6 10 90 https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/9b351297e3fc88d2b464adbc29be53c6.pdf d42607175ee63965171df7f80e277303 PDF Text Text Related Sub-Topics For Unit #3 l. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Local and Regional Color in Black Poetry Dialect as a Vehicle for Poetry Differences Between Black and white Dialect Poetry Differences Between "Gullah" and other Black Dialect Poetry Africanisms in Dialect Poetry Limitations of Dialect Poetry Epic Poetry and tbe Black Literary Tradition Biblical Allusion in Late 19th Century Black Poetry Beginnings of the Authentic or Original Black Poet 59 �10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. l 7. 18. 19. 20. UNIT # 4: Music in Dialect and Oral Poetry Dance Possibilities in Dialect Poetry The Black Poet and Reconstruction The Black Poet After the Civil War Influence of Folklore on Black Poetry Influence of Minstrelsy on Black Poetry Social Legislation and Black Poetry Plantation Life in Black Poetry Nineteenth Century Social Life in Black Poetry Stylistic Differences in Late 19th Century Black Poetry Refinement in Poetic Forms NEW TRENDS AND DEFIANCE; HARLEM RENAISSANCE (1910 - 1930) �Related Sub-Topics for Unit# 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. "The Harlem Renaissance" Through Poetry The Jazz Idiom in the New Poetry Plantation Life in the New Poetry Changes in Dialect Usage in Poets Between 1910-1930 6. Universality and the Black Poet Black Life Seen Through Black Poetry, 7. The Impact of Blues and Jazz on the Poetry Religious Influence on Black Poetry, 9. Africa as Seen by the Harlem Rennaissance Poets Divergent styles in Early 20th Century Black Poets Comparison/Contrast of Black and White Poets of the Period Major Themes in Black Poetry, 1910-1930 8. 10. 11. 12. UNIT# 4 1920-1930 1910-1930 5: THE MODERN BLACK POETS (1930 :~ 19_54}, �Related Sub-Topics for Unit# 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 5 Post Renaissance Black Women Poets Black Poets and World War II Black Poets and Lynching Universality in Black Poetry The Coming of Age Technical of Black Poetry Modern Technology and Black Poetry Music and the Blaek Poet Blues in the Works of Modern Black Poets The Influence of "Swing" on Black Poetry The Influence of Be Bop on Black Poetry The Influence of White Modern Poetry on Black Modern Poetry Distinctive Black Poetic Voices in the Modern Era From Margaret Walker to Gwendolyn Brooks The Folk Tradition Continued in Black Poetry Black Poets VS White Literary Establishment Black Poets and White Critics Langston Hughes and the Be Bop Tradition Langston Hughes and the Blues Tradition ��- . ,- ~ And t "he- Blues singer ~into.n ed: I'd rather drink muddy water, Sleep in a hollow log, Than to stay in this town til I 1 m dead! Or in the words of Bluesist Jimmy Reed: Next time you see me things wontt be the same; Next time you see me things won't be the same; And if it ain't you my dahling you'll only have Yourself'·to blame. For as B.B. King asserts: When I first got the blues, they· brought me over on a ship Men was standing over me and lot more with the whip And everybody wanna know why I sing the blues Well I've been around a long time, uum, really paid my dues. And finally Sam Cooke: Every time I fall I know It won't last too long And somehow right now I feel I 1 m able to carry on I 1 t been a long time coming But I know a change is gonna come. Complex, contradictory sometimes, often inexplicable, but hardly unutterable--the Black Folk tradition derived from the ritualistic rudiments of African Expression. From the animal tales and cycles to the wandering Blues troubador to the charisma of the Black preacher, the tradition unfolds. Related Sub-Topics For Unit# l l. The Ingredients of Folk Poetry 45 �2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Black Oral Epics The Oral Tradition in Black Poetry The Anatomy of Ritualistic Expression Poetical Devices in Spirituals Poetical Devices in Blues Audience Responses to Folk Poetry Writing the Oral ·Poem Philosophy of the Blues Explicating the Spiritual Therapeutic Purposes of Folk Literature Comparing/Contrasting the Spiritual and English Hymn �colloquialisms, idoms, social problems, styles and attitudes. One has only to spend a £ew hours in northern and southern Black communities to understand some of the distinctions between the two. It bas become popular in· some rhetorical quarters to disclaim the differ·e nces with the rationale that "Black folks are the same everywhere and their common problem is oppression.u The sensitive and . observing teacher, however, will recognise such over simplification of the Black Experience and procede accordingly. The next phases of this section will explore the course anatomy. The format will be a unit-by-unit breakdown of an historical course in Black American Poetry.· Each unit will be examined froni the standpoint of its Literary/Social Background and Related Sub-Topics. In Section III the day -to- day classroom sessions will be discussed along with some exciti ng experiments for dramatizi ng , explicating and researchr· ing the poetry . fflU'I' # l:--: U\Af QJ\.1[ iha- \~ •\t -~_f,; ~U.1t11lt u .,, \'~ J 1. ROOTS OF BLACK EXPRESSION AND THE FOLK TRADITION L �and • • 10 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_16 Title A name given to the resource Miscellaneous related sub-topics and excerpts for Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, typed manuscript Description An account of the resource Miscellaneous related sub-topics and excerpts for Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, typed manuscript. Includes related sub-topics for Unit #1, Unit #3, Unit #4, Unit #5, and Folk Seculars. Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/b3e4b900906b5f54d35db9f4f1fbd553.pdf 121fe65a0a825dca6fe8e700b62c2aa2 PDF Text Text other cultures, Black Sl,ave Narratives creative literature developed from early diaries and journals. Hence it was the slave narrative that gave rise to the first Black novel, Clotelle: A Tale of Southern States (1853) by William Wells Brown (published in England). Browp also published the first Black play, Escape: Leap to Freedom (1857). Or A His concern for the plight of the mulatto would occupy much of the Black fiction up through the early decades of the 20th Century. In addition to writing fiction and drama, Brown collected Black folk and antislavery songs. Many white scholars and travelers through the south also compiled collections of these songs--which would later become important ingredients in the writings of Black and white writers. Even for writers of the narratives, however, there was external censorship. White abolitionists, concerned that the over-use of Africanisms in narratives would offend potential supporters caut oned authors and speakers to minimize such usage. The ray of hope generated by the first Black newspaper, Freedom's Journal (1827, John Russworm), died out with the newspaper in 1829. Douglass, who founded Frederick Douglass' Montnly (1844) and The North Star (1847), was told: You supply the facts and we'll take care of the rest. Robinson (Early Black American Poets) separates the early Black Poetry into four categories: I. Orator Poets A. Lucy Terry, Jupiter Hammon, Jamesj M. 1fuitfield,etc. 50 �II. III. IV. Formalist Poets A. Phillis Wheatley, George Marion McLlelan, etc. Romantic Poets A. John Boyd, The Creole Poets, Joseph Seaman Cotter, etc. Dialect Poetry A. James Edwin Campbell, Daniel Webster, J. Mord Allen, etc. One would, of course, be remiss in saying that none of the early poets rejected slavery or identified the contradictions inherent in what whites preached versus how they acted. Most of the poets, in face of implied threats, dealt with "safe" themes and conventions or with the sentimentality and local color. Nevertheless stirrings of protest and indignation are evident in much of the work of the period. Slave revolts, abolitionists activities, the rumblings and coming of the Civil War, contradictions of Christianity--all laid the foundations for a more conscientous poetry. Robinson is quick to point out, however, that the charitable work of literate Blacks (during this period and the following one) often consumed their energies and their passions. write. Many went about helping others learn to read and Others administered to the ill and attempted to record their experiences (via diaries, notes, biographies, texts) for coming generations. In many northern communities there were Black Literary Societies--usually named after classical personalities or things. Important with regards to many of the early poets, Robinson notes, was their immense popularity and great abilities to deliver their poems orally. Douglass' oratory, certainly, is well • 51 / �known--as is that of the early Black preachers. The early poets, like the preachers, apparently knew their audiences well (often elicited audience responses) and appealed to what Johnson has called a "highly developed sense of sound." Roginson tells us that 11 Mrs. F.E.W. Harper's Poems on Mis- (ISS~) cellaneous Subjects, ••• reached its twentieth edition as early as 1874, but this was not due to the conventional notion of poetic excellence Mrs. Harper was fully aw.are 1 of her limitations in that kind of poetry, it was due more to the sentimental, emotion-freighted popularity that she had given the lines with her disarmingly dramatic voice and gestures and sighs and tea.rs." This paritcular aspect of Black Poetry has yet to be examined fully. Most of the early Black poets give significant clues, in their writings, to the reaction of the African mind coming in contact with written tradition for the first time. Q In the work of the most skilled of these poets,~enslaver's consc.ience is prodded while the mastery of English literary verse heralds a major step in the development of the Black American literary tradition. From the stilted poetic con- ventions and self-righteousness of Neoclassical and Romantic models to the rich Americanized English-Irish ballads, the early poets armed themselves with the best techniques available. Some contemporary poets and critics, un:t'amiliar with the mood and state of affairs of the times, often speak contemptuously of the early writers--censuring them for being "outside" the "struggle." 52 Much of the criticism, �however, is due to ignorance and a lack of reading. One popular feeling for example, is that one should procede 3-v~~ttum ,ml't. from Phillis Wheatle~ and George Moses Horton straight on to Dunbar. Such a surface approach to the material, however, ignores the dozens of interesting figures in between the two periods. Related Sub-Topics For Unit #2 l. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. UNIT # 3: "Black" Themes in the Early Poetry Black Poetry as Oratory Formalism in Early Poetry Black Romantic Poetry "Freedom" as a Theme in Early Poetry Idealism in Early Black Poetry · Slavery as Viewed by Early Poets Diction, Classical and Biblical Allusions in Early Black Poetry View of Africa in Early Poetry First Generation African Writers of English Relationship of Early Poetry to Slave Narratives Occassional Verse and Sophistication in Early Black Poetry "Wbite1t Models Used by Early Black Poets Early Black Poetry and the English Literary Tradition Protest in Early Black Poetry Plantation Life in Early Black Poetry '~fricanismsn in Early Poetry Religious Themes in Early Black Poetry Differences Between 18th and 19th Century Black Poetry Early Black Poet as Fugitive Romanticism in Early 19th Century Black Poetry DIALECT POETS; BEGI~NG w~F ~ : AUTHENT~CE- - - = - - - - , (1865-1910} Literary/Social Background: The period from l ~ o 1910 was one of contradictions, great expectations, continued literary experimentation and important beginnings. On the white literary scene, Whitman, William Dean Howells, Henry James, Joel Chandler Harris and Irwin Russel generally 53 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_15 Title A name given to the resource Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, partial typed manuscript labeled (6), p. 50-53 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/3291346c8a525ff5222ea19940bc3363.pdf 8a75d024e0b246b5df1aaa5ddc4931b4 PDF Text Text D. THE EXTENDED RENAISSANCE: JO's, '.i O's, SO's Some critics say the Harlerr. ~enal ssance was simply the peak of nearly a century-long Afro-American push in ar c , belles lettres and consciousness-raising. And, as observed earlier, there is a ls o diver gent opinion over whether an actual "Renaissance" occurred. But, ar gume n ts aside, the stock market crash of 1929 is generally viewed as the official end of the designated Renaissance--since white patronage ended and the writers had n o t developed followings among the Black grass roots. Important here also are positions : a ken by two important critics 11 of the era: Sterling Brown and J. S,i unders Reddin g . Both feel the Harlem move- ment was primarily a fad; Brown referred to Harlem as a "show-window" and Redding claimed the writers mistook Harlem f e r real Black life: First of all, Ne gro writerE, both poets and novelists, centered their attentions so exclusjvely upon life in the great urban centers that the city, especially tBrl en, became an obsession with them. Now Harlem life is far fron1 typ~cal of Negro life; indeed, life there is lived on a theatrtcal rlane that is as far from true of He g ro life elsewhere as life in the Latin Quarter is from the truth of life in Picarcly. 1'he Negro writers' mistake lay in the assumption that what th saw was Negro life, when in reality it was just Harlem life . purposes anyway, Harlem be1:ame or ganism . Very shortly, f o r literary ,1 sort of disease in the American (To Ma ke /\ Poet ~ ) ny way of parallel, it is ins t r11 c tiv 1• to note that a leading contemporary Black 7 c ritic, Addison Cayle, Jr., a cc 11ses 1: la ck writers of t h ~ o f being similarly remiss . In th e Sept~nber, 1974, issue of Black World, Gayle discusses /1 �i "The Black Aesthetic: 10 Yea rs Lat e r' 1 and attempts to lay out a blue-print for "Reclaiming th e South e rn Experi e n ~e." Gayle ' s claim that hardly any of the new Black literature is rooted in th e South shows him to be less familiar with recent !Hack writing than he should b ~. (See , for example, the works of Dumas, Alice Walker, Pinki e Lane, J\rth e nia BJt e s , Alvin Aubert, and others.) But , generally, hi s thesis, J e rived fro m J :J hn Oliver Kil l e ns's statement, ·"we are a Southern people," is solid and \\ell- t ak en. The works o f !Hack po e ts in th e three decades followin g the 1920s represented a combination of Re na iss .:i nce- .:i nJ American-inspired technical and thematic ,I interests. The Gr eat De pressi c n waf:1 f elt world-wid e , among Blacks, whites, poor and rich. The drou ghts , r e f e rred t o i n Cuney's "Hard Time Blues," the ravages of th e Boll ~Je e vil, t he plight ~ f th o sha recroppers, the drive of all workers toward unioniza tion, anJ the att racnon of th e Communist Party (with its cl40 of racial unity anJ e qu a l i ty), ;: 11 i ns pired and informed Afro-American poetry of the thirti e s, forties and fifties , So did lynching, unemployment, Black history and cultur a l recl a mat i or1 and protest; but the tendency, in general, was > to seek the deliveranc e o f "all men. •t McKay, Hughes and ·others (in the twenties a nd thirties) t e asing ly ex pl or ed th e pot e nt i alities of Communism. ) Desperately seeking to ~ uf ( er th e Jehumaniz .ng ti roe~ of r a ci s m in artists, int e l le ctua l s a nd wriL1 :r s h~<l no t only become Communists, but int e gr a ti onist s , Pa n-A f r ica nist:. or c edi ca ted s ee kers o f the Ame rican Dream as civil s c rv ,rnt s or mode l c iti ,:e n;;. F1 w of th e writers, however, followed the example of Richard \fri ght o r W.l i . B. J1uilols w\ joined the Party. 