Many authors write poems based on experience. During a major event, such as war, authors have feelings that they want to express. African American authors were not able to express themselves throughout slavery and war. It would have been a dangerous thing to do. Therefore, they used music, writings, writing poems and stories was the best way to put out their situations.
In Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Facing It,” he discusses his experience during the Vietnam War. Komunyakaa was in Louisiana during the civil War. During the Vietnam War, he joined the army as a correspondent (Poets). Later, he began writing newspapers for the military called The Southern Cross. The poem begins with the reflection of Komunyakaa’s face fading as he views the stone. Those lines read, “My black face fades, / hiding inside the black granite” (1-2). The black granite does not allow his skin tone to show. He emphases his ethnicity when he uses ‘black’ twice. Furthermore, Komunyakaa acknowledged himself as an African American and created a connection between himself and the memorial. Here I believe he realized he should be on the memorial. He is remembering an incident during the Vietnam War that should have taken his life. His fading face makes me assume that he realizes that there were no separate races in that war. They were all Americans. In the next line, Komunyakaa can not control his emotions. He rejects his emotions when he says, “I said I wouldn't, / dammit: No tears” (3-4). When Komunyakaa views the wall his past emotions rush back to him. As he struggles with the emotions his perception of himself and his surroundings change. At the beginning, his face was distant, but appeared as discussed the memorial and its meaning. He could now describe h...
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...ch other's breath” (27-31). These lines indicate that the soldiers are divided between blacks and whites. They are all fighting for the same cause but are separated by race. In addition, they all seek attention from the same women. The women connect the races, and the men are unaware of this.
It is important that we examine their poems so we can know what they experienced. It is helpful to others because they may have experienced the same situation. They may have also wanted to speak.
Works Cited
Komunyakaa, Yusef. “Facing It.” Neon Vernacular. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan UP, 1993: 159.
Print.
Komunyakaa, Yusef. “Tu Do Street.” Neon Vernacular. Hanover, NH:
Wesleyan UP, 1993: 147. Print.
Morledge, William. 'MIDNITE HOUR - Bangkok Eyes'. Bangkokeyes.com. N. p., 2014. Web.
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"Yusef Komunyakaa." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
For my recitation I chose the poem, “Monstrance Man," by Ricardo Pau-Llosa. I selected this poem from the Poetry Out Loud archive because I liked the way it was structured and written. As I first skimmed the poem my understanding of it was shallow, but as I began to practice it I gained a deeper knowledge of its story and meaning. I realized the depth of the protagonist and how greatly I empathized with him. Specifically, I learned the definition of the term “Monstrance” and that
Yusef Komanuyakaa's poem "Facing It" is a brutal examination of the affects that war leaves upon men. The reader can assume that Komanuyakaa drew upon his own experiences in Vietnam, thereby making the poem a personal statement. However, the poem is also a universal and real description of the pain that comes about for a soldier when remembering the horror of war. He creates the poem's persona by using flashbacks to the war, thereby informing the reader as to why the speaker is behaving and feeling the way he is. The thirty-one lines that make up "Facing It" journey back and forth between present and past to tell the story of one man's life.
result it has on people. In all three poems the last line of the poems
Yusef Komunyakaa, the poet of war, vividly describes his vacillating emotions about the Vietnam War and his relation to it as an African-American veteran in the poem, “Facing It.” Komunyakaa, the protagonist of his narrative, reflective poem, contemplates his past experiences as he promenades around the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, struggling to conceal his ardent emotions and remain hard and cold as “stone.” He writes one stanza in a dark mood, and by using metaphors and visual imagery, he paints a picture with his words for all to see.
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” –Edgar Allan Poe. Poetry is one of the world’s greatest wonders. It is a way to tell a story, raise awareness of a social or political issue, an expression of emotions, an outlet, and last but not least it is an art. Famous poet Langston Hughes uses his poetry as a musical art form to raise awareness of social injustices towards African-Americans during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Although many poets share similarities with one another, Hughes creatively crafted his poetry in a way that was only unique to him during the 1920’s. He implemented different techniques and styles in his poetry that not only helped him excel during the 1920’s, but has also kept him relative in modern times. Famous poems of his such as a “Dream Deferred,” and “I, Too, Sing America” are still being studied and discussed today. Due to the cultural and historical events occurring during the 1920’s Langston Hughes was able to implement unique writing characteristics such as such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues that is demonstrative of his writing style. Langston Hughes use of distinct characteristics such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues helped highlight the plights of African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance Era.
