--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are no honest poems about dead women." description: "\"There are no honest poems about dead women.\" — Audre Lorde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/audre-lorde-758_dead_there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-wom_632623.jpg" --- # There are no honest poems about dead women. ![“There are no honest poems about dead women.” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/audre-lorde-758_dead_there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-wom_632623.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/audre-lorde-758_dead_there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-wom_632623.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/audre-lorde-758_dead_there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-wom_632623.jpg) > “There are no honest poems about dead women.” [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry cannot be honest about dead women; their voices are silenced. **In simple terms:** Dead women lack authentic poetic representation. Key Takeaway Amplify and honor women's stories in literature. Themes silence gender memory Mood reflective somber activist Type literary feminist When to use this quote - literary criticism - memorial projects - educational curricula - activist writing Key Concepts feminist critique historical erasure poetic ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can writers give voice to the unheard? - What responsibilities do poets have to marginalized histories? A Different Perspective May generalize all poetry about women. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“When I am dead, even then, I will still love you, I will wait in these poems, When I am dead, even then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-rukeyser/when-i-am-dead-even-then-i-will-still-love-you-i-will-wait-in-these/) [Muriel Rukeyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-rukeyser/) > [I said it before and I’ll say it again: books are dead, plays are dead, poems are dead: there’s only movies. Music is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-said-it-before-and-i-ll-say-it-again-books-are-dead-plays-are-dead/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Dead women tell no tales. Sad men write them down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dead-women-tell-no-tales-sad-men-write-them-down/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Chivalry is dead. Women killed it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-chappelle/chivalry-is-dead-women-killed-it/) [Dave Chappelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-chappelle/) > [“This is weird. There's a dead woman in front of me like dozens of other dead women I've seen. But this one is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendare-blake/this-is-weird-there-s-a-dead-woman-in-front-of-me-like-dozens-of/) [Kendare Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendare-blake/) > [“You mean all the dead women looked like Mr. Hauptman’s ex-wife? That’s . . . that’s right out of a profiler’s book.” Jenny snorted her coffee, wiped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/you-mean-all-the-dead-women-looked-like-mr-hauptman-s-ex-wife-that-s/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [Dear, dead women, with such hair, too--what's become of all the gold Used to hang and brush their bosoms?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/dear-dead-women-with-such-hair-too-what-s-become-of-all-the-gold-used/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [... poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-a-vital-necessity-of-our-existence-it/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-the-way-we-help-give-name-to-the-nameless-so-it-can-be/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [For women ... poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of light within which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-women-poetry-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-a-vital-necessity-of-our/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [ “\[poems are\] crystals deposited after the effervescent contact of the spirit with reality. (cristaux deposes apres l'effervescent contact de l'esprit avec la realite)” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-reverdy/poems-are-crystals-deposited-after-the-effervescent-contact-of-the/) [Pierre Reverdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-reverdy/) > [“She conquered her demons and wore her scars like wings. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atticus-poetry/she-conquered-her-demons-and-wore-her-scars-like-wings/) [Atticus Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atticus-poetry/) > [“It was her chaos that made her beautiful. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atticus-poetry/it-was-her-chaos-that-made-her-beautiful/) [Atticus Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atticus-poetry/) > [Are you scumming me? This is flipping bumbus. Koo koo kachu. I'll eat your body and throw you in a flipping zoo. ~Poems by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-campbell/are-you-scumming-me-this-is-flipping-bumbus-koo-koo-kachu-i-ll-eat/) Grant Campbell > [“Without pain, poetry is not possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seerat/without-pain-poetry-is-not-possible/) seerat ## More by Audre Lorde > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [There are many kinds of open. . . Love is a word, another kind of open. . . Take my word for jewel in your open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-many-kinds-of-open-love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-take/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Your silence will not protect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/your-silence-will-not-protect-you/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-can-t-really-define-it-in-sexual-terms-alone-although-our-sexuality/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-once-we-begin-to-feel-deeply-all-the-aspects-of-our-lives-we/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [the fear of death is that you are dying too soon. Nobody wants to, but at the point that you die you can pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-fear-of-death-is-that-you-are-dying-too-soon-nobody-wants-to-but/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“There is an important difference between openness and naïveté. Not everyone has good intentions nor means me well. I remind myself I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-is-an-important-difference-between-openness-and-na-vet-not/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/what-are-the-words-you-do-not-yet-have-what-do-you-need-to-say-what/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-only-dream-and-vision-it-is-the-skeleton-architecture/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I think that in America there are certain kinds of problems and in Russia there are certain kinds of problems, but basically, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-think-that-in-america-there-are-certain-kinds-of-problems-and-in/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Institutionalized rejection of differences is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/institutionalized-rejection-of-differences-is-an-absolute-necessity/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-sharing-of-joy-whether-physical-emotional-psychic-or-intellectual/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I forgot what we were celebrating. Because we were always celebrating something, a new job, a new poem, a new love, a new dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-forgot-what-we-were-celebrating-because-we-were-always-celebrating/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [How a diamond comes into a knot of flame How a sound comes into a word, coloured By who pays what for speaking. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/how-a-diamond-comes-into-a-knot-of-flame-how-a-sound-comes-into-a/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) [Explore all 377 Audre Lorde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## More Dead quotes > [I'm going to stay on stage until I drop dead. Then I'm going to have myself stuffed, like Trigger, and I'm going to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-reynolds/i-m-going-to-stay-on-stage-until-i-drop-dead-then-i-m-going-to-have/) [Debbie Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-reynolds/) > [I can't be a legend yet. I'm not dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-can-t-be-a-legend-yet-i-m-not-dead/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“I’m just–” She wanted to say “not in the mood,” but that was not only a cliché but a vast understatement. She was dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-mcintosh/i-m-just-she-wanted-to-say-not-in-the-mood-but-that-was-not-only-a/) [Will McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-mcintosh/) > [Library: A place where the dead lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/library-a-place-where-the-dead-lie/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Rather be dead than cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/rather-be-dead-than-cool/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [He was obviously dead. But since he was a vampire that wasn't as hopless a thing as it might have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/he-was-obviously-dead-but-since-he-was-a-vampire-that-wasn-t-as/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [Ireland starts for me with the end of 'The Dead,' which my father read to me from his desk in his basement office in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/ireland-starts-for-me-with-the-end-of-the-dead-which-my-father-read/) [John Jeremiah Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jeremiah-sullivan/) > [“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.’ – Ben Franklin,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/three-may-keep-a-secret-if-two-of-them-are-dead-ben-franklin/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I intend to do the Penn & Teller show until they pry my cheesy magic wand from my cold dead fingers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-intend-to-do-the-penn-teller-show-until-they-pry-my-cheesy-magic/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > ['Misery' left a lasting mark on me. When I die, it will be 'Kathy 'Misery' Bates Is Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bates/misery-left-a-lasting-mark-on-me-when-i-die-it-will-be-kathy-misery/) [Kathy Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bates/) > [The only good Indian is a dead Indian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/the-only-good-indian-is-a-dead-indian/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) Browse all 3,376 Dead quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are no honest poems about dead women.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Audre Lorde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-women/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dead" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-women/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/audre-lorde-758_dead_there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-wom_632623.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/audre-lorde-758_dead_there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-wom_632623.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/audre-lorde-758_dead_there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-wom_632623.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are no honest poems about dead women.” — Audre Lorde", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Audre Lorde", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are no honest poems about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-women/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-no-honest-poems-about-dead-women/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```