"Litany for Survival" was written by the American poet and civil rights activist Audre Lorde, and first published in Lorde's 1978 collection The Black Unicorn. The poem describes the constant fear that marginalized communities experience in a prejudiced society and the way such relentless fear can silence any dissenting voices. Vulnerable people have learned to keep their heads down in the hope of protecting themselves and their loved ones, the speaker argues, yet such silence only serves to maintain their oppression. The speaker thus encourages the marginalized to speak up against a world they "were never meant to survive."

• Read the full text of “A Litany for Survival”

• “A Litany for Survival” Summary

• “A Litany for Survival” Themes

  • 

    Fear, Marginalization, and Silence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-44

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Litany for Survival”

  • Lines 1-3

    For those of ...
    ... crucial and alone

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-9

    for those of ...
    ... before and after

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-14

    seeking a now ...
    ... death of ours;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 15-18

    For those of ...
    ... our mother’s milk

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-24

    for by this ...
    ... meant to survive.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-28

    And when the ...
    ... in the morning

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 29-32

    when our stomachs ...
    ... never eat again

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 33-36

    when we are ...
    ... will never return

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 37-41

    and when we ...
    ... are still afraid

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 42-44

    So it is ...
    ... meant to survive.

    

    

    

    

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• “A Litany for Survival” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “For those of us who live at the shoreline”
    • Line 4: “for those of us who cannot indulge”
    • Line 6: “who love in doorways coming and going”
    • Lines 8-9: “looking inward and outward / at once before and after”
    • Lines 15-16: “For those of us / who were imprinted with fear”
    • Line 22: “For all of us”
    • Lines 25-41: “And when the sun rises we are afraid / it might not remain / when the sun sets we are afraid / it might not rise in the morning / when our stomachs are full we are afraid / of indigestion / when our stomachs are empty we are afraid / we may never eat again / when we are loved we are afraid / love will vanish / when we are alone we are afraid / love will never return / and when we speak we are afraid / our words will not be heard / nor welcomed / but when we are silent / we are still afraid”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “For those of us who”
    • Line 4: “for those of us who”
    • Line 6: “who”
    • Lines 15-16: “For those of us / who”
    • Line 19: “for”
    • Line 22: “For”
    • Line 25: “And when”
    • Line 27: “when”
    • Line 29: “when”
    • Line 31: “when”
    • Line 33: “when”
    • Line 35: “when”
    • Line 37: “and when”
    • Line 40: “but when”

  • Epistrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where epistrophe appears in the poem:

    • Line 25: “we are afraid”
    • Line 27: “we are afraid”
    • Line 29: “we are afraid”
    • Line 31: “we are afraid”
    • Line 33: “we are afraid”
    • Line 35: “we are afraid”
    • Line 37: “we are afraid”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “live,” “shoreline”
    • Line 2: “standing,” “constant,” “edges,” “decision”
    • Line 3: “crucial,” “alone”
    • Line 4: “cannot,” “indulge”
    • Line 5: “passing,” “dreams,” “choice”
    • Line 6: “doorways”
    • Line 7: “between dawns”
    • Line 8: “inward,” “outward”
    • Line 9: “once,” “before,” “after”
    • Line 10: “breed”
    • Line 12: “bread”
    • Line 13: “dreams”
    • Line 14: “death”
    • Line 16: “fear”
    • Line 17: “like,” “faint,” “line,” “foreheads”
    • Line 18: “learning,” “afraid,” “mother’s milk”
    • Line 20: “some safety,” “found”
    • Line 21: “heavy-footed hoped,” “silence us”
    • Line 23: “this instant,” “this triumph”
    • Line 24: “We were,” “never,” “survive”
    • Line 27: “sun sets”
    • Line 33: “when we”
    • Line 34: “love,” “vanish”
    • Line 35: “when we”
    • Line 36: “love,” “never”
    • Line 37: “when we”
    • Line 38: “words will,” “heard”
    • Line 39: “welcomed”
    • Line 40: “when we”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “dreams”
    • Line 6: “doorways”
    • Line 7: “dawns”
    • Line 10: “breed”
    • Line 12: “bread”
    • Line 13: “dreams”
    • Line 14: “death”
    • Line 16: “fear”
    • Line 17: “like,” “faint,” “line,” “foreheads”
    • Line 18: “learning,” “afraid,” “mother’s,” “milk”
    • Line 20: “some,” “safety,” “found”
    • Line 21: “heavy,” “footed,” “hoped”
    • Line 24: “We,” “were”
    • Line 37: “when,” “we,” “we”
    • Line 38: “words,” “will”
    • Line 39: “welcomed”
    • Line 40: “when,” “we”
    • Line 41: “we”
    • Line 44: “we,” “were”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “For those of us who live at the shoreline”
    • Lines 6-7: “who love in doorways coming and going / in the hours between dawns”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 10-12: “seeking a now that can breed / futures / like bread in our children’s mouths”
    • Lines 15-17: “For those of us / who were imprinted with fear / like a faint line in the center of our foreheads”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “shoreline / standing”
    • Lines 2-3: “decision / crucial”
    • Lines 4-5: “indulge / the”
    • Lines 6-7: “going / in”
    • Lines 7-8: “dawns / looking”
    • Lines 8-9: “outward / at”
    • Lines 9-10: “after / seeking”
    • Lines 10-12: “breed / futures / like”
    • Lines 12-13: “mouths / so”
    • Lines 13-14: “reflect / the”
    • Lines 15-16: “us / who”
    • Lines 16-17: “fear / like”
    • Lines 19-20: “weapon / this”
    • Lines 20-21: “found / the”
    • Lines 22-23: “us / this”
    • Lines 23-24: “triumph / We”
    • Lines 25-26: “afraid / it”
    • Lines 27-28: “afraid / it”
    • Lines 29-30: “afraid / of”
    • Lines 31-32: “afraid / we”
    • Lines 33-34: “afraid / love”
    • Lines 35-36: “afraid / love”
    • Lines 37-38: “afraid / our”
    • Lines 38-39: “heard / nor”
    • Lines 40-41: “silent / we”
    • Lines 42-44: “speak / remembering / we”

• “A Litany for Survival” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Shoreline
  • Crucial
  • Indulge
  • Imprinted
  • Illusion
  • Indigestion
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “For those of us who live at the shoreline”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Litany for Survival”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “A Litany for Survival” Speaker

• “A Litany for Survival” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “A Litany for Survival”

• More “A Litany for Survival” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a recording of Audre Lorde herself reading "A Litany for Survival."

    • Interview with the Poet — Check out a 1982 interview with Audre Lorde, conducted by Blanche Cook.

    • Lorde's Biography — Read more about Lorde's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.

    • The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism — Read a transcription of a keynote presentation Lorde gave to the National Women’s Studies Association Conference in Storrs, Connecticut in 1981.

    • The Black Arts Movement — Learn more about the cultural and artistic movement of which Lorde was a part.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Audre Lorde

    • A Woman Speaks

    • Coal

    • Power

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