The American writer Richard Wright first published "Between the World and Me" in The Partisan Review in 1935. While walking through the woods, the poem's speaker stumbles across the remains of a Black person who was brutally murdered by a racist mob. The gruesome details of the scene "thrust[]" themselves "between" the speaker and the rest of the world, creating a barrier of intense, icy fear. As the poem goes on, the speaker becomes the victim himself, narrating the murder from a first-person perspective that viscerally illustrates the dehumanizing horror of racist violence. The contemporary writer Ta-Nehisi Coates borrowed the poem's title for his bestselling nonfiction book of the same name.

• Read the full text of “Between the World and Me”

• “Between the World and Me” Summary

• “Between the World and Me” Themes

  • 

    The Horror and Inhumanity of Racist Violence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-25
  • 

    The Trauma of Racism

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-25

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Between the World and Me”

  • Lines 1-3

    And one morning ...
    ... world and me...

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-6

    There was a ...
    ... of greasy hemp;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-9

    A vacant shoe, ...
    ... smell of gasoline.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-12

    And through the ...
    ... walls of fear—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-15

    The sun died ...
    ... into my flesh.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-17

    The gin-flask passed ...
    ... life be burned...

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 18-21

    And then they ...
    ... in my agony.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 22-25

    Then my blood ...
    ... at the sun...

    

    

    

    

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• “Between the World and Me” Symbols

  • 

    Empty Clothing

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “A vacant shoe, an empty tie, a ripped shirt, a lonely hat, and a pair of trousers stiff with black blood.”
  • 

    The Crowd's Possessions

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 8: “butt-ends of cigars and cigarettes, peanut shells, a drained gin-flask, and a whore's lipstick;”
    • Line 16: “The gin-flask passed from mouth to mouth, cigars and cigarettes glowed, the whore smeared the lipstick red upon her lips,”

• “Between the World and Me” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Line 2
    • Lines 4-10
    • Lines 11-17
    • Lines 18-25

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 4-10
    • Line 13
    • Lines 14-17
    • Lines 18-25

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “And the sooty details of the scene rose, thrusting themselves between the world and me...”
    • Line 4: “There was a design of white bones slumbering forgottenly upon a cushion of ashes.”
    • Line 5: “There was a charred stump of a sapling pointing a blunt finger accusingly at the sky.”
    • Line 7: “a lonely hat”
    • Line 13: “the darkness screamed with thirsty voices”
    • Lines 14-15: “The dry bones stirred, rattled, lifted, melting themselves into my bones. / The gray ashes formed flesh firm and black, entering into my flesh.”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 2
    • Line 3
    • Line 4
    • Line 5
    • Line 10
    • Line 11
    • Line 12
    • Line 13
    • Lines 13-15
    • Lines 16-17
    • Line 19
    • Line 22
    • Line 23
    • Line 24
    • Line 25