“Poetry, like jazz, is one of those dazzling diamonds of creative industry that help human beings make sense out of the comedies and tragedies that contextualize our lives” This was said by Aberjhani in the book Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotation from a Life Made Out of Poetry. Poetry during the Harlem Renaissance was the way that African Americans made sense out of everything, good or bad, that “contextualized” their lives. The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the Black Renaissance or New Negro Movement, was a cultural movement among African Americans. It began roughly after the end of World War 1 in 1918. Blacks were considered second class citizens and were treated as such.
The poems make for a simple addition to the narrative and allows for a much more meaningful experience for a reader and makes for a much more engrossing story, thus adding to the experience as a whole.
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.”
During the time period of the emancipation proclamation multiple black authors were becoming educated enough to write works of poetry. Such works have influenced and persuaded the minds of white people all over America to this very day. It also gave their own people a work of art to turn to for their own history. The poets have ventured into modern day eras also, and still have the same topics at hand. The main idea of these poetry pieces was on their ancestors in Africa but also of course of the modern problem of slavery. Langston Hughes was the first influential black poet. Lucille Clifton and Colleen McElroy are modern poets but is a black woman who has other views on slavery but also very similar looks on their historical past. All of the poets all mentioned their historical background in Africa. Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and Colleen McElroy all wrote about their ancestors and of slavery, and some of the same references were of the rivers, and the connection between the people even though they are literally worlds apart; a difference between the poems was the desire for freedom and the freedom that was already existing in the modern day poetry of Lucille Clifton and Colleen McElroy.
Empathy is one major reason. In this current day and age, it seems more and more like we are unable to feel more for the plights and experiences others go through. Poetry itself is an expression of experiences that occur in all the different parts of the human experience and one could learn much from the experiences written from someone who different from them. The poems written during the Harlem Renaissance articulates the perspectives and feelings that African Americans were experiencing during that time and that we are still seeing some of today. One could read poems from these times and really consider what the author is trying to say and could possibly find themselves a bit empathetic towards
Black soldiers were sent to war during World War two, and most of them went willingly. Most of them did this to try and ear respect from their white “superiors” by going to fight and perhaps earn an equal standing with the whites. This was not seen, though. For example, Joe Louis, a famous African American boxer joined the army in 1942. The newspaper The New York Amsterdam News depicted Joe serving impeccably dressed white men with the caption of “Why Joe Joined the Army!” This clearly shows how African Americans were treated within the army. This depiction also gives Americans a clear view of the segregation in the army, although they are fighting for the same thing: release the Europeans from the Nazi leader, Hitler. Another example of this, given by Mrs. Charles H. Puryear’s brother, was that when the white lieutenant had Italian prisoners, he wanted the black soldiers to give up their seats to them. He then wonders if one of the Nazi officers would make some of his soldiers give up their seats for prisoners. This sho...
During the Harlem Renaissance period, many poets used it as a time to express their feelings and pain they endured, even after gaining freedom and rights as an African American. After feeling free for the first time, things turned to the worst when the New South restored White Supremacy and was still legal. Almost nineteen percent of African Americans lived in the New South. It was difficult everyday of their lives to feel like they were free because they were always being compared to their ancestors and seen as slaves and nothing more. (ushistory.org)
"Facing It," by Yusef Komunyakaa talks about a war which most, if not all Americans are familiar with. The ever so controversial Vietnam Conflict, also known as the Vietnam War. This poem was very well written, and I respect all that was said in the context of the poem. "Facing It," discusses his visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C., and his emotions that he experienced while he was at the memorial. I can not imagine what the feelings would be like to see one of my friend's name etched in this wall, although Tomas Van Putten can. I had a personal phone interview with him on October 30th, 2002.
Both poems inspire their reader to look at their own life. In addition, they treat the reader to a full serving of historic literature that not only entertains, but also teaches valuable lesson in the form of morals and principles.
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.