7 But whatever the stances, th e y G a s t agai nst 1: he p,, nor ama o fj the Depres s ion in the thirties , WWII in th e fortie s , and Ko r e a ,1nc.l M1 .Carthyi s m in th e fifties. Comp a red to th e f ir s t thrc1! dec 11 Jes of the century, relatively little Black ( J) �poetry was publishcJ in book fo~m bc1 ween 1930 and 1960. In a 1935 article in Opportunity Alain Locke lamented the low quality and quantity of post-Renaissance poetry. With the exception of llughe 1, and Cullen, most of the pens were silent durin g the thirties. Severi.11 y1JUn gej' poets, however, made their debuts. Harchall Davis (1905-- ) and Ster inc A. Brown (1901-- and then were not heard from nf : er t\1e decade. Frank ) made major splashes ) Robert Hayden (1913-- Melvin B. Tolson (1900-1%6) an.J Mnq ,nret Walker (1915-- , ) also made first appearances in the thirti es but they sustained lengthy and productive careers. Fiction writer Richard Wri ght (L908- .960) was an occasional poet who joined the thirties 1.;roup. A second wave df ro 1:ts, some oc ca sional and all "transitional," appeared in the forties, f.iftie, anc..1 early sixties: Dudley Randall (1914- (1915-- (1915- ) , Gw~ndol :rn Brooks (1917-- ), Pauli Murray (191J-- O' Higgins (1918-- Long Madgett (1923-Lance Jeffers (1919-- ), Myron ), Hruce McM. Wright (191 8-- ) , Ray Durem ), Gloria C. Oden (1923-- ), Naomi ), May :1ille·, llelen Johnson Collins (1918-) , Russell ,1tkins (1926-- ) , James C . Morriss (192 0,-- Sarah E. Wrl1;ht (1929-- ) to nam · !H>mc. ), ), Margaret Danner ), Samuel Allep (also Paul Vesey, 1917-- ) , M. Carl llolman (1919- (1929-- Owen Dodson (1914-- ) , ), Raymond Patterson ), Oliver Pitcher (1923-- ), and Most of thls transitional group did not get a real hearin g until tlw six: ies; they will be looked at as a group in Chapter Vl. Dozens others published or wrote occasionally, Of the poets writing in the thirties, Brown separates then into "new realists" and "romantics." The word "romantic" seems t o be anala~;ou; to "library;" and both are used to speak somewhat disparagingly of poets thus cate~orized. The "realists" and writers of protest included Well>orn Victor J~nkins (Trumpet in the New Moon, 1934), Frank Marshall IJav iH and \-Jri i.; ht. Those co ,ccrne<l with "romantic escapes" were "Z ...,J �Alpheus Butler (Make Way for llappin c ~~ • 1932), J. llarvey L. Baxter (That Which Concerneth Me, 1934; Sonnets for th e Ethiopians and Other Poems, 1936), Eve Lynn (No Alabaster Box), Marion Cuth~ e rt (April Grasses, 1936) and Mae Cowdery (Lift Our Voices). The romantics wr q te about nature, delicacy, love, quaintness and their work reflects a more "bookish" learning than anything else. Brown said that Jenkins' work de s erve, , "an o ri g inal place in Negro poetry" .but Trumpet in The New Moon is out of print; a n~ Jenkins' poetry is absent from every anthology I of Afro-American poetry. llis pc.,etic sketches of the Black life encompass prac- tically every important fa c et. Thou gh owing much to Whitman and Sandburg, Jenkins' work is still important enough (o he Ireissued as well as anthologized. Wright, often called the fc.th e r of the modern Black novel, was a poet in his own right. No other Americ;an writer's personal oddyssey has been so bleak and difficult as Wright's. Fror11 pov Qrty, orphanhood, educational deprivation and racism, he emerged as one oi tl1e most influential and dominant forces in American literature. Not only c,id a so-called "Wright School" of Black writers result from his efforts, but co~1ntl eq s white writers also imitated Wright. His most discussed novel, Na t i v ~l (19 110), was a Book-of-the-Month selection. It summed up the emotional anJ psy~,holo ~ical history of Black urban America over the preceding 20 years. His autobio n rapl1ical lilack Boy (1945), published five years later in 1945, reveals hi ~. (an ~ the race's) miRration to the northern United Stat e s and chronicles tli(, hop us (a nd later disillus i onments) of Blacks "Northboun'" to seek th e Promisrd La11 d. Wright also publi.she<l numerous other collections of short stori e s, m,,vel s , and journalistic writings. As a po e t, however, Wri ght 1de se tves more than a passing interest. the Communist Party in the tltirt ie s c1 nd remained a member until 1944. lle joined His poetry, containing protest coupled with call ~ for unity among Blacks and wl1ites, was �published in va rious journals ant newq organs of the period: Literature, New Masses, A~v il, Mj_dLrntl, and Left. International Much of his poetry is quoted in Dan McCall's 'l'he Example of R~char1 Wright (1969) and his poems appear in The Norton Anthology of Modern Pc ,etry (Ellman and O'Clair), The Negro Caravan, The Poetry of Black Anwr le a , Ame1~ 1':egro Poetry and other anthologies . Wright was born near Natchez, Mississip11i, ard experienced an erratic educational and home-life pattern. By the time he ra1 away from home at 15, he had lived in nearly a doz e n different cities. Fln,lly moving to Chicago, he worked for the Federal Writers' Project during 1: he D1 ,pression (becoming a friend to Davis, Margaret Walker and others). Possessing 11n un1 .uenchable thirst for both reading and writing, Wright continued a mental <1nc.l pli:1sica world. journey which carried him all over the lie tllc-tl in 1960 in l'arls wl1erp hf' had settled (at the suggestion of Gertrude Stein) and Joined the Edsteptlalist group of writers led by Jean-Paul Sartre antl Simone de Beauvoir. !is p1>e try is in free verse and the Japanese haiku form--which he discovered ~ate ~n his life. tical statements, as haiku s are suppo,ec.1 to be. are rarely racial in flavor. His haikus are harmless ellipAnd the ones in anthologies But his protest poetry of the thirties showSJ im to be a poet of unmist akable talent and 3ensitivity. "I Have Seen Black Hands" owes debts to the American school of poetry developed by Whitman, Fenton Johnson, Masters, Sandburg, Hughes unc.1 others. and corresponding disservices recelv I am bla ck anc.l 1 h 9 ve In it Wright catalogs the services rendered u by Blacks. lie announces that oen black hands, millions anc.l million Ll of th em~anc.l that thes e "hands" have reath cd ra ively, creatively, harmlessly, softly and with strength, out to each other and to c.lo the white man's bidding. Despite their stamina, vil)ilance and dependnt il ity, these same hands are the last put to �1/ work and the first i<lle<l. They held the "dreaded lay-off slip." They suffered from "unemployment and starvation." And they grew nervous a1d sweaty, and opened and shut in ang uish and loubt and hesitation~ an<l irresolution ... Wrigl1t continues, as in his prose works, to develop a psychological portrait of the abuse<l an<l dehu1nanized Blacks. There is a <lrive and an incremental swell, reminiscent of Margaret \falker' s "Fo ~ My People," as he recalls having seen "black hands" grip prison bars, knotted and claw-like un<ler the lynch rope, or "beat fearfully at tall flames." l3ut Blac k han<ls and white hands will someday merge as "fists of revolt" and create a ne,.., "horizon." Here, of course, is Wright's blatant call for Blacks an<l whites to become Communists. "Between the World and Me," however, sustains a differQrit angle of the theme begun in "I llave Seen Black Hands." A Black man has been lured into a wooded area and seduced by a white prostitute; the narrator becorres the lynched body whose remains are .•• dry bones .•. and~ stony skull starinR in yellow su1·prisc at the sun . . . . Making use of awesome, horrorf)·ing ~mages and clashing, brilliant colors and sounds, the poem recounts the n1osL ~nsignificant details of the events and setting of the lyncl1ing: And the sooty det,iils cf the scent rose, thrusting themselves het\1cen the world and me. . •. There was a design of .bite bones slumbering forgottenly upon a cushion of ashes. There was a charrtid st\ mp of sapling pointing a blunt finger ac:cusi1.gly at the sky. �I I There were torn tr ~e l~1bs, tiny veins of burnt leaves, and scorched coil of greasy hemp; And upon the trampled g ·ass were buttons, dead match e s, butt-eads o ' cigars and cigarettes, peanut shells, a dra ~ned gin-flask, and a whore's lipstic k ; Scattered traces of tar, restless arrays of feathers, and the lin gering sm~ ll of gasoline. The poem continues, as the narrator, who "stumbled suddenly upon the thing," becomes one with the victim. technique. It is 1 fascinatin g and highly appropriate poetic Owing much to the psycho logical school of writing, but indicting the cosmos (as Dunbar does in "The llaunt ~d Oak"), "Be tween the World and Me" states that the lynch victim is c.:.vc.:.ry Black. i\ntl the world (through the recitation of usually passive components of the natural landscape) shares in the guilt, the revulsion and the horror of the act. Before God and the world, the victim ... clutched childlike, clutched to the hot sides of death. In 13lack on \1hite (1966) David Littlejohn calls Wright's poem and Robert Hayden's "Middle Passage" "the two fine~ t pot:ras by Negroes." Sterling Brown's poetry also f ~lls into the category of realism though not in the political sen s e with with wit~ c h it is applied to other writers of the era. Like Cuney, Wright, !Javis, llu gLes arJ others, Brown in Southern Road (1932) depicts the harshness and starLness of !Hack misery but his poetry is "chiefly an attempt at folk portraitur e of s c urt'hrl1 characters." A highly respected critic and scholar of Black folk literatun, 8rown approached his "portraits" as a student of the linguistic and thematic mate1ials with whicl1 he worked. He was born and 1 �reared in Washinf_~ton, D.C. /\t \/illi,, ms College, he was elected to Phi ileta Kappa in 1921 and in 1923 rccei\'et.l a, H.A. from llarvart.1. Since that time llrown, the son of educator-parents, ha~: had a lon g and distinguished career as writer, editor, teacher, and professor c,,f En!:j lish at Howard University. He has also taught at New York University, \assar College and Atlanta University. From 1926- 1939 he was Editor on Necro Aff~irs fJr the Federal Writers' Project, and in 1939 he was a staff member of the fa111ou :; Cunegie-Myrdal Study of the Negro. The recipient of numerous awards, Brown 1, the author of The Negro in American Fiction (1937) and Negro Poetry and Dram! (1937). of The Negro Caravan (with Arthur P. In 1941, he served as senior editor )a vis and Ulysses P. Lee), probably the most influential ant.I definitive anthology ,>f Afro-American literature ever published. In the twenties Brown be ga n an uabrok 1!n tradition of publishing articles, reviews ant.I criticism in various journal :i, ne11spapers and periodicals. Perceptive, relentless and ,,eerniug ly always in focus, Brown performed important surgery on Black folk culture an1l its manifestations in the poetry, music and language. llis findings were pub .Lisltel in Negro Poetry and Drama, where he also concluded that the New Negro Mov1:rnent (1914-1936) produced the following five _> " maJ• or concerns II among t h c poets ~0 (1) a lR rediscovery of Afric,1 as ~ source for race pride ~ (2) ~ A use of Negro heroes qnd hc. roic episodes from American history j (3) f-'l'ropaga nda of protest) (4) (.1.,1.. treatment of the Ner, t ·o matt s es (frequently of the folk, less often 0f the workers) \\ 1itlt n1o re understanding and less apology , I (5) tv~nd franker and deeper self revelation ,. Brown's own poetry rev i ved intere s t in Black dialect from a vigorously different angle than before. Cullen (~a rolJ.~ rnk) and Johnson (The Book of American Negro 1 �1 II Poetry) had forecas L the doom 1lf di, lect poetry. and Johnson reduced it to two s 1: op s : Cullen said its day was over humor and pathos. (Interestingly, Arthur P. Davis, in From the Dark TowgJ~, r e 1eats Johnson's position.) However, Brown took the position that dialect has 11mitless possibilities if poets and writers only have the courage and t he ing e nu j ty to work with it. Of the debate and con- flict over dialect poetry, he said: Dialect, or tlie speech of 1:he p( ople, is capable of expressing whatever the people ure. ,~nd tl .c folk Ne g ro is a great deal more than a buffoon or a p .Laint : ve minstrel. Poets more intent 11 upon learning th e ways of 1:he f <,lk, their speech, and their character, that is to say 1>ette r poets, could have smashed the mold. llut first they would lwv1 : had to believe in what were doing. And this was Jiffi1: ull .n a period of conciliation and middle class striving for :f ecog1tition and respectability. Brown himself used his knowledg1! of 1· 01k culture to interpret the people through poetry. And h e cons i dered thi ,, app ;·oach "one of the important tasks of Negro ? Oetry . " Some observors see a ,:ontro <lic tion in llrown' s dazzling academic achieve- ments and his poetic work in th .! foll : materials. poets could learn mu c h fr om Bro,,.rn' 1c. 1i x ...1111 plc. l.lut current young scholars and Too many contemporary poets are writing "at" or "about" t lie fol.~ e x p 1· ri e nce i n s tea<l of from or with it. Wa gne r (lllnck l' o~ t s o_~ ~ ~ ~ t e s) points to the irony and humor in 13rown asking Johnson to write t11c in roduction to SouLhcrn Road. For, in doing so, John ·on wus lilerally forc e d to 1 Lak e back much of his own criticism of dialect I poetry. Tnd e ed John s on had t o ad 111 it to Brown's formidable achievement with the f oJk forms. Be fore So utli l' rn !lo;icl, l. 1 Th e Book of Am e ricnn Negro Poetry, the elder poet and critic ackn owl e d r, cd t 1a t Brown was "one of the outstanding poets �II of the younger group"; for the "best work" 13rown "dug his raw material from the great mine of Negro folk poctry 1 11 Lln. s expressing the folk idiom with "artistry and magnified power." Kerlin (!~Poets and Their Poems) ranked Southern Road as a first volume with Cullen's Colo1 _ and Hughes' The Weary Blues. Even from as far away as Senegal, Africa , ha11 com c praise for Brown in the form of Leopold Scnghor's ;:issertion that Hughes and lrown are "the most Negro" of Black American poets. There is always the temptati c n to compare the two poets but, as Wagner suggests, llrown is the "antithe:;is ot Langston Hu g hes" since Hughes is the poet of the city and Drown the bard of th ( soil. In his closeness to the soil and I his serious studies o f Black fo .k c u l ture, Brown has been compared to Johnson and Zora Neale Hurston (sec J o n , ~ ourd Vine and Mules and Men). The folk idiom, coupled wi1;h clr, ma and word-portraits, provides the meat of Brown's work; though it must be mcnt : oned that he also writes in conventional English--with marked success . 1!is p< ,etic universe is generally drab--with occasional f Lashes of wry humor , 1111 ; ls the poetry of hard times and suffering. lie expresses skepticism in f.'.lce of r1 •ligion and God; and ironically there is no reference to Africa as is Lhe c ,1se ( o lmost thematically) with most poets of the period. Brown seems to be sayi1r, thu fight is here, not in an Africa of mind or fact, and that the !Hack man is p . tted against forces of nature which alternately work for and a g ainst him. Wr . tine during the depression years, Brown was concerned with th e de.-:idly c ,10ler 11, the boll weevil, the ravages of the flooding Mitrnouri river, th e pligl1t of Llic :.