Coal

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1976

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Sun

In “Coal,” Lorde offers a solar motif. The sun is contrasted with the darkness of the earth where coal is located. The sun is what causes diamonds to sparkle—they do not have an internal source of light but reflect and refract the sun. Within the list of comparisons between words and things, diamond-like words cut glass windows while “Singing out within the crash of passing sun” (Line 10). Here, the sun is almost described using synesthesia (a crossing of senses): Crashing often refers to the senses of sound and touch, such as one hearing and feeling ocean waves crash over them. Lorde uses this kind of watery imagery to describe sunlight coming in through the window.

Lorde develops the motif of words and sunlight in another comparison. She describes words as, “Others know sun” (Line 17), in contrast to the words that stick in her throat. For words to be diamond-like, or for them to reflect light, they have to be released from the body. The poem ends with the concept of “open light” (Line 26). Lorde argues that words that come from the bodies of Black women should be regarded as valuable and displayed out in the sun.

Animals

Words are also compared to animals in a second motif. Snakes and birds—“adders” (Line 17) and “sparrows” (Line 20)—represent different kinds of words. Snakes represent unspoken words. Snakes often symbolize negativity or evil—they can reference the Biblical snake in the Garden of Eden who convinced Eve to eat an apple from the tree of knowledge. The speaker describes how "Some words / Bedevil" (Lines 21-22) her, which could allude to the idea of the Christian devil (in disguise as a snake).

In contrast, the bird imagery in the poem represents spoken words. Birds are associated with peace, goodness, and freedom, and sparrows are often considered a sign of good luck. In “Coal,” the “young sparrows bursting from shell” (Line 20) represent the speaker's spoken words. These words see the light of the sun and have the capacity to bring joy.

Earth

The birth of the baby birds is contrasted with the birth of the speaker from the earth. The earth and underground imagery are a third motif in “Coal.” Earth, like the egg shells that the sparrows emerge from, has a cave- or womb-like symbolism. Lorde asserts that the “earth” (Lines 3 and 25) is responsible for her Blackness and identity or sense of self. The earth is a literal creative power in its capacity to create coal and diamonds, as well as in the metaphoric sense of birthing a Black woman. Both laboring to deliver a human child and the pressure exerted to create coal and diamonds involve squeezing or contractions.