Poetry is a literary form of art in which poets express their emotions and opinions about the world. There are many forms of poetry and goals that poems wish to achieve. Some poems exist merely for the reason of entertainment and release of emotions, but poems should exist as a form of art that is trying to achieve something or get a point across. Poems typically have an overreaching theme and can “speak to each other” or in other words can relate to one another. For one to understand these themes and connections among poems one must use a method of closing read. Among the many poems that have been explored in my jazz literature course, two poems standout “Black Art” by Amiri Baraka and “A/Coltrane/Poem” by Sonia Sanchez. Both poems “speak …show more content…
That deeper level can be achieved through a close reading. “Black Art” is vulgar and angry with its harsh lines like “Stinking/ Whores! we want "poems that kill."/Assassin poems, Poems that shoot guns/ Poems that wrestle cops into alleys/ and take their weapons leaving them dead/ with tongues pulled out and sent to Ireland.” Or “We want poems/like fists beating niggers out of Jocks/ or dagger poems in the slimy bellies/ of the owner-Jews”, but these lines are in there for a reason. They reveal the underlying anger that Baraka is experiencing with American …show more content…
Baraka said that poems pointless unless they mean something “Poems are bullshit unless they are/ teeth or trees or lemons piled/on a step. Or black ladies dying/ of men leaving nickel hearts/ beating them down. Fuck poems” and this poem clearly falls into the category of meaning something. The poem is saying that there needs to be changed within America. Which directly matches the theme that the current system in place is chaotic and needs to be fixed. Baraka is trying to use this poem as an agent to inspire people to fight for the change that society needs. Baraka first points out the enemies or the groups that need to be eliminated “Poems that wrestle cops into alleys/ and take their weapons leaving them dead” and “We want poems/ like fists beating niggers out of Jocks/ or dagger poems in the slimy bellies/ of the owner-jews”. He says it in such a violent way because he believes that violence is the only way to cure the chaos. He believes that violence is the answer because when leaders try to peacefully protest they end up defeated “There 's a negroleader pinned to/ A bar stool in Sardi 's eyeballs melting/ In hot flame Another negroleader/ On the steps of the white house one/ Kneeling between the sheriff 's thighs/ Negotiating coolly for his people.” In his eyes, he sees it as a world where if the oppressors use violence the oppressed need to actively fight back
It is a way to crucially engage oneself in setting the stage for new interventions and connections. She also emphasized that she personally viewed poetry as the embodiment of one’s personal experiences, and she challenged what the white, European males have imbued in society, as she declared, “I speak here of poetry as the revelation or distillation of experience, not the sterile word play that, too often, the white fathers distorted the word poetry to mean — in order to cover their desperate wish for imagination without insight.”
Sociologists often employ intersectionality theory to describe and explain facets of human interactions. This particular methodology operates on the notion that sociologically defining characteristics, such as that of race, gender, and class, are not independent of one another but function simultaneously to determine our individual social experiences. This is evident in poetry as well. The combination of one poet’s work that expresses issues on class with another poet’s work that voices issues on race, and so forth, can be analyzed through a literary lens, and collectively embody the sociological intersectionality theory.
The tone of the poem itself seems to be one pointing out and acknowledging the things that make him Black. It’s us looking out to the east and saying thank you for making us great. He talks about the way we look and how evil the west really is. He gives thanks to the African gods which the west took from us and gave them different names.
Black art forms have historically always been an avenue for the voice; from spirituals to work songs to ballads, pieces of literature are one way that the black community has consistently been able to express their opinions and communicate to society at large. One was this has been achieved is through civil disobedience meeting civil manners. In this case, it would be just acknowledging an issue through art and literature. On the other hand, there is art with a direct purpose - literature meant to spur action; to convey anger and shock; or to prompt empathy, based on a discontent with the status quo. That is, protest literature. Through the marriage of the personal and political voices in black poetry and music, the genre functions as a form
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
Poetry is a versatile avenue from which waves or ripples can be made potentially. A writer of poetry has the ability to make their readers feel a while wide array of emotions and situations synonymous with the human condition. I, at first, was completely turned off to the idea of poetry at first because all I was exposed to early on by way of poetry were bland professions of love or lust or seemingly simple poems I was forced to process down to a fine word paste. Edgar Allan Poe was interesting, but it was a tad bit dry to me. But, after reading poems the Harlem Renaissance gave me a bit of hope for poetry. To me, the poetry written during that time period has a certain allure to it. They have serious depth and meaning that I, myself and empathize
...the reader to think in a different mindset. By creating this mindset Hughes and Brooks communicate thousands of years of black history as the speaker of “The Weary Blues” has the singers blues echo through his head so too do we have the weary thoughts of generations past echo through ours. Their creative use of words creates connection between performer and audience through the style of communication. Hughes doesn’t just use the grief of the singer’s lyrics; he uses the moan of the piano to express sorrow. Brooks doesn’t just ponder the life choices of the young boys; she forces the reader to think from their point of view. Brooks creates a connection between the speaker and the reader through the style of communication. By using these styles Hughes and Brooks prove that creating connections is less about what is said and more about the music that drives the poetry.
"Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal [but] which the reader recognizes as his own." (Salvatore Quasimodo). There is something about the human spirit that causes us to rejoice in shared experience. We can connect on a deep level with our fellow man when we believe that somehow someone else understands us as they relate their own joys and hardships; and perhaps nowhere better is this relationship expressed than in that of the poet and his reader. For the current assignment I had the privilege (and challenge) of writing an imitation of William Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 87". This poem touched a place in my heart because I have actually given this sonnet to someone before as it then communicated my thoughts and feelings far better than I could. For this reason, Sonnet 87 was an easy choice for this project, although not quite so easy an undertaking as I endeavored to match Shakespeare’s structure and bring out his themes through similar word choice.
Amiri Baraka and Abdul Ali are black nationalists whose poetic content stems from the struggles and suffering of African American people since slavery. There are many parallels regarding subject matter, theme, and tone in poems Baraka and Ali have written, including “Ka’Ba,” “21 Breaths for Amadou Diallo,” “Notes for a Speech,” and “Fatherhood Poem No.1.” Important themes in these works include the unity of black people, the suffering due to discrimination, and the distress resulting from oppression and segregation. The authors also employ horrific, resentful, and gloomy tones in their works. Amiri Baraka and Abdul Ali effectively utilize subject matter, theme, and tone to provide insight on the adversities that unify “every black man in America"
All the poems you have read are preoccupied with violence and/or death. Compare the ways in which the poets explore this preoccupation. What motivations or emotions do the poets suggest lie behind the preoccupation?
We want “poem that kill”. Here Baraka is using Synecdoche a figurative form to refer to human (black) “stinking whores” he want the reader to know that poem become a powerful and important object so he can use to teach a lesson to the enemy. Moreover, here he writes about his wish to have “poems that wrestle cops into alleys/ /and take their weapons, leaving them dead with tongues pulled out and sent to Ireland”. Author wishes they could undo the role of power so African- Americans take control over the white and black and those from the other side of the world can return to their country where they belong so we can have some kind of peace right here. If only they can reverse that power, it would be a much easier for us. In addition, it sounds like an imaginary fiction of the African-Americans uprising. Baraka says “Knockoff poems for dope selling wops or slick half white//politicians Airplane poems, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….tuhtuhtuhtuhtuhtuhtuhtuhtuhtuh rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… Setting fire and death to whities ass”. Right there the author is referring to enemy as whities that letting them know black people do care, by using weak syllable follow by a strong syllable that is the way Amiri is using an imaginary gun to kill his enemy. He is also telling the white audience, I dare you to try to comprehend it. He used the words as gun to shoot somebody or the enemy. Well words can be hurtful when you take into
In his preface of the Kokinshū poet Ki no Tsurayaki wrote that poetry conveyed the “true heart” of people. And because poetry declares the true heart of people, poetry in the minds of the poets of the past believed that it also moved the hearts of the gods. It can be seen that in the ancient past that poetry had a great importance to the people of the time or at least to the poets of the past. In this paper I will describe two of some of the most important works in Japanese poetry the anthologies of the Man’yōshū and the Kokinshū. Both equally important as said by some scholars of Japanese literature, and both works contributing greatly to the culture of those who live in the land of the rising sun.
Due to the time period she wrote in, Angelou would be criticized for her ability to write, “without apology,” of the fearful life she lived. However, now that is the reason as to why her work is so highly praised. Yet, critics feel as if Angelou’s work is simply overused and not appreciated for what it truly is. Instead of looking at Angelou as a poet, people look at her as an, “inspirational public speaker,” and can often be found on the front of a, “Hallmark greeting card,” instead of the pages in a textbook. Angelou doesn’t really show this criticism in her work but she does represent the criticism she received as African American woman poet in her time period. She often would discuss how people would misuse her race and treat them like nothing, and, “may trod” them “in the very dirt.” But despite these harsh criticisms of her work, Angelou continued writing of her struggles, and brought to life the hardships she had to face whilst living in this time period, which in the end, become what she was most critically acclaimed for, and the reason that out of the, “huts of history’s shame,” she conquered the fears, not only of her past, but of saying the words she used to be afraid to say.
Reading poetry, not only evokes feelings, it also triggers memories and past experiences. “The reader is paying attention to the images, feelings, attitudes, associations that the words evoke in him” (Rosenblatt, 34) We create our own meaning from a literary work of art when we relate to it; when we can bring our own personal experiences to the table. It’s all about the relationship between the reader and the literary work of art. This is why the reader response criticism is so effective in order to interpret literary works of arts. It allows the reader to experience the work in whole different level. After all, “The poem is what the reader lives through under the guidance of the text and experiences as relevant to the text.” (38)
When reading or listening to poetry, the main objective for me is to feel moved. Happiness, longing, sadness are some of the feelings that can be achieved just by listening to others’ words. It is within these words that creates another world, or separates us from our own. Words all have a certain kind of attachment to them, so if used properly an author can stimulate a reader beyond belief.