insights INSIGHT Lucille Clifton's Poetic Style ios_share
Lucille Clifton's poetry is characterized by its brevity, clarity, and unique musicality.
Her poems are powerful and precise, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
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insights INSIGHT Structure and Themes ios_share
Clifton's poem "Song at Midnight" can be interpreted as two halves or a single poem.
It explores themes of womanhood, race, and aging.
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insights INSIGHT Reclaiming Language ios_share
Clifton reclaims words often used derogatorily to describe body shape.
She redefines them with power and precision.
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Get the app In strength and defiance, Lucille Clifton celebrates her Black body and her survival. When have you said or heard words like this?
Calling herself “both nonwhite and woman,” Lucille Clifton glories in her shape and fact of her life in these two poems . She invites the reader to witness everything she's lived through, and to celebrate the flourishing life that she has created in spite of everything that has tried to kill her.
Lucille Clifton was the author of several books of poetry including Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988–2000 The Book of Light Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980
Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org .
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