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “There was a”
    • Line 5: “There was a”
    • Line 6: “There were”
    • Line 7: “A vacant shoe, an empty tie, a ripped shirt, a lonely hat, and a pair of trousers stiff with black blood.”
    • Line 12: “The ground gripped my feet”
    • Line 13: “The sun died in the sky;,” “the woods poured forth,” “the darkness screamed,” “the witnesses rose”
    • Line 14: “The dry bones stirred”
    • Line 15: “The gray ashes formed flesh”
    • Line 16: “The gin-flask passed from mouth to mouth”
    • Line 19: “My voice was drowned,” “my black wet body slipped”
    • Line 20: “And my skin clung”
    • Line 21: “And the down and quills of the white feathers sank,” “and I moaned”
    • Line 23: “And”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Line 14: “The dry bones stirred, rattled, lifted,”
    • Line 18: “And then they had me, stripped me, battering my teeth into my throat till I swallowed my own blood.”
    • Line 24: “Panting, begging I clutched childlike,”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “thing,”
    • Line 2: “elms.”
    • Line 3: “me...”
    • Line 4: “ashes.”
    • Line 5: “sky.”
    • Line 6: “hemp;”
    • Line 7: “blood.”
    • Line 8: “lipstick;”
    • Line 9: “gasoline.”
    • Line 10: “skull...”
    • Line 11: “gone.”
    • Line 12: “fear—”
    • Line 13: “lived:”
    • Line 14: “bones.”
    • Line 15: “flesh.”
    • Line 16: “ lips,”
    • Line 17: “burned...”
    • Line 18: “blood.”
    • Line 19: “sapling.”
    • Line 20: “patches.”
    • Line 21: “agony.”
    • Line 22: “gasoline.”
    • Line 23: “limbs.”
    • Line 24: “death.”
    • Line 25: “sun...”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “one,” “while,” “woods,” “stumbled suddenly,” “the thing”
    • Line 2: “Stumbled,” “grassy,” “guarded,” “scaly”
    • Line 3: “sooty,” “scene,” “thrusting themselves”
    • Line 5: “stump,” “sapling,” “sky”
    • Line 6: “torn tree,” “tiny”
    • Line 7: “shoe,” “shirt,” “black blood”
    • Line 9: “traces,” “tar,” “restless arrays”
    • Line 10: “sun,” “surprise,” “sockets,” “stony,” “skull”
    • Line 12: “ground,” “gripped,” “feet,” “fear”
    • Line 13: “sun,” “sky,” “hungry,” “hounds”
    • Line 15: “formed flesh firm,” “flesh”
    • Line 16: “flask,” “cigars,” “cigarettes,” “smeared”
    • Line 17: “be burned”
    • Line 18: “battering,” “blood”
    • Line 19: “black,” “body,” “bound”
    • Line 20: “bubbling”
    • Line 22: “blood,” “baptism”
    • Line 23: “blaze,” “boiling”
    • Line 24: “begging”
    • Line 25: “bones,” “stony skull staring,” “surprise,” “sun”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “one,” “while,” “woods,” “stumbled suddenly,” “upon”
    • Line 2: “Stumbled,” “upon,” “grassy,” “clearing guarded,” “scaly oaks,” “elms”
    • Line 3: “sooty,” “scene,” “thrusting”
    • Line 4: “slumbering,” “forgottenly upon,” “cushion,” “ashes”
    • Line 5: “stump,” “sapling pointing,” “blunt,” “accusingly,” “sky”
    • Line 6: “torn tree,” “tiny veins,” “burnt,” “leaves,” “scorched coil,” “greasy”
    • Line 7: “empty tie,” “trousers stiff,” “black blood”
    • Line 8: “trampled,” “buttons,” “cigars,” “cigarettes,” “peanut,” “lipstick”
    • Line 9: “Scattered traces,” “tar,” “restless arrays,” “lingering smell,” “gasoline”
    • Line 10: “sun poured,” “surprise,” “sockets,” “stony skull”
    • Line 11: “frozen,” “life,” “gone”
    • Line 12: “ground gripped,” “feet,” “circled,” “icy,” “fear”
    • Line 13: “sun,” “sky,” “grass,” “darkness screamed,” “thirsty voices,” “witnesses”
    • Line 14: “dry,” “stirred,” “rattled,” “lifted,” “melting themselves”
    • Line 15: “ashes formed flesh firm,” “flesh”
    • Line 16: “flask passed from mouth,” “mouth,” “cigars,” “cigarettes,” “whore smeared,” “lipstick red upon,” “lips”
    • Line 17: “faces swirled,” “clamoring,” “be burned”
    • Line 18: “battering,” “teeth,” “throat till,” “swallowed,” “blood”
    • Line 19: “black,” “body,” “slipped,” “rolled,” “bound,” “sapling”
    • Line 20: “skin clung,” “bubbling,” “falling from,” “me,” “limp patches”
    • Line 21: “feathers,” “flesh”
    • Line 22: “blood,” “cooled mercifully, cooled by,” “baptism,” “gasoline”
    • Line 23: “blaze,” “red,” “leaped,” “sky,” “pain,” “rose,” “like,” “water,” “boiling,” “limbs”
    • Line 24: “begging,” “clutched childlike,” “sides,” “death”
    • Line 25: “dry bones,” “face,” “stony skull staring,” “yellow surprise,” “sun”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “stumbled suddenly”
    • Line 2: “Stumbled,” “grassy,” “scaly,” “oaks”
    • Line 3: “sooty,” “scene,” “thrusting themselves”
    • Line 4: “slumbering,” “cushion,” “ashes”
    • Line 5: “stump,” “sapling,” “sky”
    • Line 9: “Scattered traces,” “restless,” “smell,” “gasoline”
    • Line 10: “sun,” “surprise,” “sockets,” “stony skull”
    • Line 13: “darkness screamed,” “thirsty voices,” “witnesses”
    • Line 16: “gin-flask passed,” “cigars,” “cigarettes,” “smeared,” “lipstick,” “lips”
    • Line 17: “faces swirled”
    • Line 25: “face,” “stony skull staring,” “surprise,” “sun”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “stumbled suddenly upon”
    • Line 2: “Stumbled upon,” “grassy clearing,” “scaly”
    • Line 3: “sooty details,” “scene,” “between,” “me”
    • Line 4: “design,” “white,” “slumbering,” “upon”
    • Line 5: “blunt,” “accusingly”
    • Line 8: “upon,” “grass,” “buttons,” “matches,” “butt-ends,” “flask”
    • Line 13: “died,” “sky,” “muttered,” “fumbled,” “leaves,” “trees,” “poured forth,” “hungry,” “screamed,” “thirsty,” “witnesses,” “lived”
    • Line 14: “melting themselves”
    • Line 16: “gin-flask passed,” “lipstick,” “lips”
    • Line 20: “clung,” “bubbling”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “sapling”
    • Line 8: “butt-ends of cigars and cigarettes,” “a drained gin-flask, and a whore's lipstick;”
    • Line 9: “Scattered traces of tar, restless arrays of feathers, and the lingering smell of gasoline.”
    • Line 10: “the sun poured yellow surprise into the eye sockets of the stony skull...”
    • Lines 14-15: “The dry bones stirred, rattled, lifted, melting themselves into my bones. / The gray ashes formed flesh firm and black, entering into my flesh.”
    • Line 16: “The gin-flask passed from mouth to mouth, cigars and cigarettes glowed, the whore smeared the lipstick red upon her lips,”
    • Line 19: “sapling”
    • Line 20: “the bubbling hot tar”
    • Line 21: “the down and quills of the white feathers”
    • Line 22: “a baptism of gasoline.”
    • Line 25: “a stony skull staring in yellow surprise at the sun...”

