These introspective verses invite readers on a journey of self-discovery. Identity poems delve into the intricate web of characteristics, beliefs, and experiences that define us as individuals.
They explore themes of self-acceptance, belonging, and the search for authenticity. These poems may celebrate cultural heritage, embrace diversity, or challenge societal norms.
Identity poems resonate with readers by reflecting their shared struggles and triumphs, fostering empathy and understanding among diverse communities.
‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ surveys the cultural persistence of Black experiences, achievements, and hardships throughout history.
Despite using the first-person, the speaker of Hughes' poem is a collective identity meant to symbolize the historical experiences of Black people. Their knowledge of ancient rivers reflects their own enduring presence, emphasizing the persevering nature of those who've called the banks of the Euphrates, Congo, and Nile home. To be Black is to know that your ancestry dates back to these founding moments of civilization, and the poet coalesces their identity around a newfound sense of pride, solidarity, and determination.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
‘Why did you come’ by Hilda Doolittle is about love, self-criticism, aging, and the human inability to control judgments and desires.
At the crux of "Why did you come" is the speaker's relationship with herself. She treats herself very critically, fearing that others will judge her for developing an attraction to a younger person. She seems angry with herself for even having amorous feelings, seeing as she is infertile and older. Despite these emotions, she resigns herself to the fact that love cannot be controlled by logic.
‘An Unknown Girl’ by Moniza Alvi depicts the poet’s intense connection with her native culture through an unknown girl in an Indian bazaar.
The poem delves into the complexities of multiple identities in today's globalized world. It captures the poet's struggle between two identities, grappling with rootlessness and disconnection. The henna tattoo symbolizes a reconnection to the speaker's native identity, but its transient nature mirrors the fleeting nature of her sense of belongingness. Despite growing up in England, the poet experiences this crisis, emphasizing the role of belongingness in identity formation. Her fragmented, unclear memories echo her identity crisis, underlining the poet's yearning to integrate into her native identity fully.
‘Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem’ by Helene Johnson is a deeply affecting poem that lucidly attempts to uncover a man’s shortcomings alongside all that makes his superbly admirable.
One of the themes of Johnson's poem is rooted in the way Black identity is both perceived and defined. This is why the speaker presents so many conflicting descriptions of the man, which appear so contradictory. In the end, the speaker sides with the bombastic pride that the man displays and declares that they are too good for such streets.
‘Sympathy’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar evokes a profound sense of empathy in its attempt to understand the forlorn song of those who feel they are captives unable to reach the world beyond their respective cages.
Identity is a major theme in the poem. Essentially, the poem links together the identities of the caged bird with that of a person of color, revealing the ways in which their captive existences are synonymous with one another. It also encourages empathy between oppressed peoples and creatures.
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
‘The Émigrée’ by Carol Rumens explores the nuanced relationship that emigrants have with the countries they’ve left behind, clinging to overly idealized but sincere memories as a source of enduring love for the homes they’ve been exiled from.
Although Rumens doesn't reveal much about the speaker's identity, the poem is immensely concerned with characterizing the identities of emigrants in general. In exploring the memories of an individual who left behind their home country at a young age, textured with the dually vague but deeply impressionable contours of a child's mind, the reader is urged to empathize with their idealized longing for a place they'll never again see. Such recollections, however unrealistic or overly hopeful, are central to the identity of the emigrant.
‘Worth’ by Marilyn Nelson wrestles for an answer regarding both who and by what means do we prescribe value to other people and ourselves.
Identity is an important theme in Nelson's poem. At its core, this is a poem about Black identity, one that rebukes the devaluation of Black lives that began with slavery while also revealing it still persists even centuries later. But the poem also urges those who've been degraded over the color of their skin to search for their worth outside the culture and world that treats them as worthless.
Today in America people were bought and sold:
five hundred for a "likely Negro wench."
If someone at auction is worth her weight in gold,
‘No More Boomerang,’ a poem by the Aboriginal Australian political activist and poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal (also known as Kath Walker) features how the aboriginal culture is in crisis for the growing materialism and colonial hegemony.
