Lucille Clifton's "The Lost Baby Poem": Analysis

Poetry as Personal and Political Expression

Poetry captures both the personal and the political, allowing for collective exploration of an internal psychic world. The poet shares that inner world by translating emotional forms into language. Poetry appeals to our need to understand ourselves and the universe by using metaphor and semantics much as a musician uses notes, chords, and harmonies. It is in this service of poetry that Lucille Clifton writes "The Lost Baby Poem" — a poem that reveals the confluence of the personal and the political.

Free Verse Form and Literary Devices

Contemporary poetry is unique in that it does not confine itself to formal structures. While poets are free to draw from forms such as the sonnet or the haiku, free verse has become and remains an equally valid form. "The Lost Baby Poem" is written in free verse and is therefore quintessentially modern. The poet does not consciously impose rhyme or rhythm onto the verses, allowing her own voice to shine through.

Used as a springboard for classroom discussion, "The Lost Baby Poem" reveals the ways poets transcend structure in favor of imagery and semantics. At the same time, the poem contains literary devices that reward close analysis. For example, Lucille Clifton uses repetition throughout the poem for literary effect. It begins when the last word of the first line meets the first word of the second line: "down." This word also carries assonance with "drown," which is the central motif in the first stanza. Repetition appears again in the fourth and fifth lines of the first stanza, which both begin, "What did I know about…"

The poem then becomes an embodiment of the imagery of drowning, as the poet's words tumble forth without fixed form or structure, leaving the reader unsure of which way is up or down. Toward the end of the poem, however, the reader finds air when the poet returns to repetitive phrasing. Three consecutive lines begin with the word "Let." These lines constitute an imploring — addressed to a god or the universe — for spiritual salvation.

Structure and Spiritual Arc of the Poem

The three-stanza poem illustrates how free verse poetry can maintain internal coherence. In "The Lost Baby Poem," the first two stanzas are the mother's words to her unborn child. The final stanza functions as a spiritual tribute and an act of self-forgiveness. Something has shifted in the poem: the speaker arrives at a definite realization, or epiphany. She has purged herself of the pain of remembering the abortion and reached a point of forgiveness.

Conclusion: Poetry as Healing and Commentary

Imagery of water is integral to the poem. Water serves as a parallel motif for pregnancy and childbirth — the breaking of the waters — as well as a symbol of emotional intensity, evoking tears. There are also subtle references to patriarchy, as when the speaker distinguishes between "drowning" and "being drowned." The former is an act of nature; the latter is a malicious act imposed by another, a distinction that carries considerable political weight regarding gender and power.

"The Lost Baby Poem" allows for rich intellectual engagement. It permits exploration of poetic devices such as imagery, motif, metaphor, and repetition. The poem also offers substantial social and political commentary about gender roles, and demonstrates how poetry can serve as an art of spiritual healing.

Clifton, Lucille. "The Lost Baby Poem."