Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Each Morning I Pull Myself" by Lucille Clifton is a powerful exploration of resilience, confronting the challenges of personal despair and societal expectations. Through vivid imagery and a deeply personal voice, Clifton captures the daily struggle of moving beyond pain and sorrow, while also addressing the weight of roles and identities imposed by society on individuals, especially women. The poem reflects a journey of self-recovery and the courage required to face one's own vulnerabilities.

The opening lines, "each morning i pull myself / out of despair," immediately establish the poem's central theme of resilience. Clifton portrays the act of rising each day as a deliberate extraction from the depths of despair, a physical and psychological effort to overcome the remnants of the previous night's struggles. The reference to "a night of coals and a tongue / blistered with smiling" suggests the internal and external battles the speaker faces, where the coals symbolize enduring pain and the blistered tongue hints at the forced pretense of happiness or normalcy.

Clifton uses domestic and familial imagery, "the step past the mother bed / is a high step," to illustrate the challenge of moving forward. The "mother bed" may represent traditional expectations of womanhood and motherhood, suggesting that transcending these roles or the past associated with them requires significant effort. This metaphor underscores the difficulty of navigating personal identity within the constraints of societal norms.

The phrase "the walk through the widow’s door / is a long walk" further complicates the speaker's journey with the theme of loss and transition. The "widow’s door" symbolizes a passage through grief and the redefinition of self that follows significant personal loss. This imagery conveys the isolation and endurance required to face a new identity shaped by absence.

Clifton then introduces the motif of mirrored reflections, "and who are these voices calling / from every mirrored thing," pointing to the conflict between the speaker's internal sense of self and the external identities imposed by society. The mirrors reflect not just the speaker's image but the multitude of voices and expectations that challenge her authenticity. This confrontation with mirrored reflections demands recognition of one's true self, despite the cacophony of societal demands.

The poem concludes with a provocative challenge, "say it coward say it," urging the speaker, and by extension the reader, to confront their fears and to articulate their truths. This call to action serves as both a personal admonition and a universal appeal for courage in the face of despair and societal pressure.

"Each Morning I Pull Myself" is a testament to Lucille Clifton's ability to weave complex themes of despair, resilience, identity, and societal expectation into a concise and impactful poem. Clifton invites readers to consider the daily acts of courage required to maintain one's authenticity and to move beyond the pain and expectations that bind us. Through her exploration of these deeply human themes, Clifton offers a message of hope and the transformative power of self-affirmation.

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