For a Sister (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Adrienne Rich
- First Published: 1972
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Prisoners, Poetry or poets, Mental illness, Feminism, Women, Russia or Russian people
The Poem
“For a Sister” is a short poem in free verse; its twenty-four lines are divided into six stanzas. It is dedicated to Natalya Gorbanevskaya, who was imprisoned in a mental asylum for her political activism. By referring to this Soviet dissident as a “sister,” the title puts the struggle of a distant and unknown woman into close relationship with the speaker. Another woman’s struggle for empowerment, the title suggests, no matter how far away she is or how little is known of her, sufficiently resembles an American feminist’s struggle that she might be called...
[The entire page is 1623 words long]
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