Power, Adrienne Rich

As the poem begins with a broad overview of history, it asks the reader to interpret the lesson of Curie’s power. Some might interpret the poem to mean that power is fickle: that power inevitably wounds and corrupts. Others might interpret it to speak to women’s power more broadly: true power does not come from absolute strength, but from vulnerability. One cannot have true power without wounds, and in a certain sense, our wounds are always the source of our power. To channel the power that lies in nature, one must be receptive—thus, in the end, vulnerable— to it. When it comes to women’s power, then, this would mean that a history of violence and oppression has both led to women’s historical suffering, and to their potential to embrace their power in the modern era.