-;h.i recropper and tenant farmer, and white racism. It is clear that, for Brown, th e..: lwp in his own stamina, l1is O\m ~ (if it is there) for the I.Hack man lies bi s tori c ll endurance and strengths. Consequently, the poet infuses thi s hi s Lorical str !ngth and defiance with folk rhythms--especially the dramatic narrativ e and the contr 1puntal pattern which incorporates italics �for emphasis and the various soJnJs ,,f men at work, play, prayer, dance or battle. "Strong Men" is pcrhap; th e best example of Brown's style. Using a line from Sandburc-- "The s tron ', me n keep coming on"--he actually borrows exact phrasin!:s, aphorisms, bits of p irabl 1·s and parts of secular and religious songs from the folk cultur e . The for:nal Ep ~ lish narrative is set in dramatic and I musical relief through the use Jf th 1i technique described above. Steeped in a tradition that spans \Jhiuuan, F~nton Johnson, Masters anJ Eliot, Brown catalogs the numerous injustic e s Bl acks liav e ;uffered; he interjects "The strong men keep u-comin I on" or "keep a-inch in' alon ~" or 11 \-lalk togedder chillen." Even though Blacks ,.,,ere "drag ged" fro 111 their n.:1t Lve land and <legraded in every possible way, they kept "Cit tin' s trong e V\ This ls the sam t• mes ~: age in " S t ra nr; e Legaci e s," "After 'inter," "Southern Road" (a near-paraphrase o f a 1,1ork s >ni~), "Ma ltainey," an<l the six-part sequence "When De Saints Go Ma' ching llon1e." ls what Brov111 gives his cliaracterH. to "i;tagg cr" but nonL: to halt I ../hat DuCols called the "dogged strength" As Maq~aret Walker sug)jests, there is room lt e111l 11 iscent of "The Weary Blues," "When De Saints" depicts the "Trouble, Trouble" de e p Jown in the "soul" of a JHack singer. But that troubh! , like tl1e "weariness" o f llughcs, is a collective trouble--the weight, the fati g ue, the burden of the folk. We hear it everywhere in Black expression, from 13essle S111ith to Mur i nn An~erso ri , from Paul Laurence Dunbar to Paul Robeson, from Fenton John s on Lo l t1rvin ( ayL· ( !'rouble Man), from the "sad" and "sorrow" songs of tl1e slaves to th e bluts si Og ers of the river towns and Depression years. After the sincer in Brown's poL 111 hn (j pl.:1yed his various sad and sin songs, he always p laycd one in which he st 'Pl, c~J out of the role of "entertainer." would then 1·,lvc fort Ii h.is ''cllartt o f s aints." lie Anticipating his arrival in heaven and others who would be tllc.;rc, he c , refully describes what each of the entrants I/ �will be wearing. It is a gala qffair--initiation into heaven--and most of the arrivals come in the clothes they wor :! in life on earth . are not allowed in heaven. The sinners, of course, They incl1de Sportin' Legs, lucky Sam, Smitty, Hambone, Hardrock Gene and others. llrown also wrote in the ballad f)rm ("Ile was a Han"), conventional verse ("Effie" and "Salutamus"--a sonnet) a nJ the blues form popularized by Hughes in The Weary lllues. His Black men are o n the run (from a mob or police), in trouble with whites as a result of an arro ~an~ act or response, getting killed, trying to figure out how to feed the hous e hold, or being assaulted by natural disasters. In a large number of tl1ese poems ther b is sorrow, devastation, catastrophe, violence, death, tragedy, socia] disrµption, chaos, ruin, need, pain, skepticism and the paranoia inherent in Bl qck life. "lie was a Han" depicts how a Black man beat a white man (who drew first) to the draw but was lynched in the tradition of handling !.\lacks . Despite the fact that "strong men" keep coming, "Strong Hen" is a poem replete with negatives. " Sister Lou" is a longin8 for heaven as a respite from the hardships and racial ir.justices suffered here on earth. "After Winter" is the portrait of a Black man 'ra gg ed" as "an old scarecrow" whose "swift thoughts" are about the food, d~·ink cJ nd space he must obtain for his family. "Ma Rainer" (" Mother of the Blues") is t\- e rapuetic in her words and her delivery. But she is, a gain, like Fenton ,fohnsc n's "monarch" who presides over sacks of merchandise. The people come t<1 Ma F ainey to "keep us strong. 11 and feel sad when she sings . But they cry Aud on p,oes the Southern Road with the exception of the Slim Creer story-poems and th e lever-man themes which nevertheless feature men who must either love qui cl~ and n n or those reminiscing about their loves while they swing the hammer on the c hain g, ng . predicaments. Slim Greer finds himself in various Most memor a ble are hi :, visits to heaven and hell ("Slim in Hell"), �his absurd effort to p;:iss for w1ite I hou gh he is dark "as midnight" ("Slim Greer") and his bout with the Atlanta l,1w th i. t requires Blacks to laugh only in a "telefoam booth" ("Slim in Atla 1ta") Brown's really great achievement, however, is seen in the brillinnt " :!emphls 13111es. 11 Here the poet asks what difference is it to 13lacks whether Memphis is dest r oyed by "Flood or Flame." Memphis, Babylon and Nineveh arc all the sa me: De win' sini sperri.chalu Through deir dus'. Forecasts of doom can be seen i ·1 mucl1 American literature--but Black writers have carved out a special place for : hem s 1:lves. This allows them to place their racial predicament in relief against Cj1rist :.anity or Christianization. that this concern runs like a SjJine 1:hrough Black poetry: Cullen, McKay, Hur,hcs an <l cert 11inly Brown. and white. We have observed Dunbar, Fenton Johnson, For Brown, God is alternately Black And here, of course, is 1.he contradiction. Because the God of the whites ( the oppressor) cannot b,:! trui; ted; and the Black God seems somewhat helpless against a white power stru,:ture of which Brown says: They don't come by ones They don't co111e by twos But they come by t~ns. !laving published only one book ~hich , at this writing, is just being reissued > I (1974, with new Introduction by Ster ~ing Stuckey), places Brown ln a rather difficult and s01netimcsl nacces;,ible position. nut there ~ t e e n good, if few, appraisals of his work. Jean W~gner takes a long look at Brown (Black Poets of the United States); Brown takes a s~>rt, but helpful, look at himself in Negro Poetry. So does Saunders Ke<lJin g in To ~~ke a Poet 13lack. Also helpful is Stephen Henderson's "A Strong Man Ca~led Sterling Brown," Black World, XIX /3 �II (September 1970), 5-12. Benjiman Br,1wley (The Ner,ro Genius) assesses Brown as poet and critic as does Bl yden Jacks,in in Black Poetry in America. Charles Rowell, a youn g critic-teaclier 3t S0 1thern University, Baton Rouge, has prepared a yet unpublished criticism of 11rown ' s poetry. (BarJsdale anJ Kinna1non). See also Black Writers of America Brown's w>rk appears in most anthologies of Black literature and poetry. One characteristic of Black po e; ry of tl1e thirties was a cry for unionization of Blacks and whites. Brown's "When De Saints Go Ma'chinz Jlome" allows room in heaven for a handful of whites who b ;! fricnJed Blacks. According to the Marxist/ I Communist-influenced thinking of th e time s, downtrodden peoples--of whatever color--were in the same boat. Their strugg les were all the same. One finds this feelinr, in Frank Marshall Davi~'s " Sriapshots of the Cotton South" which paint a rather pathetic and dcpressinr, pictL1re of voteless Blacks who "lack the guts" and "po'" whites who "have not the brairis" to fight the rich plantation owners and the police. The poems also re~k wi~h irony and satire--a Davis trademark. Even though racial "intermingling" ~s "u rit hinkable," syphillis is passed from the "shiftless son" of a plantatior. own c::r (a lynch-mob leader) to a washerwoman who gives it to the chi ef of polic~, who gave it to a youni; mulatto cook who gave it to th e m.::iyor of "Hob town" who 1:ave 1 t to his wife. Currently livin ~; in Hawai i. whe~ he is a salesman, Davis was born in Arkansas City, Kansas, nttendcd l ac. 1 public schools and studied journalism at Kansas Stat e College where he ~,as tl c first recipient of the Sigma Delta Chi Perpetual Sc holarship. lie lat1:r lc:i t school for Chicago to clo newspaper work. In 1931 Davis went to Atlanta 1: 0 he : p establish the Atlanta Daily lforlcl. turning to Chica go , he wor ked ,~ith 1940s when he moved to Hawaii. I Re- he Associated Negro Press until the late In :. 937 he received a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship �I 11 to write poetry. lie has publish ::! d fo1 1r volumes of poetry: Black Man's Verse (1935), I Am the Ameri c an Negro (1937 , , Through Sepia Eyes (1938), and 47th Street (1948). Davis established himself ea r ly as a socially-minded poet who combined his journalistic training with a lyrics. 1 inn(1vative free-verse form to create interesting (Gwendolyn Brooks later deve : .oped a form known as verse-journalism.) Stephen Henderson (Und e rst a nding ~ l e w Black Poetry) notes the similarities between Davis's poetry and that ,:urreptly being written by Chicago-area poets. The influence of Masters and San,lburg can be seen in much of Davis's work; but his poetry is highly flavored wi;h Blpck themes and (sometimes) idioms. Like I Hughes he is the poet of the cit:,. B11t he renders believable pictures of Black "society" and the hard times of .,outh1!rn living. In "Snapshots" he warns whites that death, the boll weevil loes not pibble at only 'nigger cotton. 11 Ironically placing the "Democracy" of death and patural disasters alongside a hollow tunerican "Democracy, 11 Davis is a )le t 1> turn the poem into a piercing sword of social criticism. Ironies also ;;pine poems like "Robert Whitmore," "Arthur Ridgewood, M.D.," and "Giles Joh[lson, Ph.D. 11 --bourgeois Blacks destroyed by status-climbing. Hhitmore, havirig re,1ched the peak of social and business success, dies when he is mistaken for a w~iter , Dr. Ridgewood, forced to choose between the life of a poet and a doctor, dle s from a nerve disruption caused by worry over rejection slips and money probl ~ps. do labor; he dies of starva tion. Dr. Johnson will not teach and cannot The great tragedy, in this stream of poetic ideas, the story of the poet is ''Roos ~velt Smith." Smith could be Davis himself or possibly Countee Cullen or Melvin ·rolson--or any number of Black poets who wrote as they were directed only to e1u up having "contributed" nothing to "his nation's literature." Smith's first Sandburg, Masters and Lindsay. 100k is attacked by white critics for imitating llis S ! cond book, written after he had <lone first-hand �stucly in the South, is criticizcid by Blacks for being too sordid. Critics dis- missed his third book, an expe r j.ment a l effort, as not being consistent with the depth and breadth of the philosophica l material treated by Stein and Eliot. A Black man has no business imitating the "classic" works of Keats, Browning and Shakespeare, they said of his fciurth book. background. He ought to use his rich African Of hi s fifth book , critjcs were suspicious: since it ccintained no traces of anything clone prev ~.ousl) by a white poet, then it must be "just a new kind of prose." The poet th en became a mail carrier where he had time to read in the papers that lHacL wri e rs had contributed so "little" to American literature. Davis also wrote free-vers1! uti liz ing themes of love, night, and the stark life of Blacks in Southside Chicago. sculpted. Brown. His poems about love are quiet and well- They are placed in the ca1egory of "mystic excapist" by Sterling In his first volume, Dalfi s SI rikes vivid pictures, however, in pieces like "Chicago's Congo," "J az z 13,md," "Mojo Mike's Beer Garden," "Cabaret," "Lynched," and "Georgia's Atlan:a." Davis is "panoramic" and can capture Black speech as well as the rhyLhms of Bla1 :k social lif e . In "Jazz Band" he anti- cipates th e \vork of literally <linens of poets of th e sixties (Neal, Crouch, Cortez, Lee, Baraka, Harper, th~ Lds . Poets, Carolyn Rodgers). And certainly one recalls llu11hes' s "Jazzonia" ancl 1'Jazz Band in a Parisian Cabaret" when one hears a line like Play thaL thing yo..1 jaz i mad fools ! and the steady hamme r i nr, of Plink plank plunk n plu1k . Everybody an<l every place has th e blJes since 13lacks brought the sound to town: Chopin, Wagner, London, Moscow, Pari,, llonr,kong, Cairo, Dios, Jehovah, Gott, �Allah, Buddha, and so on. Eve ryon e cin partake of the happy-sad sound being played liy th e "black boy." cat . " Duke Elli1gton would later call himself an "ecumenical And Davis seems to hnv e unders t ood the concept well. close study of his wor k ha s yet to be done. for his work: Unfortunately, a But Davis had many thin gs in mind one poem is desl c n d tJ lie read aloud by eight voices. There is a liricf, but good, assessment of l1im in Wa gner's book; Sterling Brown sets forth crisp and meaty criticism. Benj iuw n Hrawl e y discusses Davis's poetry (Negro Genius); but he app ears all too infr oque ntly in anthologies. > For a current look at Davis see Dudley Randall's interview with him in Black World, XXIV (January ,I 1974). llulierL llay<le11 has on e of tl;t· lo11 i.;es t poetry writing (and publishing) records of any living American poel. 111s po o,ns have appeared in numerous anthologies, newspapers, periodicals, books ~nd pQmphlets since 1940. Horn in Detroit, Michigan, Hayden attended loca l schools ar,d Waype State University, and in 1936 "graduated to the Federal Writers' Project' ' heaq ing research into local Afro-American history and folklore. lie r e sumed his tr a ini ng in 1938 when he enrolled at the University of Michigan, where he r eceiv e d E t eaq l1ing assistantship, and did advanced work in play procJuction, cre at i ve wr~tin g a nd Enr,lish. taught Enel lsh at Michigan for two yc.a rs . poetry in 19]8 a nd 19 42 and during tl'Js Hayden received an M.A. and Il e received the Hopwoo d award for time he had an opportunity to study with \.J.11. Auden, who se poetry his owr. som(; times r eflec ts. poetry, ll ea rt- Sha.J25:_ in th e Uust_1 was published. ln 19110 his first book of Ile joined the faculty of Fisk University in 19116 and remained th c r< until 1968; during the sixties he became i nvolved in a series of "meanin £, fuJ encou nters with proponents of a black literary ~s thetic" (Earksdale and Kinnamc, n) wl lch resulted in his leaving Fisk and joining the faculty of the Univer sit y or M1 cl igan (1969). Hayden has received Rosenwald It �and Ford r,rants and in 1965 his Balli d of Remembrance (1962, Paul Bremen, England) was awarded the CrancJ Prize in the English poetry category at the First World Festival of Negro Arts in Daka1 , Senegal. In presenting Hayden with the award, the festival committee c l teJ l im as a remarkabJ e cr;i.ftsman, a, I outstanding singer of words, a striking thinker, a p o e t , ~ sang . lie gives glory ancJ dig- nity to America throu gh de1!p at! achment to the past, present and future of his race. A:: rica is in his soul, the world at large in his mincJ and hear ; . In 1948 Hayden collaborated witj1 Myrlin O'Higgins in publication of The Lion anc.l the Archer. llis Fieure of Time; published in 1966. Po1!ms appeared in 1955 and Selected Poems was \fords in tli 1~ ·ning Time, with its portraits of violence and <lestructlon, came out ln 1970, ape.I was nominated for a National llook Award (1972). And ~-NJ1•~1__~-ll10011!..1.E.t, Cl'rn)!.::!._ , sliowini~ llaycJcn as a reflective lover of nature and a deeply relir,ious p Jet, 1,as publishec.l in 1972 by Paul llremen. He has also written and produced plays : co Down Moses) and during the forties he was drama ancJ music critic for the t!_ Lchigan Chronicle. Hayden's work appears in practically every anthology of /\f ~o-~nerican literature or poetry published since r!.1!:_J~~~r.E_ Car.31__v_:~ :• llis editor , hip of anthologies includes Kaleidoscope: Poems by /\11_1yrican lle1 ~ro J> r,ets (1967), Afro-A111erican Literature: (1971, with Burrougli! , and Lapid •c), with Hiller and O'Hcal). An Introduction 111d The Unllccl ~jtates 111 Literature (1973, The latter work contains many of llay<len's seminal ideas as well as brilliant crystalizations of Black and ~eneral poetry movements in the Unitec.l States . Ills individual poems have appeared ln Opportunity, Poetry and ,...Atlantic Montlil_y . Order. Currently, !