“The best of humanity 's recorded history is a creative balance between horrors endured and victories achieved, and so it was during the Harlem Renaissance" (Aberjhani). "A Black Man Talks of Reaping" and "From the Dark Tower" are poems that tugged on the heart strings of African Americans everywhere. Both poems dealt with the harsh reality of racial prejudice in America and shared the hope of overcoming it. Although the two poems "A Black Man Talks of Reaping" and "From the Dark Tower" by Arna Bontemps and Countee Cullen are different in purpose, they are similar in theme, tone, and extended metaphor.
The theme throughout the two poems "A Black Man Talks of Reaping" and "From the Dark Tower" is the idea that African American live in an unjust
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Bontemps tone throughout his poem expresses frustration towards the oppression of the African American race by white society. The tone in line 7 and 8: "But for all my reaping only what the hand / Can hold at once is all that I can show" suggests that he has endured racial prejudice in his lifetime and that he is tired of living in an unjust system. Bontemps expresses in the lines 9 through 12 of his poem, sorrow that despite all his efforts today, his children will endure the same racial prejudices he has endured. Similar to Bontemps poem, Cullen expresses anger and a feeling of frustration that African Americans are being taken advantage of. Cullen 's tone throughout his poem also expresses pride in his people as seen in line 1: "We shall not always plant while others reap". This pride in his people expresses Cullen 's belief that change is inevitable and that one day African Americans will not have to live in fear of …show more content…
In the Bontemps poem, he uses the metaphor of reaping and harvesting to express the bitterness felt by African Americans in a racist America. The metaphor explains that no matter how hard African Americans work, their reward will always be less than that of a White American. Bontemps feels that African Americans have labored long and hard enough for White Americans, and that it is time for all Americans to receive equal reward for equal work. In lines 11 and 12 Bontemps says "Small wonder then my children glean in fields / They have not sown, and feed of bitter fruit." These lines are a great example of the extended metaphor used throughout Bontemps poem, and show that he believes that no matter how hard he works to bring change, his children have already tasted the "bitter fruit" (line 12) of racial prejudice. Cullen also uses the extended metaphor of reaping and harvesting as evident in lines 1 and 2: "We shall not always plant while others reap / The golden increment of bursting fruit". Cullen uses these lines to express his pride in his race and to promote equality. He also says "So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds, / And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds" (lines 13 and 14) to say that change will not happen overnight and that the wait for equality will be painful and
While discussing the slaves Berry says, “ I see them go in the bonds of my blood,”(31). This shows that blood signifies the bloodline to his ancestry, by using the word blood the author provides a powerful message of how close he is to his ancestors. The next use of the word blood is in the most powerful stanza of the poem. Berry concluded the poem with, “ I am owned by the blood of all of them/who ever were owned by my blood.”(39-40). This quote uses blood as the connection between the blood spilled by his ancestors, and the blood of his ancestors existing within him. Berry’s use of blood as a motif provides a strong statement about the speaker’s connection to his ancestors and their
In his poems, Langston Hughes treats racism not just a historical fact but a “fact” that is both personal and real. Hughes often wrote poems that reflect the aspirations of black poets, their desire to free themselves from the shackles of street life, poverty, and hopelessness. He also deliberately pushes for artistic independence and race pride that embody the values and aspirations of the common man. Racism is real, and the fact that many African-Americans are suffering from a feeling of extreme rejection and loneliness demonstrate this claim. The tone is optimistic but irritated. The same case can be said about Wright’s short stories. Wright’s tone is overtly irritated and miserable. But this is on the literary level. In his short stories, he portrays the African-American as a suffering individual, devoid of hope and optimism. He equates racism to oppression, arguing that the African-American experience was and is characterized by oppression, prejudice, and injustice. To a certain degree, both authors are keen to presenting the African-American experience as a painful and excruciating experience – an experience that is historically, culturally, and politically rooted. The desire to be free again, the call for redemption, and the path toward true racial justice are some of the themes in their
As Carter opens the poem, he tells how at this point in his life, he still has this essential want for things his own father presented him growing up. In the beginning, he expresses he has this “…pain [he] mostly hide[s], / but [that] ties of blood, or seed, endure” (lines 1-2). These lines voice how he longs for his father and just how painful it is without him at his side. In addition, he still feels “the hunger for his outstretched hand” (4) and a man’s embrace to take [him] in” (5). Furthermore, Carter explains how this “pain” he “feel[s] inside” (3) are also due to his “need for just a word of pr...
During this era African Americans were facing the challenges of accepting their heritage or ignoring outright to claim a different lifestyle for their day to day lives. Hughes and Cullen wrote poems that seemed to describe themselves, or African Americans, who had accepted their African Heritage and who also wanted to be a part of American heritage as well. These are some of the things they have in common, as well as what is different about them based on appearance, now I shall focus on each author individually and talk about how they are different afterwards.
The Little Black Boy and The Sorrows of Yamba are both anti-slavery poems. Both Blake and More were against the political and social structure of slavery, but the way in which they choose to address the issue through their poetry is quite different. Differences in tonality, gender of main characters, implications for the future of these characters, and the audiences these pieces were addressed to make for a good contrast to the similarities they inevitably share in being both anti-slavery.