Identity is a recurring theme in Oodgeroo Noonuccal's poetry. She explores the complexities of individual and collective identity, particularly from the perspective of Indigenous Australians. Noonuccal highlights the struggle to maintain a strong cultural identity in the face of colonization, cultural assimilation, and oppression.
‘Poem About My Rights’ by June Jordan is a one-stanza poem revealing a speaker’s thoughts on misogyny, sexism, and racism from their experience. It is celebrated for accurately portraying the struggles of women and men of color in a patriarchial and predominantly white society.
The poem, at its core, focuses on the suppression of one's identity. The poet persona's identity as a black woman is central to the poem.
Walcott’s ‘A Far Cry from Africa’ explores postcolonial identities, encapsulating the struggle between African roots and colonial influence.
Derek Walcott's poem 'A Far Cry from Africa' delves deeply into the theme of identity, exploring the complexities and conflicts that arise from a dual heritage. Through vivid imagery and introspective reflections, Walcott grapples with his African and European ancestry, navigating the clash of cultures and the sense of displacement it engenders. He examines the internal struggle for self-definition, highlighting the tension between ancestral roots and colonial influences. The poem reflects the universal search for identity in a postcolonial world, questioning the notions of belonging, heritage, and the construction of self. Walcott's poignant exploration of identity in this poem invites readers to reflect on their own sense of self and the multifaceted nature of identity in a diverse and interconnected world.
‘The Cities Inside Us’ by Alberto Ríos uses surreal imagery to imply that the collective sum of all of our experiences are stored within our bodies.
The poem probes at and explores very fundamental questions regarding our true selves and, crucially, how that self is formed continually over time. For Ríos, identity is not something fixed and predetermined, but instead is constantly shaped and reshaped by our experiences in life, each leaving a permanent mark on our sense of person-hood.
‘The Planners’ by Boey Kim Cheng is a powerful poem about the way that development and the creation of new infrastructure makes the world a less interesting place to live in.
The identity of a nation or its people is tied to its past. When people disregard their history, culture, and heritage for the sake of modernity, they unknowingly lose their sense of belonging to the country in which they are born.
‘Havisham’ by Carol Ann Duffy explores the psychological reality of Dickens’ Miss Havisham from a feminist perspective.
A traumatic event has transformed the speaker's life and defines her entire identity while consuming her mind and body. Marriage played a significant role in defining women's identity, particularly in the 19th century, when unmarried women were labelled 'spinster.' The speaker identifies herself as 'Spinster' and 'caws' 'Nooooo' the entire day, wears the same yellowing wedding dress, and spends her days and nights thinking about that day, trapped in emotional frenzy. She doesn't recognize herself in the mirror, addresses herself in third-person, and then wonders, 'who did this/to me,' revealing self-alienation and a lost sense of self. The trauma consumed her so much that she transformed into a grotesque figure with 'dark green pebbles for eyes' and 'ropes on the back' of her hands to strangle, losing her identity and senses.
Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since then
I haven’t wished him dead. Prayed for it
so hard I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes,
ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.
‘My Parents’ by Stephen Spender is a poem based on bullying and the desire to make friends.
The poem is centered on the speaker, his social class, and his parents’ efforts to shield him. His relationships with the rough children and their teasing of his lisp are important to his lack of self-acceptance and how other people’s opinions of him affect him.
My parents kept me from children who were rough
Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes
Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams.
‘Name Journeys’ explores the dissolution of identity faced by a speaker estranged from both their heritage and language.
Mundair’s poem reflects on the effects of physical and cultural dislocation, as well as the challenges of assimilation, all of which contribute to an erosion of the speaker's identity. The transition from India to England starts this deterioration with the loss of their mother tongue, given up in an attempt to appease the Anglo-centric, English-speaking environment she now calls home. One of the more striking depictions of this difficult transition is the image of the speaker's "milk teeth" falling out, a metaphor for the forfeiture of their ability to speak Punjabi. The "interlacing banyan leaves with sugar cane" is another potent symbol that illustrates the speaker's attempts to articulate and reconcile the disparate elements of their identity.
Our Poem Guides, PDFs, Study Tools, and Articles are created by a team of qualified poetry experts to provide an unparalleled in-depth look into poetry.