· e is poetry editor of the Baha'i magazine, World �I Althour,h, as a poet, llayden has jla intained a steady balance between racial concerns and the modern poetic tradit Lon , he is what Sterling Brown would call a library poet. Classical allusions, obscurantism, surrealism, and complicated syntax go hand in hand with experimen : al blues poetry and muted anger. Arna Bontemps said that the term "Negro po ! t" was particularly "displeasing" to Countee Cullen; and llayden (a Cullen 1dmirer), in Kaleidoscope, rejected being judged "by standards different from t 1ose applied to the work of other poets." The Black poet should not be lin1ited : o a racial utterance, Hayden believes. Ironically, a poll of Black poets todJy might easily show that a great many of them feel the same way--even thougl1 ~~ch is not suggested by the popular image of the contemporary Black poet. Speaking of his influences in ..!.!:Jterviews with Black \friters, Hayden notes that: When I was in college I loved Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Elinor Wylie, Edna St. Vincent Mi llay, Sara Teasdale, Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, Han Crarie. I read all the poetry I could get a hold of, and I read ~ithout discrimination. became a favorite. his style. Cullen 1 felt an affinity and wanted to write in I re1;1ember tha( l wrote a longish poem about Africa, imitating his "lleritage." All throu~h my undergraduate years I As l di scovered poets new to me, I was pretty imitative. ::;tudied their work and tri( id to write as they did. youni~ poets do tliis. I suppose all It's c·crt.inly one method of )earning somethini__: about poetry . I re ad e d the point, inevitably, where I didn't want to be influeuce<l ly anyone else. my own voice, my own -.,,ay o i: set!. ng . I tried to find I studied with W.H. Auden �in graduate school, a str·atep,ic t!Xperience in my life. I think he showed me my strengths and wepknesses as a poet in ways no one else before had done. Hayden thus establishes himself as a ioet of the book as opposed to the raw experience--vis a vis Sterllnr, Brown, Langston Ilughes, Frank Marshall Davis, Margaret \folker, and numl!rous othe rs, althoui.;h such a division must many variables. consider And, according to Ar : hur P. Davis, in From the Dark Tower, llaydl!n !urn rl!pu<liated l1is L'ar ly poet r ,--the few poellls of blatant protes} ~ obviously folk-influenced. Most of t1e early poetry shows Hayden as imitator of I the older llarlem Renaissance poets anl under the influence of the CommunistSocialist thou Ght of the 1930s an<l 19~0s. In "Prophecy" he depicts destruction and the people returninG to the "ruin :!d city" to rebuild a new society. is about the famous Gabriel Pro~ser-1 :?d slave revolt. "Gabriel" "Black Gabriel" was hanged for leaJinG slaves From forp,otten graves, .... lnterpolatJ11 i: ltnlicl ze d wurdB ,uHI At rrnz,w with co]loquJalisms (like Sterling Brown), llayden recreates the terrur un<l dr.:11na of Gauriel'a last minutes. Black an<l eolden in the air, Gauriel c.:a n ;•, l os from a noose above Black men who Never, ne ver rest "Speech" is just that --a n h,trani u e c<-jl lln~ !Hack and white "brothers" to fight the co11u11on oppressor, prcii:;11111nhly tot ql it ;i riani s m, fa sc ism and greedy over-seers. "Obituary" is a sensllive ,rnd p;. in ,J re flection of a " fa ther" who lived l'reparc<l for \.Ji ngs 1 /1.Juong thes e e,1rly pieces ([ouncl in C~r avan anti Ha yden's first volumes), "Bacchanal" is especially interesLin i.;--for .. t col lee ts the statement Sterlin[\ l.lr own pcrfec1:ed. ne\,J <llal ec t into the kind of social There is irony in using "bacchanal" to �describe a Black factory worker gettl1 g lligh's a Geor g ia pine to forget that the factory close<l "th .s mawnin." The Black man who, in "Gabriel" can never rest, is seekin g real "joy" on earth. But, minus money and woman, his "bacchanal" becomes a weighty blues s :atement--not the revelry of ancient Greek or Roman party life. One finds none of these poems in Selected Poems. Instead there is the polished llayden of "The Diver," "A Ballad of Remembrance," "Sub Specie Aeternitatis," "Middle Passar,e" and "Runa gate f{una ga ;e ." Neither docs one find such in Words I In the Mournin1• Time. llayden has obvLously elevated his protest themes. there docs remain a fascination with religion, nature and love. Hayden does make his social conur ent, :i s does Cullen. Yet To be sure, ilut his "Zeus Over Redeye" (Mourning) is a far cry from llu nhes " Dream Deferred" or "Ask Your Momma." "Runagate" and "Hiddle Passage" ac.ldra ss with subtlty and allusion the concerns of Owen Doclsen ("Lament"), Marg.: .ret ha lker ("Since 1619"), and Frank Marshall Davis ("Snapshots of the Cotton South"). Hayden brings a fine and intense in- tellect to hls poctry--re gardlct ,s of subject matter. llis output has been relatively small, considering hi :; long can·er, tut Words in the Nournlng Time proves that his intensity has not lessened. And he must be admired for sticking to his aesthetic convlctlons and Illa u11sweq lng dcvotlon tu pocLlc craftsrnanuhip. lland in hand with these concerns has been his enduring interest in history, racial and general. !!is manuscript of poem: dealing with slavery and the Civil War, The Black Spear, won him the s e cond llopw(,od award. The idea for a book-length I series of narrative po ems on Blick h .story--"from the black man's point of view"-I came to llay<len after he read St.!phen Vincent Benet's long narrative poem, John J~rown' s Body (1927). The inack Spca.~ never emer ged as a book, but remnants of �it can be found in section five of -S,!lected Poems. , In working with Black history, Hayden champions such persons as Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Cinquez, Martin Luth e r Kin g and Halc 1ilm X. shared the burden of the Black stru g,:le: He also includes whites who have William Lloyd Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thore a u, John B·own, John and ~obert Kennedy, and others. llayden's history poems, ho~ev e r . reflect the complexity and disturbances inherent in man's continuing struggl,; . In a non-racial poem like "The Diver" there can be floating, plunging, pi e ~c ing , blurring , disillusionment, wreckage, drunken tilting, "numbing /kisses, 11 a 11d other suggestions of dramatic tension 11 between the real and assumed, b e tw ee11 the shadow and the substance. But the r same II feeling" comes throu ~h in poems of racial flavor. "Middle Passage" certainly I bears this out, as Bl yden Jackson no :es in "From One 'New Negro' to Another" (Black Poetry in America, Jacks::rn an,! Rubin, 1974). Situated, as it were, "in the rockin g loom of history," " ~1id<ll ! Passage" is at once Hayden's and Black Amer i ca' achievement. Calculat ed by opening with the names of slave ships-- ' Estrella, Esperanza, ~ ~ - - t,1e poem criss-crosses the vast geographical, Jesus, chronological and spiritual web of r 11cial horror since slavery. The names of at I least two of the ships--J c sus arid ~ ::.£Y_--carry immediate contradictions and are simultaneously remini s cent of t l1e ex >letive "Jesus, have mercy, 11 and the attendant variations heard da il y in Blac k comm1n iti e s. But this Jesus will have no Mercy-- and in fact will stand throu Bhout ti~! r emainder of Christianity as the albatross around the neck of Chri s tian slav e r s. Any middle passa ge is excitin~ 11s we ll as dan gerous--since it represents the peak and the unfinished quest. le nc c the middle passage suggests both the horrible and brutali zi ng e xp e ri enc e ,Jf slaves aboard ships crossing the Atlantic Oc.ean a nd the incompleted "adventur e ' of Blacks in America. The poem also �satisfies much of th e demands o f mod1 :rnists poetry: the tradition established by T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Wal l .ice Si .evens, Hart Crane and others. ) "Middle Passag~" in fact follows styli ,tic a .ly from such poems as Eliot's The Wasteland, Pound's Cantos, Crane's The Br i1!H,e apu William Corlos Williams' Patterson. Especially is it akin to The \fa ,;telapd in its use of allusion, fragments of obscure information (old docwuents, let:ers, conversation, etc.), typographi~al variation, and the ur genc y and impoctancp of its "statement." "Middle Passage " after its sharl, and arresting opening, weaves together objective narration, notes from a slave s1ip's log, sections from a ship officer's diary, 11 testimony a t a court of inquiry (int p a slave revolt aboard the Cuban slaver Amistad in 1839), the tale of an old sa llor 11ho ceaseu sailing on slaveships because "fever melted" his bones, paraphrasing; of 1l Shakesperean text and familiar expressions from the Christian Bible anu 1~,e re ,. i gio us services. imaginable disaster and conflic ~: The poem depicts every s :arms, rebellions, suicides, a plague that causes blindness ("opthalmalia"), th,! lusty crew members sexual exploitation of female slaves, the "ni~ger kings" wh 1> sold the Africans into slavery, descriptions of the smell and sounds of dying, and tj1e hatred/respect the slave ships surviving spokesman has for rebellion-lea 11er C Lnquez. Almost 100 years before "Middle Passage," James M. Whitfield hal h on,ired this same revolutionary in "To Cinque." The idea of the remade man, a "life," recurs in Hayden's poem: 11 ·,o ya ge" which takes one "through death" into he ~e , again, the sense of one meandering through a "wasteland" in search of the right society, the sane environment. Indeed in much Black American writin g , mirrori1g sometimes the literature of larger America, there is the assertion that the new na n arrives only after paying the dues of being brutalized and oppressed. Ev 1 in everyday life, Blacks are often intolerant of others who have not " gone through' the fire and brimstone of depravity and .J.3 �alienation. Thus , for Hayden, 1:he 11 11 iddle passage" is both spiritually and physically a "voyage " throu 3h d1~ath ~ n order to achieve life. In the middle passar;e the slaves are half way betwQen their African homeland and America. They will not be returning to Africa and )et they know nothing of the life "upon these shores." Too, the middle passage synboli zes the initiation of everyman into the awesome awareness and responsib :. lity of adulthood--and his own mortality. The middle passage is where we all t:rium1h or perish, just as in the wasteland one must create a new world or drif1 . witl the debris. However, the caretakers of slaveships crossin3 the middle passa e are as acutely aware of their mission as 9 are the reflective slaves (and 1>oets). death. They are a lso bring ing life through They bear black gold, black :.vary I bl.:1ck seed. I All this occurs against the pervasiv ~ irony of the ship names Jesus and Mercy and the doubl e irony of slaver':; spo1esman who renounces Cinquez for rebelling against the crew: ..• true Christian:; all 1 •••• While the "Middl e Passage" plaq s Blacks somewhere in the middle of things, "Runagate Runagate" continues the in ny of moving through death to life. There is little to be envied in the ":Life" of the runaway slave depicted in this poem. The hound dogs, th e slave-crack1!rs, the auction blocks, the "wanted" signs, the brandings on the cheel(s, the drlver'1 lash--all re-live the terror, the nightmarish nature of Black "life" after th ,; mid< le passage. For Blacks, then, the initiation continues beyond the first deatb ( th1 , enslavement) . The anxiety and "never, never rest" life of the slave is dram,1 ti ca ..ly captured by Hayden who employs a rich tapestry of language, synt a x, c1)lor, imagery, narration, and religion, alongside the symbolism and "sweep " akin :o mo d ern poetry; added to this is the dramatic �use of italics. The poem celebrates tl1e courage and endurance of escaping slaves and honors illnck and white ab, >liLionist leaders. Hayden allows the reader to re-live the experience of the run1way slave and tl1e accompanying tension-filled hide-and-seek drama. We hear and se! the runaway in the opening line. By avioding the use of punc tu a tlonal br ~a ks, llay<len achieves a "rush" of language very similar to the relentless " drlv! " of Black oral expression and to the "never, never rest" feeling he est.:iblished i1 "C.:ibriel." The runaway Runs falls rlses stu111bl :! s on from <larkness lnto darkness I• an<l the hunt ls on, as the escopce r : fl ec ts on the "many thousands" already channeled through the und ergroun d ra llroad. and fear of the slnve who VO'v/S thJt ,1e We see an<l hear the 111ixe<l j ubi lance \dll never return to the auction block an<l Lhe <lrlver'u LH,h . And before 1'11 be a sl ve I ' ll be buried ln my r, rave Keeping with the trend of modern po Qt ry, Hayden introduces incidental notices and data: an announcement descrlbln~ runaways (inclu<ling age, dress, brandings, and a susplc ion thn t they c:rn turn t hem:;elvcs into quicksand, whirlpools or ocorplons), wanLe<l pcn;teru, anc., n.i 1nls of prominent aLolitionlsts of the <lay. Typographically and s yntactically, lh pol!m ls designed to be read, without slgnlfjcanl pauseH, so that the· non~s top hurtle of the s]u ve toward freedom actually occurs in the tc.:xt; it llly<len Jackson su~!'CSts (thought of "Middle l:;, Passage") "as if it repeats hi! ;tory," of llarril!t Tubm;rn, tl1e g rent cs l: of I "!Jead or .td lvc" an<l wlto was known tc Especially notable is Hayden's treatment nderground railroad leaders, who was wantc<l level a pistol .:it a doubtinr, runaway: �II Dead folks can't jaybi ·d-talk, she says; You keep on going now pr die, she says . . . . "Middle Passage" and "Runagate 1:unar,ate" are only two of Hayden's magnificent poems. Other poems in the historica . vein are "Frederick Douglass" (an ex- perimental sonnet without rhyme), "Tlte Ballad of Nat Turner" ("The fearful splendor of that warring."), "O Daetl ,tlus, Fly Away llome" ("Night is juba, night is conjo. "), and "A Ballad of Rememb ·,:mce" (a surrealistic, complex and erudite poem). llayden poems (prior to .,ford s ) capture supernaturalism ("Witch D·o ctor"), folk life ("llomage to the Empress o f the I3lues," "The Burly Fading One," "Incense > II of the Lucky Virgin," and "Mourning :•oem for the Queen of Sunday .Jtnd ,'1 folk reminiscences ("Summertime and the L .ving ••. ," "The Whipping," "Those Winter Days"). WorJs in the Houcninf\ Time, whi1:h we will return to briefly in Chapter VI, reflects Hayden's general and srecif .c concerns as a poet. Again, he judiciously handles the spectrum of themes, subj 1?cts and styles that assures him a place in the worltl of western as well as 11. ·ro-~nerican poetry. Poems like '''Mystery Boy' Looks for Kin in Nashville," "S1)ledatl," "Aunt Jemima of the Ocean Waves," and "El-llajj Malik El-Shabazz," mark Hayden in touch with the times and willing to share his poetic visio n witli revo •utionaries, pacifists, cultural nationalists and Black pride advocates. On the o .her hand he is at home with poems such as "Locus," "Zeus Over Redey e ," and "Le,1r is Gay"--which mirror his reading, travels, broad concerns and personal friendsh ~ps. llayden can still sensitively and deli- cately discuss great art and flowers, as in Words antl Night-Blooming Cereus; but his control of metaphorical accu~acy and poetic poignancy on a broad range of topics is also clearly there. in the 1960s jolted l1im. ll a1 den aJmits that the battle over aesthetics And while Lt is clear that the fight took place more �outside of poetry than in (s ee : hapt c r VI), Ilayden has not recanted in his position that the Bl ack poet not be , imited to racial utterance. course, has his righl to his owi opit .ion. Hayden, of But, like John Ciardi, Richard Wilbur, and Robert Lowell, and )ther poets of the academy, his trek has not been easy or Jevoid of controversy. side of his poetry, poems like And despite statements llayden makes out- '!1idd e Passage" and "Runagate Runagate" stamp him as a r,ifted handler of !Hae~ th e11e s and materials. For it is not likely that he will be known, as a poet, fo · work that lies drastically outside the passage, pace or pligl1t of Illacl Ame ·leans . 11 Much n eeded critical atte ntio n .s just beginning to come to Hayden. He is treated in Davis's From the ~ ·ower , Donald Gibson's Modern !Hack Poets ("Robert Hayden's Use of Jlistory ," C wrles T. Davis), Jackson anJ Rubin's Black Poetry ln Ameri c a, O'Brien ' s l1tervicw with Black Writers, Barksdale and Kinna111on'1:1 lll ,1ck \/ritl!n.1 of' Arn·r1c.i, and llow I Writc/1 (featuring llay<len, Judson Phillips and Law6on Carter: /~ cw Yor t , 1972). See also Rasey l'ool's "Robert llaydcn, l'oct Laurcalc," ~:.t._~~:;t (_BL1ck Worl<l), XV (June, 1966), 39-43; D. Caller's "Three Ru:l!nt Volumes," review of Words in the Mourning,_'.!:_~ 1971, J>:4. Dudley Randall displa ys Aesthetic in the Thirties, Fortic ~i , 'oc try, CX (1967), 268, and Julius Lester's in The New York Times Book Review, January 24, ,,oo<l insiehts into llayden in ''The Black md Fifties" (Modern Black Poets). And there is a Sl! nsitive trc!,1tmcnt of t l1 e po e t in James O. Young's Black Writers of the Thirties. llavini: helpcd 111nkc thl! 11.irl(•m Henaissance, Lani~s ton llur,hes continued his vaAt and i111;1;•, i11 a tiv l! p<>C.'Llc 011tput lnto the thirties, forLlcs, fiftlcs and Hll:ltlcH. 