  • Diacope

    

    

    

    

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    Where diacope appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “stumbled suddenly upon”
    • Line 2: “Stumbled upon”
    • Lines 14-15: “The dry bones stirred, rattled, lifted, melting themselves into my bones. / The gray ashes formed flesh firm and black, entering into my flesh.”
    • Line 19: “My voice was drowned in the roar of their voices”
    • Line 22: “cooled mercifully, cooled”
    • Line 24: “clutched childlike, clutched”

• “Between the World and 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.

  • Scaly
  • Sooty
  • Sapling
  • Blunt
  • Veins
  • Scorched
  • Coil
  • Vacant
  • Trousers
  • Gin-Flask
  • Lingering
  • Fumbled
  • Clamoring
  • Down and Quills
  • Baptism
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “scaly”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Between the World and Me”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Between the World and Me” Speaker

• “Between the World and Me” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Between the World and Me”

• More “Between the World and Me” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Hear the Poem — Listen to a reading of the poem.

    • Original Publication — Take a look at a digital version of the Partisan Review issue in which the poem was first published ("Between the World and Me" begins on page 18).

    • The Poet's Life — Learn more about Richard Wright in this overview of his life and work.

    • Lynching in the United States — A short video that unpacks the racist history of lynching in the United States. (Please beware that this video contains disturbing photographs of actual lynchings.)

    • "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates — Check out the LitCharts guide to Ta-Nehisi Coates's book of the same, which borrows its title and epigraph from Richard Wright's poem.

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