An Atlas of the Difficult World

“An Atlas of the Difficult World” (1991), by renowned American poet Adrienne Rich, is a 13-poem cycle about the US in the early 1990s, as the country wrestled with the moral implications of the unfolding Persian Gulf War. Casting an unblinking eye at a nation in turmoil, Rich investigates what it means to be a patriot of an imperfect nation, suggesting that in those imperfections lies a sustaining promise of hope in the darkest times. 

In the poems, Rich assumes the role of Citizen Poet. The cycle moves across space and time; its poems venture from California to New York and shuttle backward from the present into America’s troubled and troubling history. For Rich, this vast canvas represented a broadening of her vision. Her poetry had long championed the rights of women, people of color, Indigenous peoples, and the LGBT community. Here, she highlights the complicated dynamic between America’s shining aspirations and its often unsettling past. 

Because the poem features 13 linked sections, this guide’s citations will refer to both section and line number. Sections are labeled using Roman numerals; within each section, line numbering restarts at 1.

POET BIOGRAPHY

Adrienne Rich was born in West Baltimore, Maryland, on May 16, 1929.