11 • publblt< ·d fc,ur buckH of pot·Lry ln the 19'301:l, three in the 1940s, an<l two in tile 1950s, and two jn 19(0s, in addition to dozens of short stories, �essays, novels, plays and autobiogra1•hical writinr,s. These things he accomplished along with his travels and his dedic p ted work on behalf of Blacks. But it would be "much too casual," notes Ilui;hcs's friend Arna Bontemps, simply to dismiss him as "prolific." For Hughes was a "mipstrel and a troubador in the classic sense." (Langston llughes, Dona ld C. Dickin s op, 1972) Hughes worked rapidly, turning out prodigious amounts of writing ; a f a c 1. , Blyden Jackson reminds us which caused some to deny him a place alongside "1,e rious" Ulack writers like Ellison, Wright and Baldwin. Hughes always involv cJ himself ,n "contemporary affairs"--even during the 11 Renaissance when Cull e n, ncKay nnd o :here roamed the Elysian fields of Africa or pined away in the "dark" tower. lut Saunders Redding (To Make A Poet Black) had complaincJ that Hughes employed ~hythms in his early poetry but little intellect. Consequently, the thirties and forties--with their steo pu in leftist and radical activities--placed Hu ghe , in the position of having to forge new protest weapons from his "weary blue,." noted: About lluehes's poetry James 0. Young ''His poetry was popular beca1se it could be read easily by people of all ages and uackgrounds." new Black poets: In the sixti?s, similar comments would be made of the llaki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee), Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, David Nelson, Arthur Pfister, and o t 1c rs. In th e early thirties, hm,evcr, llup,hes's poetry was considered "decadent" and "unacceptable" to Communist critLcs who wanted him to move from strictly racial themes to champion the fights of proletarians everywhere. Hughes made the switch-over and Scottsboro LL1~ ~cl (1932) shows the impact of Communist thought on him. The pamphlet v,as Jelicated to Black youths on trial for allegedly raping two white prostitutes in Scottsboro, Alabama. Hughes places the boys alongside such revolutiona ry sciints :i s John Brown, Lenin and Nat Turner. The �effect--resembling aborteJ cffo~ts o( some martyr-makinr, poets of the 1960s-was to make the boys, "ir,norant pawn•" thou ih they were, "militant proletarian heroes." The poem-play "Scotts·)OrO l.imiteJ" shows "Red Voices" convincing Black youths that the Communists arc on tlw side of Not just l:,lack--but hli ,c k anJ white. Hughes pul.Jlishcd wide Ly durin g ~he tl1irties in Party presses. In Good Morning Revolution (197], forw;:irJ by Sam.ter p ReJJing), Fnith Berry has compiled his "uncollecteJ writin!',S o( social prot1:st." They g ive many clues to Hughes' social I concerns Juring the three de cad ~s f o low in~ tltc Harlem l{enaissance. He calls for a union of "workers" in Germany, Cliipa , Africa, Poland, Italy, and America-through th e pages of New ttasses , Th e Ne r; ro Worker, The Crisis, Opportunity, International Literature, Conte1npo, ~1 Frica South, The Workers Monthly, New -- Theatre, a nd American Spectator, ~ ._,..... In "Cood Morning, Revolution," Hughes tells ' personified revolution that We gonna pill arou r1d Lo ;e l lier from now on. Secllon Lill•:, of r.uod Mori1Lnr. l{t·vol 1Lio11 oltuw llu 1~li e o to be acutely attuned to the problems and needs of oppresseJ Jeoplcs --lon g be(ore Franz Fanon, Stokely Carmichael and Eldridge CJ ec.1 ver-- .111d in sympathy with Third World struBgle: Section I, !{e volution; Section 2, ~110 lo tlon-l✓ hite Peoples; Sectlon J, The Rich and Tlw Poor; St·ction 4, ~£1..1:.__0_Q I Peace: Section 5, Coodbye Christ; Section 6, The Sailor and ThC" StcwurJ: Se tirn 7, The Meanin g of Sco ttsboro; Section 8, Cowards fru111 the Co.l lt.:!.:.ig u(•s ; S0c Lion 9, Portrait Aguinst fl.:.ickground; Section 10, and Seclio11 J 'J , fZ 1~Lr c,:;p t: c L_iv(• (incJ11 ll 1q: "~ ly Advc:nture !, as a Social l'oet"). I conoc la :, tit· .i11J 1::;acr JI J1:uuu , llu1;l1 -~; l11('urrl:d l11!.! v✓ r:1 tit of 111a11y Ul uck lcadcrf:i �with his poem "Good-by e Christ' 1932. publ .shed in the Baltimore Afro-American in Addressin g Christ, Hughos not 1!d that You Jlcl al r i g lit ln you · Jay, I reckon-But that day's g one no\f . And "Christ Jesus Lord Cod Jehovah" ·. s told to "make way" for a new deity, who has no religion, and whose n a me is Marx CommunLst Le1i11 P1!asant Stalin, \forker, HE-Relir,ious leaders especially co 1de111n1 ·d llughes ' s "blatant atheism." But Melvin Toltrnn, c.:omlng to llu gl1es ' s aid , said that the younr~ poet was simply showing that the Chrlstian offering of a better 11orJ.<l 1 after death had little meaninL; for the world's suffering millions. llup,hes was never a member of till Communlst Party, but he was sympathetic to it as were many other !llack 11rite1 s: Tolson , \✓ rlght, Davis, Margaret \folk.er, EJlison 1 and dozens of others. Hayden, Frank Marshall While his poetry and other writings of communist-oriented 11oclal protest were appearing in radical publications, Ilughes continued with i:terlJng JJrown developin)j and experimenting with illack folk materials. lie pa inst :aldn f 1y pointed up the contradictions in the promises .:rnd realitie ::; of J\111eric:an D~mocracy, assailed social inequality, lamented !Hack and white poverly, railed agai~ st double standards, attacked racial segregation, satirized the Black bourge o sie, and ltnrnortalized the beauty of everyday Blacks. So much of llughes's fight is caur,ht up jn "Let America ne America Ap,ain," first published in 1936 in J·~1~!s..£., arid lnc J uded in J\ New Song (1938). It iti immediately reminiscent of v/alt \n1lt man --in i.ts . wcep--and recites, in the manner of Hayden's I "Speech" and Tolson's "RenJezvoL.s with America," the multiple ills and ingredients of America. / Throughout th e poe111 , as he catelop,s the various ethnic stocks and . contributions, he interpolates the lt.:1unt#IJ · 1-I!" r, America never was A rner1.ca to me. 111/i. ,P fb �By now hughes' s interest Ln 1nac k mu !i ic and folk materials was being worked more artfully into his work. lie cart ied l i.s interest in Blues to his work in jazz (recording his poetry with Char]ie M:ingus and others) and the Be-llop era is strongly reflected in his poetq and 'his writin~s (see the Simple stories). Especially is 1nusic evi.denl i.n _t .onu~e of a Dream Deferred (1951) where, according to Jean \.Ja g ner, "jazz has stronr ly Lr [l uenced the tone and structure ·of these poems." It was from this volumL, to e:, that Lorraine Hansberry would get the title for Iler prize-wi nnin;~ pla): the volume is "llarlem, 11 in whicl deferred." R,i lsin in the S un. The most famous poem in the Black American is likened to a "dream Five precise simile• hc~1, lluv,hes Jraw explicit comparisons between raisins, sores, rotten meal, syrupy ~wee ts, heavy loads, and the all present "dream." Perhaps, llug hes notes at tie end, the dream will "explode." llur,hes wns not "perfect," l .lyder J;1ckson points out, but he was constantly on top of "contempor;n-y issues" and r 'mai netl an expcrimentor throu2hout his writing career. Ask Your Mama-~Twcl, e Moods for Jazz (1961) was published after 40 years of experimentation in \'ers e forms. synthesis we referred to c3 rlj e 1: and themes. It is indeed the attempt at the LI ut of jazz, blues un<l relateJ folk idioms Contcmpornry white poet ~, E.E. Cummint,s and Kenneth Rexroth, had chosen to place all lc•tters in ]m1Pr c;1sc and llughcs did .iust the opposite, cap1 talizin ;; ev •rythlnp,. Dedi. ·t tl!d to Louis Armstroni:--"the greatest horm blower of them all"--the vul1rn1t! is an ext 'IE ion of ideas <.1ttempte<l in The Weary Blues, Shakespeare in llarlL·111, and !~'.?_I_~~L.~~ a Dr eam Deferred. The driving soci<.11 protest is there, but the lnd ig naLion if ; 1n uu, d as in his earlier work. A recession in laq \e r A r n e r ~ iS CO!.(JJ{lrn FOL!~S ' DEl'IU S!i IO!l. The work b punctuated Ly the 1..ne r; Till: <1UAl{Tl.::R OF TllE NEGROES anJ llu~hes continues �the Illa ck poet's conn·rn wi th hist or f : honoring Black he roes and race leaders, displaying the beauty of JHackness a HI recallin1_; the ri ghts of passage. Politician, or~,rnizer of sharecroppers, poet, dramatist, teacher and raconteur, Me lvin Beaunorus Tolson ,..,1s born in Hoberly, Missouri , to the Reverend Hr. and Hrs . Alonzo Tolson. Tolson lived his young life iu various Missouri towns, publishin i; bis first poem at the age of 12 in the "Poet's Corner" or tli e Oskaloosa newspaper . lie r, raduated from Kansas City's Lincoln High School (1911.3) wh ere he lwd be~11 c lass poet, director and actor in Greek Club's Little Theater and captain of the football team. Throughout his adult life, Tol so n maintain ed an active interest in sports , dramatics and debate clubs. !le attended fisk and Lincoln Univer si ties-- g raduating from Lincoln with honors and winnin~ awards in spe ech , debat e, dramatics and Classical literatures. He also captained the football team. In 1924 Tolson, continuln~ a ri ~b and varied career, began teaching English and speech at 1.Jiley Collei:e , in Mars 1all, Texas. There he wrote prose and poetry, and directed drama and debut ~ groups which established a 10-year winning streak. To] son int er rupted his wor k at Wiley to pursue ~~ -4;¢]..<l master's degree in English and Comparative Li te rature at Columbia University. where he J met V.F. Calverton, ed itor of _t!o<lern Qu;.irterly. Later, in 1935 at Wiley, Tolson's career as a debate coach peaked when his team defeate*._~ional champions, University of Southern California, before 1100 people . And in 1947, the same year Tolson was appointe<l poet laureate or Liberia by President V.S. Tubman, he became English an<l drama professor at Langston University, Lancston, Oklahoma where he also served as mayor for four terms. AL Langston he direc ted the Dust llowl Players and dra1natlzcd no vc ]Ll by WalLcr \.Jliite ;.ind C:eorge Sch uyler. A revered and .. eared teacher and or /;i..l nizer, Tolson bec;.ime a J e~:end in his own time. j Hardly �a student at a deep-south Black colle ~e had not heard of Tolson's work as poet, dramatist, debate coach and eJucator. His column, "Cagga bes and Caviar," was a regular in the Washington Trib~ <lJring the thirties. Tolson published three volumes o( poetry: Rendezvous with America (1944), Libretto for the Republic of Liberia (1953), and llarlem Callery, Book I: Curator (1965) . His Ho rk also appear2d in The Hodern Quarterly, Atlantic Monthly, Common Ground, Poetry, and other periJ<licals . / The He won numerous awards and citations, ,fr.t among them first place (1939) i ~ National Poetry Contest sponsored by the American Negro Exposition in Chicago (for "Dark Symphony"); the Omega Psi Phi Award for ,I Creative Literature (1945 ); ~E.Y. ma ~azine' s Ress Ilokim Award for long psycho- ( q f ~J logical poem, "E. & O.E." (1947); honorary Doctor of Letters, Lincoln Universit : ~a~ permanent llrcacl Loaf Fellow in poetry and drama (1954 ; ) i ~ f / ) z_.._~ (fl(&~)i Columbia Citatfon and Award for Cult14ral Achievement in Fine Arts)¢ra«.l.-first appointee to the Avalon Cha ir in llum 9 nities at Tuskegee Institute (1965); and annual poetry award of the American Aca demy of Arts and Letters including a grant of $2 ,500 (1966), the same yeal he died following three operations for abdominal cancer. As a Black poet a nd intellectual in the mid-twentieth century, Tolson wore the many-pronged mant\J\ of his Eighteen th and nineteenth century predecessors (Prince Hall, Benjamin Banneker, Jam Es Whitfield, Alexander Crummell, Frances E. E. Harper anJ others) who ser,ed a. te ac hers, abolitionists, revolutionists, defenders of wltat th ey beli_eved to bt decent in the promise of America, and character models for Block conm1l .niti( s . Tolson' s predecessors fought for the right to be called humans; he [c,ugl1t the battle of integration. As Tolson lay dying, other, youn ge r poets were ! fi gl ting the battle of self-determination-a lbeit usin g the same tool s emp:.oyed by poets and intellectuals of the past two centuries. So, it is indeed ironic 1a nd sad!) when a young writer like Haki R . • 7 �Madhubuti (Don L. Lee) complains that Tolson is not accessible to the everyday reader--see review of l~ale icl osco~: 51-52, 90-94. ~egro Di3est, A'VII, 3, (January, 1968), But Joy Flasch points >ut in Melvin B. Tolson (1972) that Tolson was aware that he was not writin ~ [or tlte "average" reader but for the "vertical" audience. In "Omega" of Ha rlem ~ 2 • Tolson asks if a serious writer should "skim the milk of culture" and g ive t 10se demanding immediacy and relevancy a popular latex brand? Tolson did not live, a s did llayd ~n, Sterling Brown, Saunders Redding, and others, to make Dod ge City contact wi : h proponents of the "Black Aesthetic" of II the 1960s. But some opponents h ~ve c> ntinued to rake him over the coals of responsibility. Black poet Sarah Web3ter Fabio (Negro Digest, XVI, 2--December, 1966--54-58), challenged Karl Shapiro's statement (Introduction ot Harlem Gallery) that Tolson "writes in Negro." His p)etic language is "most certainly not 'Negro,'" she avered, noting tha t it is "a biz a r re, pseudo-literary diction" taken from stilted "American mainstream" poetry / 'where it rightfully and wrongmindedly belonged." Hhite critics and writers joining in the assault on Tolson included Laurence Lieberman and Englishman Paul Bremen (of the Heritage Serie). Lieberman takes exception to Shapiro' s staternen ~, saying that he teaches Black students from all over the world, who are st ee, ed in Black language, but who do not understand Tolson (review of Harlem Galler t'_ in "Poetry Chronicle," The Hudson Review, Autumn, 1965, 455-60). Yet Tolson's ?ublishers had high hopes that he might get the Pulitzer Prize for Libretto. Re-writing and r e-thinking !1is p Jetry over a period of decades, Tolson became more difficult as he made adju s tm e nts to fit modernist trends in poetry. The sta~of Eng lish poetry were Eliot, Pound, Yeats, Crane, and Stevens, and Tolson admired and pattern ed his work after tl1em. Yet throughout his poetic life, �I/ he maintained an "enormous lo v e for rcople" which was reflected in his everyday work as well as in hi s poetry . ltendt zvous with America as a title indicates Tolson's commitment to love anJ do b, ttle with America. America has cancer and promise and Tol!ion perform e d op1 !rati c ns while he feasted on his nation's delights. His titl e poem, "Rend e z vou s with Ameilca," reflects the Whitman influence and Tolson' s awesome word skills, t1!clmi< :11 virtuosity and musical ear. the races and types of people who alio must rendezvous with America. · lie enumerates He sees how Time unltingcd the g;1Lei , to allow the be g innin g of J\meri,:a, ll(ltin r. such landmarks as Plymouth Rock, I Jamestown, and Ellis fsland, wh Leh lw juxtnposes with ancien t sites like Sodom, Gomorrah, Cathay, Cip a ngo and EL Dor n do . The "searchers" came to America which is the Blnck tlan's co1mtry , The l{ecl ~!an ' s , th ,~ Ye] .ow Man 's, The Brown Mnn 's, ~he WJlite Man 's. America flows, Tolson believes ,is An international river with a legion of tributaries! J\ magnj ficenl cosnor.1111,1 with myriad patters of colors! J\ giant fon:st wJ th lo ln-roots in a hundred lands! A corimopo] ft an or clwHL r a witl1 a thounand lnstr11ments playing A,n •rica ! Ilia manipulation of tr.'