Poem Analysis 1- Hanging Fire.

Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde.

I am fourteen

and my skin has betrayed me

the boy I cannot live without

still sucks his thumb

in secret

how come my knees are

always so ashy

what if I die

before the morning comes

and momma's in the bedroom

with the door closed.

I have to learn how to dance

in time for the next party

my room is too small for me

suppose I die before graduation

they will sing sad melodies

but finally

tell the truth about me

There is nothing I want to do

and too much

that has to be done

and momma's in the bedroom

with the door closed.

Nobody even stops to think

about my side of it

I should have been on Math Team

my marks were better than his

why do I have to be

the one

wearing braces

I have nothing to wear tomorrow

will I live long enough

to grow up

and momma's in the bedroom

with the door closed.

Poem Analysis: Hanging fire by Audre Lorde.

•   Subject matter.

       This simple poem by Audre Lorde talks about the confession of a teenage girl in her early stage of puberty. The girl is fourteen and she thinks that the whole world is against her. She is fourteen, she is black, liking the boys who is still ‘children’, does not know how to dance and wants to be in Maths Team and wearing braces. Therefore, it is her against the world. She thinks that her life as a teenager is so dull and boring. She experiences physical changing and emotional changes yet nobody cares. She also afraid that she might die and could not live long enough to grow up. She is afraid that the whole change will affect her and that is why she really needs a guide. Her mother is still in the bedroom with the door closed and does not really care what she has gone through. This really scares her.

•      Purpose.

         At first glance, the poem may appear to have no serious purpose other than a girl whining about her life but as we go deep, this fourteen year old girl is trying to called up for support and help as she is going through adolescence. She needs care, love, and somebody to listen to her. The repetitive lines of ‘and momma’s in the bedroom with the door closed’ indicates that she is in a desperate need of her mother to show some support and help her because this experience is new to her. She also complains on how she should be in a Maths Team because her marks were better than one boy was. This actually tell us about the gender bias in school during this era where a girl is not really given a chance to do anything superior than boys. The poem also stressed on how important parent’s roles are in the growing up of a teenager.

• Emotion

         The emotion of this poem is serious but has a funny element in it. It is serious as she keeps complaining about her life and needs somebody to assist her throughout the completely growing process but it is portrayed in a word of a fourteen-year-old girl. She is afraid to grow up because she has no role model and no support. It is a serious poem because it tries to indicate that parent’s role is important when growing up. This girl is definitely experiencing anxiety, confusion and frustration and it is portrayed in this poem because she lives in unsatisfactory life. The line ‘suppose I die before graduation they will sing sad melodies’ shows that she is lonely and feels different

•  Craftsmanship.

        The poem has an interesting simple structure. It has three stanzas with free lines. The language used is simple and easy to understand probably because she is just a fourteen-year-old girl and she wants us to understand in the simplest way what she is going through. It gives us the comfort when reading the poem because we can relate it to ourselves as we once been fourteen-year-old girls.

     There are many symbols that can be found in this poem, ‘and my skin has betrayed me’ means that she is different from others because she is black and black people often be isolated from the society. She feels like she is not accepted because she is somehow different. In the line ‘suppose I die before graduation and they will sing sad melodies’ shows that she is so lonely and alone. ‘And momma’s in the bedroom with door closed’ repeated several times symbolizes need and hope that someday her mother will open the door and be closed to her in every situation she faces. The poem has a slow rhythm as in a person is speaking or whining. There is some alliteration in the poem- still suck his thumb in secret. Assonance can be found in the line ‘and momma’s in the bedroom with the door closed, ‘wearing braces’, ‘I have nothing to wear tomorrow’ and ‘before the morning comes’. The alliteration and the assonance give the poem a rhythm

•  Summary.

   The poem is very easy to understand. It is from a girl point of view, how hard the life she has been through and it is not the same when she was younger. The simple language makes it easier to understand and to feel what she has gone through. I know how she feels because I have been there and done that and experienced how it is like to be a fourteen-year-old girl. The poet makes us realize that we often do not care what is happening with a teenager but we obviously have to try to see like the way they see things because sometimes they needed us so bad that you cannot imagine.