Line 22: “shoes,” “childish”
    • Line 41: “womb with cement”
    • Line 45: “unless,” “learn”
    • Line 47: “power,” “run corrupt,” “poisonous mold”
    • Line 48: “lie limp,” “useless”
    • Line 49: “take,” “teenaged”
    • Line 50: “connect it to,” “nearest socket”
    • Line 51: “white woman”
    • Line 53: “senseless,” “set”
    • Line 54: “chorus,” “3/4”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “The difference between poetry and rhetoric”
    • Line 18: “trying to”
    • Line 19: “trying to”
    • Lines 23-24: “and / there are tapes to prove it”
    • Lines 27-28: “And / there are tapes to prove that, too.”
    • Line 46: “the difference between poetry and rhetoric”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “sleep / blood”
    • Lines 18-19: “destruction / trying”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “desert”
    • Line 6: “dead,” “dragging”
    • Line 12: “my mouth”
    • Line 14: “wetness”
    • Line 15: “whiteness”
    • Line 19: “son,” “kisses”
    • Line 20: “sun,” “bleach,” “bones,” “quicker”
    • Line 48: “lie limp”
    • Line 49: “take,” “teenaged”
    • Line 51: “white woman”
    • Line 53: “senseless,” “set”

• “Power” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Rhetoric
  • Punctured
  • Queens
  • Hot coals
  • Corrupt
  • Greek chorus
  • 3/4 time
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “The difference between poetry and rhetoric”; Line 46: “rhetoric”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Power”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Power” Speaker

• “Power” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Power”

• More “Power” Resources

  • External Resources

    • "Jury Clears Shea in Killing of Boy" — Read The New York Times's article about Shea's acquittal from June 13, 1974.

    • "Echoing Since 1973" — Read a New York Times article written shortly after the murder of Walter Scott, who was shot in the back by a police officer in 2015. The author explores how the crime echoes Glover's killing many decades earlier.

    • Audre Lorde's Biography — Read about the poet's life and literary works.

    • "Power" Out Loud — Listen to "Power" read aloud.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Audre Lorde

    • A Litany for Survival

    • A Woman Speaks

    • Coal

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