1. Homage to My Hips Lucille Clifton these hips are big hips.
they need space to
move around in.
they don't fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,   
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top!

2. FORM: This poem is in the shape of a woman’s hip
these hips are big hips.
they need space to
move around in.
they don't fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,   
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top!
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3. Homage homage |ˈ(h)ämij|(noun)
Special honor or respect shown publicly
I think the public aspect of this definition is intriguing. This is not a poem for one’s private enjoyment, but is meant to be shared openly for others to hear.
This poem seems to play with the tradition of other classical homages:
Ode to a Grecian Urn (Keats)
Ode to a Nightingale (Keats)
Ode to the West Wind (Shelley)
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4. Lucille Clifton B: Depew, New York in 1936 D: 2010 (73 years old)
Written in 1987
Received National Book Award in 2000, Pulitzer Prize Finalist in 1988
Poems were frequently autobiographical – experience of being black and female
Known for her “earthy voice” and “streamlined economy of language”
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5. Read by Clifton
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6. What does she means by “petty places”?
This is not a phrase I would think of when considering hips. Could she mean that women confine and restrict their bodies because of society or their insecurities? This is the first clue for me that there is a larger meaning to “hips.”
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7. Top
“A top, or spinning top, is a toy that can be spun on an axis, balancing on a point. This motion is produced by holding the axis firmly while pulling a string or twisting a stick or pushing a screw-like-thing.”
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8. these hips are big hips
The first line of this poem is very direct and honest. Instead of complaining, which most women would do, Clifton boldly asserts this fact. There is a defiant tone to this line—she doesn’t care that her body doesn’t fit society’s ideal picture of a woman.She is proud of their size and confident in who she is as a woman.
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9. Personal Response
I feel empowered when I read this poem. It’s refreshing to hear a woman take claim over her body and celebrate it. Through Clifton’s assertive and bare-boned style she stands up for all women saying that we are free, mighty, and magical. I can relate to this poem because there are parts of me that I don’t like or have wanted to change because they do not fit the societal mold of a beautiful woman. This poem makes me feel strong and want to embrace all of my flaws. This should be every woman’s mantra!
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10. Synechdoche
These hips/are free hips./they don’t like to be held back./these hips have never been enslaved A synecdoche is a form of figurative language in which a part stands in for a whole. I see Clifton using the repetitive description of her hips to stand in for larger things, like the female gender. The use of “enslavement” makes me also wonder if she is focusing especially on African American females.
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11. Repetition
they go where they want to go they do what they want to do these hips are mighty hips these hips are magic hips
There is repetition throughout this poem. As you can see in the lines above, Clifton repeats the beginning of phrases and also uses parallel sentence structures. The repetition of “these hips are” throughout the poem reinforces her strength and drives the message home.
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12. Unconventional Punctuation
Sentences are not capitalized in this poem. Aligning with Clifton’s message to transgress the confinements of society, I see this as an additional way she asserts herself and defies rules and expectations.
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13. Spell
“The female hips have long been associated with both fertility and general expression of sexuality. Since broad hips facilitate child birth and also serve as an anatomical cue of sexual maturity, they have been seen as an attractive trait for women for thousands of years. Many of the classical poses women take when sculpted, painted or photographed serve to emphasize the prominence of their hips” (
(Click to see “Hips Don’t Lie” video)
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