Yet Do I Marvel By Countee Cullen Analysis

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The poem “Yet Do I Marvel” by Countee Cullen is a monologue in iambic pentameter which introduces the theme of a good God that lets the world suffer, but highlights how God can turn anything into something more than it appears to be. It starts off with the speaker reassuring himself that God is nothing but virtuous despite how the world is filled with hardships. He goes on to accept that everything must die, and that sometimes that means torture and struggle. Regardless of the unimaginable, God finds a way for justice, and surprises the speaker with a sense of superiority as he allows for him the respect he never received. There is no setting in this poem, since everything is coming from the speaker’s thoughts about God, the world and himself. A theme that …show more content…

The different rhyme schemes in each stanza (first four lines: abab; next four lines: cdcd; last five lines: eeffgg) helps create a sense of joy and amusement in the poem. A metaphor is used to imply that humans “mirror” God. There is alliteration in lines 4-5 and in “fickle fruit”, adding to the joy of reading the poem. Another literary device found in this poem is an allusion towards a character from Greek mythology by the name of “Sisyphus”, in connection to God’s affliction and to the poems implication that it is a hard world. God is viewed as a symbol of equity, and is depended on as a savior. There are numerous shifts in how complex or simple each line is, adding on to the climax of his notions. The poem ends with irony, with the line “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing, To make a poet black and bid him sing!” which accentuates the contradistinction of the disability of Sysyphus and the ability of a black poet. The speaker also utilizes a metonymy when he refers to humans with “flesh” reflecting

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