A Litany for Survival (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Audre Lorde
- First Published: 1978
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: African Americans, History, Africa or Africans, Blacks, Authors or writers, Nineteenth century, Literature, Novelists, England or English people, Women’s issues, Eighteenth century, Women, Rites or ceremonies, Biography, Prayers
The Poem
“A Litany for Survival” is a short poem in free verse containing three dense stanzas and a concluding three-line stanza. The title refers to a type of communal prayer involving alternating speakers, usually a leader and a congregation of petitioners. The form of the poem enacts the title’s scene: The lead speaker begins the prayer, directly addressing the other petitioners yet speaking as if also one of the petitioners. The first two stanzas could be delivered by the leader’s solitary voice, as both stanzas give prolonged descriptions of the petitioners’...
[The entire page is 1396 words long]
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