In this poem named ,Incident, it can be inferred that the speaker is an African American being a victim of racism. The speaker is going through Baltimore and while going through the street a white male says a racist comment to the speaker. This racist comment left an impact on the speaker for the rest of his life. " Of all the things that happened there/ That's all that I remember." This quote symbolizes the trauma this had on the poet because if that were the only thing he were to remember, it must've left some sort of mark on him. |
A Brown Girl Dead
With two white roses on her breasts, White candles at head and feet, Dark Madonna of the grave she rests; Lord Death has found her sweet. Her mother pawned her wedding ring To lay her out in white; She'd be so proud she'd dance and sing to see herself tonight. |
The Poem named , A Brown Girl Dead, expresses the poet trying to give the reader a picture of a tragic incident. This poem gives a sense of darkness and joy. The death of the brown girl gives a sense of darkness, while the white in which she is surrounded with can be taken as a symbol of purity. The sense of purity in this poem can be taken as a joyful manner. In the second stanza the speaker gives an example of the poverty of the family. " Her mother pawned her wedding ring / To lay her out in white." this quote can show how they are celebrating her life. The fact that they are dressing her up in fancy clothes |
Fruit Of The Flower
My father is a quiet man With sober, steady ways; For simile, a folded fan; His nights are like his days. My mother's life is puritan, No hint of cavalier, A pool so calm you're sure it can Have little depth to fear. And yet my father's eyes can boast How full his life has been; There haunts them yet the languid ghost Of some still sacred sin. And though my mother chants of God, And of the mystic river, I've seen a bit of checkered sod Set all her flesh aquiver. Why should he deem it pure mischance A son of his is fain To do a naked tribal dance Each time he hears the rain? Why should she think it devil's art That all my songs should be Of love and lovers, broken heart, And wild sweet agony? Who plants a seed begets a bud, Extract of that same root; Why marvel at the hectic blood That flushes this wild fruit? |
In this poem named ,Fruit of The Flower, the speaker is the son of a couple. Both of the parents are both very different to one another. They are calm yet can be wild just like the speaker. IN the first stanza you can infer that both his parents are calm folks. " My father is a quiet man" and " My mother's life is puritan" are quotes that can allow the reader to infer that they are calm. Yet in the second stanza the poet is saying that his father is full of life. "And yet my father's eyes can boast how full his life has been." This shows how the speaker uses figurative language do describe how alive his father is. Also his mother can be wild too in stanza three the speaker describes how with figurative language as well. In the last three stanzas the poet is telling the reader just how different he is. His parents are wondering why he is so wild and different from them. Yet the speaker believes hes the same as his parents just in his own way. The last stanza can show evidence to this statement.
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Dark Tower
We shall not always plant while others reap The golden increment of bursting fruit, Not always countenance, abject and mute That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; Not everlastingly while others sleep Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute, Not always bend to some more subtle brute; We were not made eternally to weep. The night whose sable breast relieves the stark White stars is no less lovely being dark, And there are buds that cannot bloom at all In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall; So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds, And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds. |
The poem ,Dark tower, is a poem that can give readers many mixed emotions. This poem is said to be made during a time in which white people and African Americans had conflict, it can easily be interpreted about how the conflict had negative affects on African Americans. "We shall not always plant while others reap" can be symbolism in which means that African Americans can't grow as individuals if white people keep on restricting them. Yet also in this poem the speaker gives a sense of hope." We were not made to eternally weep." This line can show how things will always get better if you keep on going and don't give up. Speaker- An activist
Tone- The tone in the beginning of the poem shifts from being dark to being motivational like with ,"We were not eternally made to weep." Overall meaning- The overall meaning of this poem is to not give up and that there will be a better day if you were to keep going. Pretty language- "Tend our agonizing seeds" This is a metaphor comparing ones dreams/motivations to seeds that they'll eventually grow into something better even if it doesn't seem so. |