Harper begins the poem by detailing the start of the speaker’s relationship with a man, developing it through the use of metaphor and concrete diction. From the first few lines of the poem, the reader learns that the relationship was destined to be futile through Harper’s use of metaphor: “If when standing all alone/ I cried for bread a careless world/ pressed
Overall, this poem is used to compare an African American to a cypress tree in a positive manner, which is evergreen and always pointing upwards. The time frame in which Angelina Weld Grimke wrote this in was a difficult time to live in. Only recently had African Americans received their rights, and even then, other races, more prominently, caucasians were hateful towards them. Although not lengthy, this poem manages to successfully capture the enduring strength that African Americans held during this difficult time period by simply comparing them to a strong cypress
In the second and last stanza of the poem we are reminded that he was but a child. The thought of losing the berries “always made him feel like crying” the thought of all that beauty gone so sour in the aftermath of lust. The lack of wisdom in younger years is emphasized by the common childish retort of “It wasn’t fair.” He kept up the childish hope that this time would be different, that this time the berries would keep and that the lust, work, and pain might not have been in vain, that others would not “glut” upon what he desired.
Black people held a very bitter perspective of the white people that lived in Medallion because of the way the white people treated them. From the very beginning of the story where the slave got the land from his master, the master had tricked the slave into picking the top of the hill because the farming conditions were worse. Over t...
...is presented in a way that “blacks or whites can draw admonition from the subject” (1) . Another perspective from Revell is that the poem presents itself in terms of passionate personal regret. Revell believes that Dunbar felt guilty because he allowed himself to be bound to the “ plantation lifestyle” (1). The plantation life style internal anguish and agony the blacks went through as slaves. Some blacks have moved on from it, but some continue to use slavery as an excuse to not progress in life. It should be noted that Revell draws the most attention to the middle of the poem. The poem itself is masked because it never specifically says who its linked too, even though most would infer that it is linked to the black race. Revell concludes that Dunbar left aside the preconceived image of what it meant to be black in America, and spoke “only from his heart” (1) .
The poem “Negro” was written by Langston Hughes in 1958 where it was a time of African American development and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Langston Hughes, as a first person narrator tells a story of what he has been through as a Negro, and the life he is proud to have had. He expresses his emotional experiences and makes the reader think about what exactly it was like to live his life during this time. By using specific words, this allows the reader to envision the different situations he has been put through. Starting off the poem with the statement “I am a Negro:” lets people know who he is, Hughes continues by saying, “ Black as the night is black, /Black like the depths of my Africa.” He identifies Africa as being his and is proud to be as dark as night, and as black as the depths of the heart of his country. Being proud of him self, heritage and culture is clearly shown in this first stanza.
Over the course of the century chronicling the helm of slavery, the emancipation, and the push for civil, equal, and human rights, black literary scholars have pressed to have their voice heard in the midst a country that would dare classify a black as a second class citizen. Often, literary modes of communication were employed to accomplish just that. Black scholars used the often little education they received to produce a body of works that would seek to beckon the cause of freedom and help blacks tarry through the cruelties, inadequacies, and inconveniences of their oppressed condition. To capture the black experience in America was one of the sole aims of black literature. However, we as scholars of these bodies of works today are often unsure as to whether or not we can indeed coin the phrase “Black Literature” or, in this case, “Black poetry”. Is there such a thing? If so, how do we define the term, and what body of writing can we use to determine the validity of the definition. Such is the aim of this essay because we can indeed call a poem “Black”. We can define “Black poetry” as a body of writing written by an African-American in the United States that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of an experience or set of experiences inextricably linked to black people, characterizes a furious call or pursuit of freedom, and attempts to capture the black condition in a language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm. An examination of several works of poetry by various Black scholars should suffice to prove that the definition does hold and that “Black Poetry” is a term that we can use.
Lyric poetry has always expressed both personal and emotional feelings. In the poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” we find a woman who is caught in the customs and culture of her time, an abused wife who knows that there is no way out of her situation. Rich uses the symbolism of the colorful tigers in the tapestry as the antithesis of who Aunt Jennifer is: they are strong, confident, and self assured; things she might dream of but will never be. In the second stanza we see Aunt Jennifer struggling to pull an ivory needle through the fabric as she works on the tapestry. The pull of the needle symbolizes the oppression Aunt Jennifer feels in her daily life as she is weighed down by / “The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band / Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.” Even in death, Aunt Jennifer cannot be free of the subjugation she has faced during her life time. However, her unspoken hopes and dreams will live on in the tapestry she has created / “The tigers in the panel that she made / Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.
The poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” symbolically connects the fate of the speaker of the poem and his African American community to the indestructible and powerful force on Earth- the river. The river embodies both power and dominance but also a sense of comfort. The poem is a prime example of the message of hope and perseverance to anyone who has suffered or is currently suffering oppression and inequality in their lives and in society. The speaker in the poem pledges to the reader that with hard-work, determination, and willpower to succeed, he will get where he is going regardless of the obstacles and challenges he may face on his path of reaching his goals in life.
In conclusion, the three poems share the same theme throughout them. The theme of strength and unity can be seen as a commonality between three different poems. Written by prominent black writers, these poems can be seen as a message for garnering a unification through the strength of black