.ldilional form, coupled with what he called the three S's-"biolo~y , psychology ... s ociolog y ," or the synchronizinr~ of sieht and sound and - sense in a poern--yieJ ded much poetic fruit in his long ye,.irs of writing and r e-writin g his poetr y . l{(•n d czvous with America is not a great first book but it marked him a s an abl l' han d ler of un i:1ue verse forms . Ills major themes (history, �Black presence in th e wo rld , reli g io ) ha tr ed for class structures, and the plight of the underd og ) are handled in u var .e ty of forms: sonnets, rhymed quatrains, ballads, free verse forms, and s pec i a l two-syllable lines. Known as the iconocalst, Tolson used his poetry to do-sto :i l po 11posity and those who manipulated everyman' s sufferings from behind a c]oak of l1i g 1 office. Music and art infor111 1:1uch of his po~try--another reason why his allusory writing has been criticiz ed --as in " ~ .:ndezvous" and "Dark Symphony," the most popular po ell\ in his first book . In " :Zendezvous," in addition to his musical structures, he lists J\.me ri ca 's me l od~js by associating factories, express trains, power dams, river boats, c oal mines, und lumber camps with musical terminology: "allegro," "blues rhap s ody," "b.'.lss crescendo," "diatonic picks," and "belting harmonics." "Dark Symphony," i rrmediqte ly musical and racial in its title, is separated into parts a long musical ljnes and terminology: Part I: Allegro Hoderato; Part II, Lento Grave; Part III, Andante Sostenuto; Part IV, Tempo Primo; and Part V, Larghetto. "R endez\ious" and "Dark Symphony" are patterned after the ode form (which Tolson would exr.,and c n in Libre to and Harlem Gallery). "Dark Symphony" carries the same theme : as 'Rendezvous"--people pitted against their injustices--but the l a tter poem iu mere racial in flavor and subject matter. Located, temporally and spiritu,,lly, be tween the concerns of Whitman ( the "sweep") and John Steinbeck (Crapes of Wrath) 1 "Dark Symphony" opens by reminding Americans that "Black Crispus Attucks" di(!d fo1 th em (Boston Co111mons) Before white Patr..ck 111 :nry' s bu g le breath asked for liberty over denth. ,~ st r 1ingly masculine poem (as is so much of Tolson's work), it moves robustly to rec :Lte t \1c deeds of "Men black and strong. 11 Part II tells of the "slaves s inging " in th e "torture tombs" of ships in the middle passage, the swamps, the "cabin:; of 11eath," and "canebrakes. 11 In the remaining �parts, the Black American, spealdn g I hr?gh the collective "we," vows not to "forget" that "Co lgo tha" has b c . , ~ i}Jor that "The ll ill of Rights is burned." The New Negro wears "sevcn-lea1311e" bpots and springs from a tradition that produced Nat Turner, Joseph Cinque :~ ("R .ack Moses of the Amis tad Mutiny"), Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and Harrie : Tubman ("Saint Bernard of the Underground Railroad"). Grapes of Wrath anil Nat ~ve Son are invoked as indices to the suffering and the breeding of slums. And, fin ,1lly, the historical concerns of the Black poet: Out of abys se s of Illi :eracy, Through labyrintl13 of . ies, 11 Across wast e lands of )isease h'e advance! Brilliant, esoteric , complex, i1novative, and able to span the world of Black Folk idiom and academic intellectualism, Tolson always punctuat~s his undaunted lyricism with ribald humor and thi i._; h-slapping uproarousness. However, Paul Bremen desparagingly referred to Tolson c1s posturing "for a white audience with an ill-conceived irin and a wic Ked sense of humor ... an entertaining darky using almost comically bi g words as the best wasp tradition demands of its edu5V 1 j L-> fcated house-nigr,ers." (M..1ybe, one 1~ i ght ~ Tolson was "even" too deep for the Yf\ Enclishman Bremen,) Neverthcl ss, the roets of the academy apparently loved Tolson and more than one of them tr1 e d to get him deserved recognition before he > tJi /{ 1A-fw\~ died, h'illiam Carlos;1saluted 1olso r; in his fourth book of Patterson; Allen Tate wrote a now famous introduct ior, to launchin)j Tolson int o th e s ame 1 ibretto; ~ us Shapiro introduced Harlem Callery, f ame that llowclls broui ht to Dunbar M years before; Robert Frost, St .: nl c y f.d p,c1 r llyman, Selden Rodman, John Ciardi, and Theodore Roethke, all tri e d to ''brir g Tolson to the c eneral literary consciousness, but with little succ e ss" (Sl1ap i. ro). A( setJti.. �Tolson's severest critics usuall , have in mind Libretto or Harlem Gallery. Rendezvous has been out of print for ;everal years and many of the younger Black poets and scholars have not read it--1s is the case with Sterling Brown's Southern Road (1932) which has j ust been repr i1te<l . Bu~any casual look at Tolson's work will confirm reports that h3 is 1o t digestible in a single reading. la rle□ before the erudition of Libretto and to the allusion. Even Callery, Tolson accustomed himself Indeed, his stronge,t weapon is the literary or historical reference--the mark of the library po ~t, the learned person. In "An Ex-Judge at ~ the Bar" Tolson is at his fi nest as h :: combines humor, allusion,;1 ironyl with the II justaposing of philosophy and social :ommentary. bar. This ex-judge is at a "drinking" And rich in oral power, like mo,t of Tolson's poetry, the poem surveys the history of a whit e man who, after serving in the war and returning home to become a judge , is guilt-ridden in a tavern where he discusses his life with the bartender. The opening couplet: Bartender, make it straight and make it two-- 7 ~,t<L One for the you in me and~ the me in you. reflects the Black American's dextera-1s ness with oral language anJ Tolson's rich background as storyteller anJ debate coach. The couplet contains the kind of musical, seemingly non-sensical st atqne nt that Black men love to exchange <luring fierce verbal sparrin~ matches--even though the judge is presumably white. Drunk, the judge r e -lives his war experiences and, in a vision, sees the "Goddess Justice" 7 whom someone "blindfo ld s" t_s the lawy e rs lie and railroad defendents before him. ) llut Justice "unbanda ged " her eyes anq accused the judge of lynching a Black man to "gain the judge's sea t," even thot1 gh, ironically, he fought in the last war to "make the world safe for Demcc rac y. " The judge, seeking consolation and implying that no one is ~~rfect, is finally m~veJ to self-evaluation, repents and orders �! \i Ii another round of drink s : Bartender, make it stra .. ght and make it three-One for the Neg ro ... O1te for you and me. "An Ex-Jud ge at the Bar"--wlth i 1 s ironies and double entenJres in the very title--is a poem that slips away from the reader. never sure, that one lias the meanin~ tinde r control . > One tl1inks, though one is The poem refers to Ceasar, Pontius Pilate, the Koran, the S.thara/ "September Morn" (a painting by Paul Chabos), the French language words, Fland,~rs f ~eld, and Macduff in Shakespeare's Macbeth. ~ Certainly these a re no: th e ideal ingredients for a poem directed to I· the "people." On the other hand , for the reader ready to Jo battle with history and world knowlecl e; e, Tolson prov,~s qu Lte rewarding. Dudley Randall ("The !Hack. Aesthetic in Thirties , Forties, ,rnJ FL f ties"--Modern Black Poets) states, with a strained air of seriousnes s , tha c : ''[f the reader has a well-stored mind, or is willing to use dictionaries, enc~lopelias, atlases, and other reference books,'' Tolson's work "should present no grc::i : difficulty." Randall hnd in mind, specificallr, Libretto, a section of which appeared in Poetry along with tl1 e book's preface. In this long poem--constructed loosely around the ode forn1--Tolson celebrate~ Liberia's cent e nnial. "Tolson used all th e devices dear to t he New Criticism: According to Randall, recondite allusions, scraps of f orei r,n lan r,unge s , African proverbs, symbolism, objective correlatives. Hany parts of the poem are obscure, nJ t through some private symbolism of the author, but because of the unusual words, forei gn phrases, and learned allusions." Randall goes on to point out th::it rea.ling Libretto is like reading other "learned poets, such as Milton and T .S. Eliot ." llowever, rea ding Tolson is not ~ xactly like reading other learned poets, for he places Black information in fron t of the r eader . Ile bends the ode into a �I/ musical structure and cel eb ratei; t i1e Black past. Continuing a pattern set in poems like "RenJezvou s with America" a nJ "Dark Symphony," Tolson separates Libretto alon g lines of th e west.ern 11 usical scale: Do. Do, Re, Hi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Specifically, Lihrett o a c ktLowl e<g es the 100th birthday of Liberia, founded in 1847 by the Americ a n Colonizati o n So ciety for free men of color. in the Lib e rian menta l ity a s fa c: t an, range of African hi s t o ry: "Rooted symbol, II Libretto traverses the kaleidoscopic the r. ta 2, n i l icent ancient and Medieval kingdoms, European exploitation, various th eo ri e s ,1s t o t he re a son for the question-mark-shape of Africa, the ori g ins o [ Blac k st1:re ot ~p es, Africa's contributions to the world, the impact of Christi a nit y , IsLnn a n 1. other reli g ions. All this Tolson does with what Allen Tate c alls "a great i;l ft of langua g e, a profound historical sense, a first-rate intelligence." Ta1 :e ali;o pondered, as did Emanuel and Gross (Dark Symphony, 1968), "what influenc1! thi1 ; work will have upon Negro poetry in the United States." More than slightly r ecalling Howells, in his endorsement of Dunbar, Tate says "For the firs 1; tim1 •, it seems to me, a Negro poet has assimilated completely the full poetic lang page pf his time and, by implication, the language of the An g lo-American tradition , " Relentl e ssly posin p, the on 1e-wor il question "Liberia?" and reinforcing the nation's existence in "fa c t and symb1> l," Tolson opens Libretto with lofty erudition and color. The fifth stanza of Do, 1 1fter the initial "Liberia?" and accompanying recitation of what the nation i, not, adJress e s its citizens thusly: Y,)u ar Black La zaru s ris ~n f r ! )In the \·/bite Han's grave, Without n r o 1d to Downing Street, Without a h em iJernisemil uaver in an Oxford Stave! Later in the same section, Tols :m e x ~erpts a chant from "The Good Gray Bard of �Timbuktu": "Wanawak e wanaz aa ovyo! Kazi Yenu Wanzun gu!" Robert Hayden has been cal l ed or.e of t l1e most skilled craftsmen since Countee Cullen; but Tolson without a dot.ht hJs sustained the most powerful poetry which adheres ri gorously to the t c nete or t he modernists. His Libretto is the drama of "The Desert Fox" and th e C.ern1an " poosestep" across Africa (Mi); of the snake, "eyeless, y e t with e ye s" ( Fa ); c,f 11 \~l i te Pilgrims" and "Black Pilgrims" who sing "O Christ" that the worsf will ' 1pass ! 11 (Sol); of "Leopard, elephant, ape" and "A white man spine<l wi th J r eams' 1 ( La) _; of a "Calendar of the Country" to "red-letter I the Republic's birth!" (Ti ); and o f ' a professor of metaphysicotheologicocosmonigology" who is also a tooth pull e r a p.:itapl ysicist in a clo.:ica of error a belly's welf a i;kull Is tabernacle a f/13 with stars a muses' <lar 1inr,, busie bee de sac et de corde a nei gh bor's be<l-i d1aker a walking hospital on the walk) The symbols, the synt ax , t he c n 1mma r a nd the langua ge tumble on placine Quai d'Or sa y, White llousc, Kreml in, Downin g Str ee t. in the catalo gue while Ae ain bla c k Ae thi ::ip r e 1chc s at th e sun, 0 Creek. (Ti) The history o [ world wars, t he sossl) in high circles ("11 Duce's Whore"), the concoction of en ume ra bl e l.:in~ua g ~s a nd boo k-buri e d erudition, reveal Tolson as a compl ex and di ff icul t mod e rn· po! t. The tra gedy, Randall and others l1ave �II pointed out, is that as Tolson wrote J.ibretto and Harlem Gallery, white scions of the modern verse were turning thei · backs on erudition for a more common, everyday lan~ua ge in poetry. Tr1ppcd in the middle (he held on to Harlem Gallery for more than 30 years), Tolson ::anti lUed to labor in the best tradition of the modern poetry to the disbelief of con :emporaries--who, like Cummings, Rexroth, and Hughes, were influenced by Be-Dop and a freer langua ge structure. · Tolson's sustained scholarship and comp lex all1sions are reinforced by the addition of scores of footnotes which cite the works of such as Dryden, Shakespeare, Emerson, Tennyson, Lorenzo Dow Turn er (Africa nisms in the Gullah Dialects), J.A. Rogers -~ (Sex and Race), V. Firdousi, Gunnar ~ltrdal, Aeschylus, Boccacio, Baudelaire, and hundreds of others. The worl~ ends (.12:?.) in a use of mystical and technological symbols which examine "Futurafrique" and "tomorrow ... 0 ... Tomorrow." Tolson's career is a terrifying examp le of the confusion that can occur in the Black literary artist. > mien h e fir st sent the manuscript of Libretto to Tate (who was across town at VanJerbjlt with the "Fugitive" poets while Tolson was at Fisk), he rejected it saying he w;is not interested in "propanganda from a Negro poet "<- (Flasch and Randa] l) ~ T lson then dilligently re-wrote the manuscript to subscribe to the hish intellc,ctua~, technical, and scholarly demands of the modern poets (Tate, John Crowe r.anso11 , Eliot, Pound, Robert Penn Warren, Donald Davidson, and others). it. Ile sent the n.:.r nuscript back to Tate who agreed to endorse In 1920, Tolson had stumblc~<l up< n a copy of Sandburg's "Chicago" but was warned by a professor to "leave that stuff alone" (Flasch). His maturation as a poet, then, was stunted--caus .• ng h : m to spend 30 years searching for his own voice. Harlem Gallery (the f irst nf a planned five-volume epic) provides another example of the chaos in Tolson' ,:; poe 1: ic life. In 1932, he completed a 340-page manuscript called "A Gullery of llarl 1!m Portraits" which was qirned down by �publishers. When the Je rivativ e ode, llarlem Gallery was finally brought out in 1966, Tolson hue.! published two newer ·11a nuscripts: Rern.lezvous and Libretto. llarlem Gallery had been placed in ToJ ,o n' s "trunk" for 20 years--a period during which he switched from the Romantics ind Victorians (and Masters after whose Spoon River J\ntholo1~Y "P o rtraits" \.J.1S year per loci Tolson saj d he "r ead and 111odelled) to the Moderns. During the 20 1L>so rbe<l the techniques of Eliot·, Pound, Yeats, Baudelaire, Pastcrnuk and, b.:!licvc, all the grea t moderns. God only knows how many "litll e magazines" st udied, and how much textual analysis (sic) of the New Critics." /\ sta[:r.,ering poe111 , llarlcm Cal.ll!r l'._ "ls a work of art, a sociological commentary, an intellectual tripl e somersault." (Flasch) It meets the vigorous intellectual, scholarly, and stylisLic whims of 111ocjern poetry, but at the same time is "impossible to describe." Yet it ls Tolson's crqwning achievement in more ways than one. First it continues !iii, fascination wlth Black and general history. Second, it pursues Tolson's intense intere~t in both the psycho-dynamics of the Afro-American character ..in<l the.