The Full Text of “Coal”
The Full Text of “Coal”
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“Coal” Introduction
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“Coal” Summary
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“Coal” Themes
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Blackness, Language, and Liberation
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-7
- Lines 8-22
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Love and Communication
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 4-26
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Coal”
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Lines 1-3
I ...
... the earth's inside. -
Lines 4-7
There are many ...
... what for speaking. -
Lines 8-10
Some words are ...
... of passing sun -
Lines 11-15
Then there are ...
... a ragged edge. -
Lines 16-22
Some words live ...
... Bedevil me. -
Lines 23-26
Love is a ...
... your open light.
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“Coal” Symbols
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Diamonds
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-3: “I / Is the total black, being spoken / From the earth's inside.”
- Line 4: “There are many kinds of open.”
- Line 5: “How a diamond comes into a knot of flame”
- Line 8: “Some words are open”
- Line 9: “Like a diamond on glass windows”
- Lines 23-24: “Love is a word another kind of open— / As a diamond comes into a knot of flame”
- Lines 25-26: “I am black because I come from the earth's inside / Take my word for jewel in your open light.”
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“Coal” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 2: “black”
- Line 3: “From the earth's inside.”
- Line 4: “open”
- Line 5: “How a diamond comes into a knot of flame”
- Line 6: “How a,” “word”
- Line 8: “Some words,” “open”
- Line 9: “diamond”
- Line 11: “words”
- Line 16: “Some words”
- Line 21: “Some words”
- Line 23: “word,” “open”
- Line 24: “a diamond comes into a knot of flame”
- Line 25: “black,” “from the earth's inside”
- Line 26: “word,” “open”
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Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 4
- Lines 5-7
- Lines 8-10
- Lines 11-12
- Lines 16-17
- Lines 17-20
- Lines 23-24
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “I / Is”
- Lines 2-3: “spoken / From”
- Lines 6-7: “coloured / By”
- Lines 8-9: “open / Like”
- Lines 9-10: “windows / Singing”
- Lines 11-12: “wagers / In”
- Lines 16-17: “throat / Breeding”
- Lines 17-18: “sun / Seeking”
- Lines 18-19: “tongue / To”
- Lines 19-20: “lips / Like”
- Lines 21-22: “words / Bedevil”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 2: “total,” “spoken”
- Line 6: “word, coloured”
- Line 9: “glass,” “windows”
- Line 10: “Singing,” “within,” “crash,” “passing”
- Line 11: “stapled,” “wagers”
- Line 13: “wills”
- Line 15: “ill”
- Line 17: “sun”
- Line 18: “tongue”
- Line 20: “young”
- Line 25: “inside”
- Line 26: “light”
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“Coal” 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.
- Coloured
- Wagers
- Perforated
- Come whatever wills all chances
- Stub
- Ill-pulled
- Adders
- Gypsies
- Bedevil
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(Location in poem: Lines 6-7: “coloured / By who pays what for speaking.”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Coal”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Coal” Speaker
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“Coal” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Coal”
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More “Coal” Resources
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External Resources
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Listen to the Poem Out Loud — A recording of the poem for Brown Girl Reading.
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The Poet's Life and Work — A biography of Audre Lorde at the Poetry Foundation.
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Lorde's Legacy of Radical and Intersectional Feminism — A Paris Review essay examining Lorde's influential ideas on race, gender, sexuality, and more.
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The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism — A transcription of Lorde's keynote presentation for the National Women’s Studies Association Conference in Storrs, Connecticut in 1981.
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A Conversation Between Audre Lorde and James Baldwin — Fellow writers and activists Lorde and Baldwin discuss power disparities between Black and white people and Black men and women.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Audre Lorde
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