Poem Analysis Of Countee Cullen's Any Human To Another

2. “Any Human to Another” by Countee Cullen is a poem that was written during the Harlem Renaissance. It calls on white Americans to put aside their racial differences and come together in unity. This poem shows the want for equality through numerous rhetorical devices. When reading the poem the first thing that one notices is the constantly changing rhyme scheme. Cullen used a changing meter to emphasize each stanza, so that they stand apart but are still sound connected. This is used throughout the poem to contrast blacks and whites and show that they are diverse yet single. Both are human beings, but a different in color. The stanzas of the poem contain meter, paradox, contrast, metaphor, personification, similes, and allusion in

order to establish the tone and theme of the poem. The first stanza relates sorrow to an arrow that pierces all parts of the body to the deepest core, “through the fat and past the bone”.

The “fat and …bone” are compared to symbolize the difference between whites and blacks. The second stanza compares black and whites to rivers and the sea; one is fresh and the other salty, but both are bodies of water. The third stanza uses a metaphor to compare living out lives alone while pitching a tent in solitude, all alone in our own little world. It also uses the “sun and shadow” to symbolize whites and blacks. In stanza four grief and joy are contrasted with the use of personification. While joy only favors a few, grief is a common factor shared by all people, making it a common ground one in which anyone can come together. The fifth stanza or the last uses similes to give the message that although it is sometimes painful and unpleasant to share other’s grief it is something that must be done in order for everyone to live in harmony. It also relates grief to a weapon, calling it a “blade shining and unsheathed that must strike me down”. It also compares sorrow to a crown of “bitter aloes wreathed”. The overall poem contains Biblical allusions. It sends the message that everyone should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Cullen is calling all Americans to do as Jesus did and be a man of the people

who is empathetic. We are shown this in the very last line of the poem through the words, “My sorrow must be laid on your head like a crown”. He is referring to the crown of thorns that was placed on Jesus’ head. The poem was written to create the message that everyone needs to live in harmony with one another, which is the poem’s theme.