• artlst; he is partj c ularly concerned with the plight of the twentieth century lll:1 c k artist lhcn ·c Book I, The Curator). Third, it provides one of the 1;1ost powerful :1ml aut h C' nt I c links between the llarlem l{enaissance and the Black Arts Movcm011t of tl1e ~ 9(,0B .:i nd J 970s. The very title of Harlem Gallery gives i.t a Black sctl lnf;; and tlic• f;_ic t of it's being conceived and initially drafted duri,1)'. thl! HL·11.1jssnn c c ndic- ; t •~; tliilt Tolson labored over the years (from the stand point of 111c·111ory, LvrhniqtH' a nd trnhject matLC'r) in the after-glow of the 11 terary [ lowering wa Lere<l by M1:Kay, Cullen, Toomer, Hughes, Fisher, Johnson, and Locke. l~i.,iaJly , the cl 1ar :ictL'. rs in ~,r l em Callery are Black: the Curator, Doctor Nkomo (I3antu expatriate anJ Afri_cani 1:L ), Mr . Cuy Delaporte (president of ilola Bola Enterprises), Black Orchid (blu,~s-si11 :;er anc.1 mistress to Oelaporte), the �half-blind Harlem artist John Lc:i u;•,art, l.lli.lck Diamond ( ghet to-promoter of the Lenox policy racket), and llidehc Ik L~, .1ts ( the li g ht-skinned poet of Lenox Avenue). The Curator of the Harlem Callery is an admixture (continuing concern begun in Rendezvous) of rac es (" Afro irishj o,vish"), an octoroon who passes for Black in New York and white in Mississippi. He is a digestion of the humor and pathos Blacks see in thos e of their r ace \/hQ a ttempt to "p ass ." Tolson noted that since thou sands of li1•, ht-ski11neq IlL,cks passed over, th e re is a standing joke among illacks which asks 11 \·Jhat Vil ite nan is white?" Harlem Callery, then, is desi gned to parade th e Bl ack "ti pes" (ultir.1ately everyman types) through the I gallery of life as it is shaped by tl c' vi ew of th e literary ge nius: Tolson. ~ Specifically, the boo!: is a ltu gl) i.lnsi, e r to Cert rude Stein's charge that the "Negro suffers from nothin i:: ness ." illack history. All of hJ s poetic life, Tolson worked to reconstruct Now, i n ~ r y , he was coming with speed and poetic pre- cision from his corner of the syntactical and semantical ring to do battle with Stein's char ge . In the Introduction to Harlem Gallery, Shapiro explains in part the reason why Gertru de St e in wc,uld 1 e rsclf be so ignorant. Whites do not get a chance to read about Bla c k acliiev 11,e nt since "Poetry as we know it remains the 1,ibre! !:£ may have pulled "the rug out from under most lily-whit e of th e arts." 1 the poetry of th e Aca de my" but ears." 11 ll arl1 ·m Callery pulls the house down around their J\ssni ling Elio t anJ otlwrs f<,r "µurifyin g the language," Shapiro praised Tolson for "complicating it , gl1ri n i; t the gif t of ton gues ." Tolson certainly g ave Harl1:m Cn .1.£!:y the "gift of tongues. 11 He uses tidbits from the range of wor ld L111 r, ua ~1!Ll ; b11t h Ls work is more sustained and coherent than in Libr e tto. Dot h story-l ~n e a11J l an g ua ge are more accessible in Gallery-- with its interpolatio n of rich ,S lack spee ch and musical terminology into stilted academic lan g ua ge and form. Se: up 11usically , with eac h section bearing the �II )$v}-lh ) name of a~Creek ,:l!J.phabet, Galle~ slwws Tolson again displaying his amazing technical virtuosity a nd his merger ,>f th e ode form with related Black orally-derived structures: / blues, jazz, Spirituals, folk epics and oral narratives (see "Satchmo" in Lrimbda} or " The Birth o ' John Henry" in XI). The verse pattern in Callery owes some debt to Do in Libr~tto with its tapered typography and irregular line organization wh ich either force, th e reader to speed up or slow· down to catch the rhyme. Alpha opens descri)ing the spice of llarlem as "an Afric pepper bird" before the Cur c1to r tells us thJt I travel, from oasis tJ oasis, man's Saharic ,1 up-.:ind-down. The grand sweep and intellect ual storage of Tolson are ga thered fr-om line to line, between lines, in th ~ margins, arou17d and throu p,hout th e poem. Recalling the verbal jousting in "An Ex-Judg~ at the Bar," the Curator assesses his "I-ness, 11 his 11 humannes s" and his " Negroress" a nd this recipe mixes with the pEppcr bird's reveille in my brain where the plain js twjlled and twilled in plain. The a cad emic stilts are shortcr.ed fer the sake of understanding (Beta): th e comma giv es (.he e)e , not th e head of the h,wk swo llen with rye. Like Hayden's "Middl e Passa ge, " _0:11 ·~ / vi ews the physical and spiritual pre- dicament of th e Black man: wh.it hap he go ne throu gh, how much more can/will he take, how long? Th,~ ans11e r is th a t man may have to endure suffering Aow long ? forever--but if he is doomed t ,) suf 'e r, he is likewise 11 doomed 11 to survive. The �Curator is told that others have su(fcre<l and surviveJ . the artist create in th e ir suffering . The Afro-American and So the "Afroirishjewish Grandpa" of the Curator tells him that: Bet\/een the <lead sc!a hitherto ancl the pro1 nisecl :_ aml I c nc e looms t he wi LJcrn< !SS Ne 1, : althou g h his co11ficlt.!r Ce is often a boar b;lilcd up on a rid g e, som,~ho1,, the Attic salt in wan s11rvives the blow of Attila, Croe;us, Jscariot , and th e witch es Sa)batli in the Catacombs of l3osio . Certainly this survival theme is clos ,! to the heart of the Afro-American and the artist. Artis ts are oft en among the ' i rs t to p l e f or clemency, for free expression, for truth. The Spirituals and tie va,t body of Black folk expression reaffinn the Afro-American's faith in man and the 1uest for survival. Acknowledging this aspect of Black expression and stren~th, Tol wn (and Hayden: "Mean mean mean to be free.") incorporates the rich blast of Black fo lk materials. In heaven (Lambda), Gabriel announces that 'I'd be lhe ~~ reatcst tru '1peter in the Universe, if old Sa tchmo had never been born! ' And the birth of John Henry is an epic birth--akin to that of Jesus, Buddah, Mohammed, and others. The ni ght John Henr~ born an ax of lig htning ~plit ~ the sky, ,::rnd a ha r.un er of thLn<l e r pounds the earth , �I I/ an J the ea 0 L!s am panthers cry! Reciting a soul-fooJ menu at bi .:th , . ohn Henry 'I want some ham hocks ribs, and ;owls, a pot of cabba31! ,rnJ e,reen; some hoecakes, ja1~l butter milk, a platter of po .~k and beans!' Tolson remdins at home in synch .:oni z .n.g, 4:he Afro-American and Western heritages. 7 In Gallery his forte is still tie li :erary allusion juxtaposed with history or religion (as in Libretto); but 1e lore s to ascenlth II mountain of academia '- and then suddenly drop into the mid s : of ghetto6fury as going ( Zeta ) from thoughts that tilt like "long '.fapalese eyes" :o a "catacomb Harlem flat" ( grote s quely vivisecteJ like microscoped maggo ts) .... To the " Elite Chitterling Shop" (Eu.1) which contains the "variegated dinoceras of a jukebox" (singing the ··;.1111Livalence of :::1.ass.i.c:di i.•iues'') . l'\ ...._ ,.....,. ..__ v v .... t,,,.>J..,_ I"'\\....: ...,,_,._ Nkomo, "the alter ego" of the gallery, speaks I Across ar. alp of chitt e rlings, pungent as epigrams, The Doctor returns to the theme o[ survival and free expression : ' The lie of the 9 rtist is the only lie for which a mortal or a god should die.' 'J.'olson' s ever-present rieeJ to ~ynlh Esize (and yet separate) the three ingredients of man (biology, sociolo gy and psycl o lo gy--extending into the three S's--sight, sou:.1d an<l sense ) recur in the J. oem ! T: ta) as the artists paint the seven r ~mels of 111< n ' s tridcmensional ity in var~_for rn! anJ varicolors-since virtut: lw.s no Kelvin scale s :.nce , , mot:her breeds 111 , twins alike , ... �_____ ........, I f l ,;/ ...; '- .... "le I J) j j ~ ...-! < ( . ' r ...,, , _.,, ! / , �1. an<l since no ma n who i.s .i u<lged by hi:; bioi ocia l identity in to r o can b(! a Kiefekil or n'('rtufe, an Isc .:ir iot or an Iar,o ." Hence Tolson extends, sometimes in crnno u f l ou p,e , his ideas about man's similarities and differences. different: To be sure, lw 12 1:.:iying that Black men and white men are but that the <liffer1inces .:i re not si gnificant enou g h to keep them from workin g to ge ther for the m11 tu nl good. This particular stan<l, which laces the work of llnyden, To lson, llur;hes a 1tcl early Gwendolyn Brooks, is not one that will remain popular a1,1ong poets who ,;ubscribe to the !Hack Aesthetic of the 1960s. Nevertheless Tolson <lu g un<lerne,1th t ' 1e hysteria and the ideological neatness to probe the time-honor ed qu es tion, abo1t na n. Psi (a much-anthologized section of Callery) finds Tolson doinr; bat~le wLth a nthropolo g ists, the D.A.R., the F.F.V. (First Families of Vir g in ia ), U1cle 'l'om, the Jim Crow Sign, the Great White Horld, an<l K:rnt, in an attt2mpt to an , Her th e question "Who is a Negro?" ancl "Who is a \Jhite?" satire. Tolson ' s wor k con : ains r; r eat satire; a nd g reat wisdom in the To b e misled by his in :::r ,Jj , le ancl J az:ding wori_ pL:iy is to miss the essential Tolso n who wa n wJ the corni.1 g gene ration that, although Uncle Tom was "dea<l, 11 the y should bew.:ire of hi s so1-- "Dr. Thomas." Sus picious of fame and wealth and desiring to see no man placed ov ~r another (in privile/ge), Tolson remarked after John 1.augart' s murcl <=r , tlw t at~Jnl_'., tho se thinf,S r ema ining was ... infamy, th e siamese t win of fac1c . �Are we privil edced , here , to see a s 1eak (JO-year-before) preview of Watergate? We do not know what HoulJ :rnve ' icen Tolson' s fate as a poet had he come to his own comfortable style ;:is a youn g man in the Harlem Renaissance. nearly fifty when he sent Tate the m,1n uscript for Libretto. He was Fifty, of course, is quite an age for a poet to b! sci 1 at odds with his craft--or to have his work over-s ee n by a cr iti c . Ne·,erth, ~Jess Tolson, not admitted (as Shapiro noted of Black poets), to the " polite comp,tny of the anthology," had to get his voice "together" without th e ai d a vail able to the "Fu gitives" or those in molding centers for modern voctry. ~?f/lM·.~ Few Blac] : poets at th e time were attempting Tolson's I feat--poetry among Bl a cks had, ~n fa, : t, declined in interest during the forties and fifties--and th e r e is much ,~vid pee that Tolson ge nerally intimidated other Black scholars and intellectual ;, witlt his vast knowledge and great talents. Like poets of other ge nerations, he 11as a part-time poet, expending much of his energies on students a nd school··rcla 1. ed work. Randall has pointed out that unless Black poets imitate Tolson--and thus keep him apparent and interesting--he will not exert a major inf l uence on 11.fro-nme rican poetry. But, as Barksdale and Kinnamon note, a poet of Tolson ' s rap ze and power can not go unnoticed for long. Criticism of Tolson is sparse. Joy Flasch's Melvin IL Tolson, in the Tw~{ United States Authors Ser .Les , 11ffers g ood insights into Tolson's techniques. narksdale and Kinnamon give briiif cr :. ticism in Black lvriters of America. Randall appraises him in the article on Blacl . poets of three decades following the Renaissance in his "Po rtr ai t of the l'oet as Ranconteur, '' Negro Digest, XV, 3 (January, 1966) 54-57. See als o "A l'oet' s Odyssey," an interview with Tolson I (conducted by M. W. King) in i\np,(ir, a11d fleyond (1966). For several reasons, Hargare t h'plk.e r's poetry and life provide a rich and rewarding jolt in the writing a c:tiv Lt y o f this period: her For Hy People (1942) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_14 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, D. The Extended Renaissance: 30s, 40s, 50s, p. 1-49, typed manuscript with handwritten edits Description An account of the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, D. The Extended Renaissance: 30s, 40s, 50s, p. 1-49, typed manuscript with handwritten edits. Draft includes a "see change" handwritten note on the back of p. 47. Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/640128d83a9ffe849e65ed667ad4d770.pdf 2489e5e28fae4c6674e571282da04cd8 PDF Text Text III Spi r ituo.ls: 11 Try i n I to c;et b ot,1 e 11 For ma ny rea~:;ons, tb c use of tbe word de s cribe Blacl: reli c io s ity is a 1.1isnor,ier. 11 s piri tual II to Curr ent i nter- pretations, outline d by new information and e:-;1pirical research into h istory and t lrnuch t convinces us t h at tbe entire Black world is 11 s pirituul 11 : i.e., informed by and responsible to a "hi ghe r orde r"--th e order of God or the "c;ods." The 0x- G\1ber a nce, t he spo ntaneity, the ecstasy, the trances, t he talkin c; in tongues , tbe racial flavor and flair in dress (at church and ni c;htclub ), all point up the interdependence and the into c;ration of various modes and points of view in the Black communit y . Professor Hork descri b es it as "th is difference and this oneness." The contemporary Black poet Hayde n und erstand s this intoc;ration w1len, in a poem to Malcolm X, h e e.xcl a iJ.w tl ic 11 blazin13 oneness II of Allah. Further proof of t h i::i fu s ion is s e en in the emotional a.ba.ndonrnent of church folk during s ecular picnics, socials ~nd other events of merriment. One has only to listen to Aretha Franklin alter- nate between Gospel and blues to see tl1is unity of expression c:' operating today. / 5. And certainly it is clear in the works of Let us observe that the most brilliant and inrluential Black poets have intimately understood this aspect of Black culture . Almost 11ithout exception (and Kerlin, Brown and 37 �the Staples Singers , the Edwin Hawkins Singers and in a more vulgarized manne r in Flip Wilson (Rev. Leroy). 11 of one brother, In the words tl-i e preacher and tbe pimp style out heavy. 11 Still, it is i mp ortant that we offer the traditional portrait and break-down of Black folk expression--so as not to coni'use or invade the 11 sacrec1 11 bastions of history. The Spirituals have been the source of continuing de bate among scholars: Are t h ey completely African in ori Gin? Are they primarily Ene;lish (Nethodist, Hesleya.n, etc.) in orii:;in? Or do they represent the co-joining of African/European tbemes and reliciosity? Persons desiring to concentrate on t h is area of Black poetry should trace the history of these ar guments and debates and reach conclusions of their own. Johnson (and his brother, J. Rosamond) put together the best known collection of these sonc;s in Tl1e Book of American Nec;ro Spirituals (1925), and The Second Book of American Negro_Splrituals (1926). The Spirituals usually deal with physical or fi gurative contact between the singer (or congre gat ion) and God. (Early Afro-Americans often used the words God, Jesus, Savior, and Lord interchangeably. For a more thorough discussion of this see Benjamin May::i' The Negro's God.) The sonc;s also doal with others Harn young Black writers to follow example) Black poets sinc e the Civ il War have availed t hemselves of inte c;ral folk rudiments--even when they did not use them in poetry. / It is still a fact that Black culture (despite the racist and techno- JG �a longing for rest and the overcoming of for midable ob stacles or adversaries. Professor Work's 1915 study was se minal and remains a landmark in the study of African and Black American songs. His work provides many answers to questions and issues that had been (and co ntinue to be) muddied by the waters of insensitivity and careless research. His efforts, "undertaken for the love of our fat h ers' songs," gives clear connections be;tween the African and Afro-American folk son g . His main co ncern is for t he reli e;ious songs--altllouc;h his comments on form and style are of g eneral value: In America we h e ar it (the song ) and see it acted in the b arn dance, on the stac;e, in the streets a mong t be ch ildre n ; in fact, many an occasion is e nli vened by th is s pecies of music, the interest in wh ich ls inten::iified by tbe rhyt11mical patting of ha nd s and feet. This rhythm is most strikingl y a nd o.ccurately brought out in their work sonc;s. Citing the emotionalis m and song ified intensity of the Black American, Professor Work says "He worships not so much because he ouc;bt, as because be loves to worsbip. II Th is "worsh ip, of course, is the kind we referred to earlier: II t h e inte gration logical barrages of the West) still remains m~re consciously "integrated '" than other cultural unit in America. 39 �of sensuality and ecstasy into the sweeping ritual of live and i1:1mediate dram'l. Sucb musi cal activity is "as natural to tl1e American Necro as bis breath 11 : Indeed, it is a portrayal of his soul, and is as ch aract eristi c as are his physical features. Hear him sing in his church, hear bin preach, moan , and gl ve ' gravery ' in l1is sermon, hear t h e was berwoman sine;inc; over her tub , hear the lab orer singinc; his accompaninent to his toil, 11ear the child babbl i ng an extemporaneous tune .•.