HANGING FIRE
AUDRE LORDE
A self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” Audre Lorde dedicated both her
life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism,
classism, and homophobia. Lorde was born in New York City to West Indian immigrant
parents. She attended Catholic schools before graduating from Hunter High School and
published her first poem in Seventeen magazine while still a student there. Of her poetic
beginnings Lorde commented in Black Women Writers:
“I used to speak in poetry. I would read poems, and I would memorize them. People
would say, well what do you think, Audre. What happened to you yesterday? And I would
recite a poem and somewhere in that poem would be a line or a feeling I would be sharing.
In other words, I literally communicated through poetry. And when I couldn’t find the
poems to express the things I was feeling, that’s what started me writing poetry, and that
was when I was twelve or thirteen.”
Summary
The speaker of "Hanging Fire" is a 14year-old girl who shares her thoughts,
fears, and worries with us. She bounces
around from topic to topic. At one
moment, she's worrying about her
appearance (her braces, her ashy knees)
and the next, she's worrying about much
bigger issues, like death. Adding to her
anxiety, throughout the poem the speaker
repeatedly tells us that her mom's "in the
bedroom / with the door closed."
MOOD
The mood of this poem has a
disheartened feel to it. It
seems as though the girl in the
poem cannot handle her life
and feels like giving because
of the “problems” she’s facing
SETTING
• Her bedroom (wearing braces
I have nothing to wear tomorrow).
• In a house (and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed).
HANGING FIRE
Hanging Fire” is a poem of thirty-five lines of free verse (regular rhyme scheme). The poem is divided into three
stanzas . The persona, a fourteen-year-old female, declarative sentences, speaking directly to her audience, making
readers aware of her anxieties, her isolation, and her loneliness. She explains that she is in love with an immature
boy who still sucks his thumb in private, that she is worried about her ashy knees and a skin that has “betrayed her,”
and that she is occupied with death and dying, for she says, “what if I die before morning.”
“While all of these issues worry the teenager, what affects her most is the fact that her mother is
unapproachable: “and mamma is in the bedroom/ with the door closed.”
In the second stanza the teenager indicates that she needs to improve her social skills by affirming that she has to
learn how to dance, yet she states that there is nothing that she really wants to do. However, she admits that there is
“too much that has to be done.” The ambiguous messages that are sent in these lines of needing to learn how to
dance, of not really wanting to do anything, and of having too many things that need to be done indicate that the
young girl lacks direction and that she truly needs the guidance of an adult,...
HANGING FIRE
HANGING FIRE
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 morning
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.
ANALYSIS
I am fourteen
and my skin has betrayed(she
is black) 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 morning
and momma's in the
bedroom
with the door closed.
Personification . In (line 2). It is as if to say her own acne/
colour (race) is at war with her and she feels like she is losing
Hyperbole: He appears not to be the picture of maturity himself as
evidenced by his secret habit of still sucking his thumb, but both share
a similarity with the shared plight of adolescence.
Alliteration: He appears not to be the picture of maturity himself as
evidenced by his secret habit of still sucking his thumb, but both share a
similarity with the shared plight of adolescence.
Her biggest problem is that her “momma’s in the bedroom / with
the door closed” (lines 10-11). The closed door is figurative language
that symbolizes the mother’s absence and lack of
communication with her daughter.
ANALYSIS
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
(Homework, chores)
and too much
that has to be done
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.
Many of the speaker’s insecurities and feelings of hopelessness seem
to stem from the fact that her mother plays a minimal role in her life.
This leads the speaker to often experience loneliness and wonder about
her own death.
Ambiguity: She makes vague complaints, the
she doesn't want to do… anything. But there's too much to do. Its
not clear what she’s saying
Repetition: For emphasis
Figurative: absent+ lack of communication
The main difficulty her mother plays minimal role so she feels
helpless. She is lonely
ANALYSIS
Nobody even stops to think
about my side of it
Gender discrimination
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.
Feels isolated like she’s the only one going through this
Concerned about her appearance
She feels like there might not be anyone to care about her
when she’s gone.
Repetition to emphasize the separateness, or even of
alienation from her mom, is starting to take on more
meaning with this repetition. The fact that her mom is in
her bedroom, ignoring her, is starting to feel like a real
problem.
Classwork
page
50
THEME
1. Adolescence
2. Coming of age
3. Isolation
IMAGERY
• Ashy knees
• Mom's door closed
• Empty small room
• Braces