"won't you celebrate with me" appears in Lucille Clifton's 1993 collection Book of Light. The poem's speaker reflects on her identity as a "nonwhite [...] woman" in an often hostile world, proudly noting her resilience and resourcefulness in the face of constant danger. With a joy tinged by irony, she invites readers to "celebrate" the fact that nothing has killed her yet, even though "something has tried" each day. Widely anthologized since its publication, the poem is a well-loved tribute to Black womanhood and self-reliance.

• Read the full text of “won't you celebrate with me”

• “won't you celebrate with me” Summary

• “won't you celebrate with me” Themes

  • 

    Identity and Self-Determination

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-14
  • 

    Resilience and Survival

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3
    • Lines 10-14

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “won't you celebrate with me”

  • Lines 1-3

    won't you celebrate ...
    ... kind of life?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 3-6

    i had no ...
    ... be except myself?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-11

    i made it ...
    ... my other hand;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-14

    come celebrate ...
    ... and has failed.

    

    

    

    

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• “won't you celebrate with me” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “won't you celebrate with me / what i have shaped into / a kind of life?”
    • Lines 11-14: “come celebrate / with me that everyday / something has tried to kill me / and has failed.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “won't you celebrate with me / what i have shaped into / a kind of life?”
    • Lines 4-6: “born in babylon / both nonwhite and woman / what did i see to be except myself?”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “celebrate with me”
    • Line 2: “what”
    • Line 3: “i”
    • Line 6: “what”
    • Line 7: “i”
    • Line 10: “my,” “hand”
    • Line 11: “my,” “hand”
    • Lines 11-12: “celebrate / with me”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “life? i”
    • Line 11: “hand; come”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “kind,” “life”
    • Line 6: “see,” “be,” “except myself”
    • Line 10: “my,” “one,” “tight”
    • Line 11: “my,” “other,” “come”

• “won't you celebrate with me” 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.

  • Babylon
  • Starshine
  • Clay
  • This bridge
  • (Location in poem: Lines 4-5: “born in babylon / both nonwhite and woman”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “won't you celebrate with me”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “won't you celebrate with me” Speaker

• “won't you celebrate with me” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “won't you celebrate with me”

• More “won't you celebrate with me” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to Lucille Clifton read "won't you celebrate with me."

    • The Poet's Life — Read a biography of Clifton at the Poetry Foundation.

    • Young on Clifton — Poet Kevin Young discusses what "won't you celebrate with me" has meant to him.

    • Lucille Clifton at the LOC — Browse the Library of Congress's selection of Clifton recordings and resources.

    • Clifton on What Poetry Is — Watch Lucille Clifton comment on the poet's art (video courtesy of the Academy of American Poets).

    • Interview with the Poet — Read a late-life interview with Clifton (one that quotes from the poem).

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Lucille Clifton

    • homage to my hips

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