Reely's Poetry Blog

Power is an interesting theme for a poem since the word itself can generally fall into one of these categories: physical power, emotional power, mental power. It would undoubtedly be ideal to possess all three at once, but we do admire power in any form. I would say 'except evil,' but some folks do admire power even when it is evil; otherwise there would not be such a great interest in crime in general and organized crime groups, like the American and Sicilian Mafia, and the many other criminal cartels spread across the world. Dictators and religious cults are other examples of power put to bad uses.

Here is a poem simply entitled "Power" that takes a look at one woman's power. See if you agree with it:

Power

Living in the earth-deposits of our history
Today a backhoe divulged out of a crumbling flank of earth
one bottle amber perfect a hundred-year-old
cure for fever or melancholy a tonic
for living on this earth in the winters of this climate.

Today I was reading about Marie Curie:
she must have known she suffered from radiation sickness
her body bombarded for years by the element
she had purified
It seems she denied to the end
the source of the cataracts on her eyes
the cracked and suppurating skin of her finger-ends
till she could no longer hold a test-tube or a pencil

She died a famous woman denying
her wounds
denying
her wounds came from the same source as her power.

by Adrienne Rich.

I've seen analyses of this poem where some feel the poet is comparing herself and the sacrifices she had to make for her own source of power. Others seem to see it as some kind of testament to Marie Curie, martying herself on the altar of power not only for the good of mankind, but to show that a woman could do it.

To me, it is trying to say there's a price to pay for power, although I don't believe Marie Curie is the best example if that is the message. I don't believe Marie Curie's chief ambition in life was to have power, to be famous or be a feminist leader. These were by-products of her work. Marie Curie's true powers were in her brilliant mind, her selflessness and dedication to her work.