Power (Adrienne Rich poem) Summary

This seventeen-line poem reflects on women’s history, and especially famed chemist and physicist Marie Curie. The poet considers all the various “medicines” developed as tools for living on this earth. Curie’s discoveries in this field would eventually lead to treatment for cancer—but the cost was high. There is an irony to Curie’s death, the narrator admits, given that the source of her power and scientific/political impact was the very same thing that ultimately killed her. In this way, the narrator reveals that women’s power often comes directly from their wounds.