won't you celebrate with me Literary Elements

An unidentified person who identifies as nonwhite and a woman, and who describes a life of hardship

Fourteen lines of free verse, with some subtle use of iambic foot

The phrase "here on this bridge between / starshine and clay" uses the bridge as a metaphor for a liminal space, while starshine metaphorically represents the spiritual and celestial realm in contrast to clay, which metaphorically represents the bodily realm. Meanwhile, "babylon" is a metaphor for a place of exile and exclusion.

"born in babylon" uses alliterative "B" sounds, as does "this bridge between." Meanwhile, "what did i see to be except myself?" includes assonant E sounds, creating a plaintive effect.

The speaker's desire to celebrate is fueled by a lifetime of hardship. While bitterness or sadness might be a more expected response, the speaker instead highlights her ability to survive, arguing that this is cause for rejoicing.

Lyric poem

The poem is implied to take place in twentieth-century America

joyful, thoughtful, proud

Protagonist: the speaker. Antagonist: the forces of racism, sexism, and persecution that have caused her to suffer.

The work's major conflict is between the speaker and the many individuals, institutions, and societal forces that have tried to harm her or prevent her from succeeding.

The poem's climax comes in its final lines, when the speaker switches from requesting that others join her in celebrating to instructing them to do so.

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The phrase "what i have shaped into / a kind of life?" uses understatement, with the speaker characterizing her life as merely "a kind of life." This suggests that she lacks confidence, or else that she has dealt with so much hardship that she can hope only for a partial life. As the poem continues, however, she grows more assertive.

The poem's reference to "babylon" alludes to the biblical Psalm 137, with its line "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept," while the lines "here on this bridge between / starshine and clay," echo John Keats's line "Betwixt damnation and impassion'd clay" from the poem "On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again."

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The description "something has tried to kill me / and has failed" can be read as personification: the word "something" evokes an inanimate object, to which Clifton then attributes motive and agency.

The sentence "i had no model," with its use of absolutes, is somewhat hyperbolic.

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