• Even those ITegr oes who have been educated and who have been influenced by lone; study, find it difficult to express their musical selves in any other i-rny. Black ::;onr;, as is readily obsorvablc, possesses b oth pure song (the verse and chorus plan) and chant (use of interjections and exple tives) qualities: Poor mun Laz 1 rus, poor as I, Don't you see? Poor man Laz•rus, poor as I, Don't you □ co? 1foen be died be found a home on high , Ile had a home in dat rock, Don't you see? Alluding to t he deeper, more psychological, meaning of these songs , Professor Hork says "there are closer relations between �·7 'bra,-i , the soul and musical expressions tl1an have.A satisfactorily explained. These relat ions can be felt, but any accurate descri ption se ems bey ond the grasp of man 1 s mind. 11 Never- theless this i mp ortant study goes on to classify and numb er these songs of: Joy , S orrow, Sorrow with Note of Joy, Faith, Hope, Love, Determination , Adoration, Patience, Courage and Humility. Like most scholars of the Spirituals, this one points out tl1at th e re is no h ate, resentment or vindictiveness in them. How eve r, Dr. Thurman, theolo gian and philosopb er, has excavated underpinnings of turbulence. In Tbe Negro Spiritual, Dr. Thur man tells us death was i mmediate and ever-present for t he slave . In such an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, the slave developed a rather stoic attitude in which he saw death as inescapable arrl as, possibly, the only remaining ve11 icle for mediation wi t11 the plantation lords. The s lave could take his own life, if he wanted to--ns he did many ti mes in prefer ence to slavery or separation fro r:1 family and/or loved ones. Dr. Thurman's brilliant analysis must be read by any serious student of Blac k thought and culture. Johnson (who also classified the songs) 6 said 11 hierarchy of poets for the Spirituals included the song- maker (writer) and th e song'"leader. 6. The leader had to rememb er leadin g lines, Johnson, Brown, Kerlin and Dr. Thurman also g ive con- sideration to t11e 11 poetic 11 co ntent of the Spirituals. Jobnson and Professor Horlc discuss the preservation a nd promotion of 4.1 �pitch tunes true and possess a powerful voice. Johnson, who (like Professor Vork) believes the earliest Black American songs were built on the common African form, sa.ys the Spirituals were written by individuals and set to tre moods of groups. Like the blues, their secular and structural cousins, the Spirituals incorporated antiphony or call-and-response which allowed for audience (congregation) participation (eitber by alternating, or intermingling, with the leader): Leader: Oh, de Ribber of Jordan is deep and wide, Congregation: One mo' ribber to cross. Leader: I don't know how to get on de otber side, Congregation: One mo 1 ribber to cross. Heavily influenced by Cbr:l.stian imagery and mythology, the creators of the S pirituals often chose the most militant of biblical personalities as their heroes. 11 This aspect of these poems 11 opens up an entire area of questions and research for the student seeking to compare/contrast biblical themes and characters to the Spirituals. Certainly tbere is need to ex- amine the English Hymns and Psalms in the framework of such a study. The Spirituals should also be compared/contrasted to the Black literary verse of the period during whicb they these songs through archival holdine;s, cboir concert tours and the attention paid to them by composers. 42 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_13 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, III. Spirituals, p. 14-36, typed manuscript with handwritten edits Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/42e26c6ed429c83320d838f32dffab7f.pdf 2520f51e64436d2ab9e72b7b75170451 PDF Text Text . • ,' mental ~,and phys lcal destruction of Black bumani ty. \ ~ \, fof ..dfecuss~n ' If a slavery is unpleasant, then, a consideration of . lyndh1ng ls horrifying. \ However, skilled teachers and students will maneuver judiciously through the rough waters of su~h sessions--keeping emotional delu ges to a minimum by ad mitting facts and cl ear interpretations. During such occasions, everyone must be on guard less the classroom becomes a courtroom. At the same time, a convener who cannot preside over vi g orous and thorough discussions of these painful events and details may find himself, at later junctures, trying to bridge even wider gu lfs of doubt, frustration, mistrust and alienation. Again, the teaching and studying of Black poetry (or any aspect of the Black Experience) assumes the complexities of tlle Black Experience itself. Neverth eless, t h e study of Black poetry is infinitely rewarding because it is a vehicle which distills t he particular insights and perspectives of Black Americans into concise and authentic forms: merJing the rich rural-Biblical-urban idioms with colorfully luscious imagery and (in many cases) peerless technical proficiency in the use of literary English and Hes tern poetic forms. \·J11en students are confronted with the various poems on lynchings, for example, study can be underscored by an examination of language , form, posture, poetic toolery and overall achievement or effe{p.veness of the poems. In Richard Wricht 1 s ~------ "Between t he Wor.ld and He" the Gcl;";iypoet becomes the persona; ...... the oak tree narrates t he l y nching in Dunbar's "The Haunted Oak." 14 �Cullen speaks as "I 11 in "Scottsboro, Too, Is 1·J orth Its Song 11 which admonishes wbite American poets for remaininc; silent over unjust treatment of Black men while they sing: sharp and pretty Tunes for Sacco and Vanzetti, I said: Here too 1 s a cause devinely spun For those whose eyes are on the sun, Here in epitome Is all dis grace And epic wrong, Like wine to brace The minstrel heart, and blare it into song. In McKo.y's 11 The Lynching" the killing of the Black man is made analaeous to the crucifixion; a sonnet, and awesome throu gh out, the poem descends to its rhyming couplet with a final ghostly irony: And little lads, lynchers that were to be, Danced round the dredful thing in fiendish glee. Certainly in these poems--and the dozens of others that employ the lynching theme--there is much fuel for papers, classroom discussion and teacher preparation. In the four poems mentioned, the poets span such diverse forms as the sonnet, the ballad (Dunbar) and free verse (Wright). Helpful in this area will be the additional inquiry, by teacher and student, into t he development of white hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan • 15 �and the history of race riots in America. Riots in at least a dozen American communities in 1919, for example, helped spur McKay to write "If 1rJ'e J\'1us t Die 11 , a poignant sonnet with its even more poignant and popular ending couplet-Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but figbting back! --a poem which Winston Churchill read before the House of Commons, during World War II, to spark his countrymen in the dim hours; during the 1972 prison rebellion in Attica, N.Y., journalists found the poem scribbled on the wall of a cell and the national press attributed it to a prisoner! Of great assistance, too is a knowledge o:f tte history or slave revel ts ( many Black poets write about them) and the patterns or violence in America. Attuned teachers and students will want to consult sources such as 100 Years of Lynching (Ginzberg), back issues of Black and liberal white news journals and papers and especially past issues of The Crisis, the official news and opinion a.rm of the National Association For The Advancement of Colored People. The scholar, W.E.B. DuBois, one of tt.ie first Black men to receive a Ph.D., edited The Crisis for over 20. years :from its beginning in 1910. For further readings, the teacher can refer to my extensive bibliography plus appropriate sections of any of the numerous anthologies, textbooks and bibliographical sources available. VI Hhile I admit that in:formation and opinions contained in 16 �tbis handbook reflect my own biases as a teacber, critic, activist, and poet, the prescribed patterns for teaching and studying Black poetry are ones generally adhered to across the country. Tbe organization of any course is certain to mirror at least a minimum amount of the teacher's own political and critical biases. Consequently, when lecturing on or pre- paring curricula for Black poetry, I normally allow for a flexible outline, including options in both textbook use and period emphasis. The same holds true for concentration or saturation of study with regards to individual poets. Teachers, naturally, will have personal preferences; in fact, like the students, teacl1er s may oven have developed attaclw1ents to specific poets, attitudes about t he poets or prejudices toward poets who do n ot reflect what they feel is a correct posture for Black poetry. Just as there is great and healthy diversity in the poetry and the poets, there will be divergent attitudes and critical points of vie'w amonc teachers and students. Some of the differentiations will be due to age differences (the "generation gag"?), as is the case with the poets, and some will occur regardless of age. The Black or wbite teacher should ar m himself to the best of bis ability with t he tools of criticis m and a knowledge of Black culture. He must have some idea of what part "duality" plays in t110 lives of Blacks and hm-1 sucb "twoness II is manifest in Black poetry; he should recognize the key issues be ing raised by and de bated runonc Black artists, sch olars and 17 �activists--and have some feel for the historical circun1stances out which t h ese issues and debates grew; he oucht to understand Baraka I s rc.ference to s01ne Black poets as and 11 11 inte grationists 11 a.rty poe ts 11 ; lie uill have to know Hhat man:r of the ITew 11 Black po et s 1:-,ean Hlie n t h ey say t 11 ey 1'eject Hes tern and I'l.Jft ~se to t e: judge<.:' 1·)y for1~1s 11 ul1 i te st au<J. n.rcls (Baruka, for e x m:p le, talks about post-American forms); he will also want to recognize Black in-house humor and intracomrnunal disparaGement in wo1.,ds and phras es like 11 nigger, "oreo, 11 "colored, 11 "the man , a nut, 11 11 11 11 11rother, "Mr. Charley. 11 11 11 11 11 negro, 11 11 "Uncle Tom, 11 bad mouth, 11 "bust "main squeeze, 11 and dicty, crumbcrushers, 11 11 (For further i ndication of this dictional and ph onoloc;ical rich ness and the breadtb of Black Lan Guac;e, see T110 Dictio nary of .l\. mericnn Slane; , I' fo.jor's Dictionary of Afro-American Slun G, the "Glossory of Selected Terms" in The P::iycholoc;y of Black Laneuar,:e (Haskins and Butts), Abraham's Deep Down in the Junisle, Andrews' and Owens' Black Languac;e, Claerbout 1 s Black Jnr c on in White America, Twi ges' Pan-African Lanc;uaee in the Uestern IIemispher~, Welmers I African Lanr:t~~~ Structures, Kochman's Rappin 1 and Stylin' Out, and Dillard's Blac k English. Additionally the teacher or student will want to know the motivations of some of the poets. All poets, for example , do not rate being called "poets" in the traditional (white or Black) senso. Reddin g , in a recent Muhammad Speaks interview, accu::ied ::iome of tl10 new Black writers of lac kin~ 'moral and 1. G �esthetic t integrity I E',nd called them 'literary bustlersM Observing tl1at Baralrn recently s ic;ned a 10-year contract wi tb Random House, Redding said such an act is inconsistent with the poet's nationalistic assertions and positions. In a recent plack Worl~ article, novelist and poet Ishmael Reed spoke dispara~ingly of some of the new Black critics ("Blackopaths11) and poets ( 11 nationtime poets, 11 was the reference). Poet-essayist Lee has chided poet Nikki Giovanni for beinc.; an 11 individual 11 who lacks technical abilities; and in a recent issue of Jet magazine a reader irately asked if Miss Giovanni deserved respect after accepting a Homan-of-the-Year award from a national white woreen•s organization. Miss Giovanni and Reed were nominated for Pulitzer Prizes in 1973. a member of the older c;roup of poets, who was only Hayden, 17 years old when the Harlem Renaissance burned out, feels that Lee (praised by Gwendolyn Brooks, Hoyt Fuller of Black World, Randall and Baraka) has potential as a poet but lacks discipline and seems unable to separate poetic technique from ideological rantinc.;. On the other hand, Stephen Henderson, author-editor of Understand The New Black Poetry praises Lee relentlessly and says his popularity is "tantamount to stardoJo/.\ Henderson, who holds a Ph.D., is currently chairman of the new Humanities division at Howard University where Lee is a writer-in-residence. Miss Brooks gives Lee credit (in her introduction to The Poetry of Black America) for spawning much of tl10 contemporary Black consciousness literature . • 19 �~ Any seriouS~dealing with the development of Black poetry as a body of wri tine0 must be aware of these intense feelings and positions. One must also orc;anize orderly discussions or readings around the divergent views; in this way the classroom or rap sessions do not become melees and participants 1 get a complete picture of the richness and vastness of Black poetry and the political, social and historical tensions out of which the poetry is generated. \Jritinc; on the New Black Poetry, (The United States in Literature, Hiller, Hayden and 0 1 Neal), Hayden says: The emerc ence of a so-called school of Black Poetry in America has been one of the significant literary developments of the modern period. Althou 6h tlle Harlem Renaissance of the 1920 1 s brouc;ht certain Afro-American poets into prominence, it was not until the intensification of the civil rights struggle during the 1960 1 s that a separate group of black poets began to take shape. Avowedly nationalistic (that is~ racially proud) and scornf'ul of western aesthetics, these poets continued the protest tradition, historically associated with Negro writers. But they were more radical in outlook than their predecessors. Unlike the Harlem group, they rejected entry into the mainstream of American literature as a desirable c;oal. They insisted that their poetry • 20 �could not be judged by white standards, urging its importance as an expression of black consciousness. LeRoi Jones--the most influential of the young activist poets--Don L. Lee, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sa nchez, Nari Evans, Etherid ge Knight, and David Henderson attune their lyres to the 'black esthetic.' Not ye t satisfactorily defined, this term, orig inating in the sixties, Llay be interpreted as a sense of t h e spiritual nnd artistic values of bla ckness. It is, perh aps, n lo Gical (some would sny 'chauvinistic') reaction to nec;ative Ameri can racial attitudes. Perhaps the concept :l. :J best summarized by t11e slogan 'Black j :J beautiful.' Those who accept this point of view regard Hegre subject matter as their exclusive domain, feelin o; that only those who have shared 'black experience' can articulate it. Older poets wb6se work shows souie alignment with the Hew Black Poetry inc lud o Hargaret Walker and Gwendolyn Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer in 1950. 1.vhctber poetry should be valued primarily for the unique inner experience it can provide or for its effectiveness as polit ical or social statement 13 a question 21 �t h at often recurs in discussions of true function of art today. Hayden's openin3 comments, then, corrob orate the opening sentence to tl)is introduction--that Black poetry , re gardless of one's position on it, is one of the most important movements on t he liter a ry scene today. Yet, while it is excitin g to study this "poetry in process" (if you please), the enthusiast must be on guard not to skip the tradition (the folk precedents) in favor of plunging into a Black poem that heaps wi-•ath on Water gate conspirators, or urban policemen who shoot rioters and looters. Swirling around and through the whole range of Black poetry, then, is the complex and multi-leveled nature of Black life. VII Hany of the "literary hustlers" to whom Redding refers have capit a lized on the topical and episodic issues--with little or no training in the Black tradition or writing. Henc e , the student mu st assume that just because a statement is "relevo.nt, 11 it is poetry! Th e Black or white research er will "dig ••• deeper to the gold 11 --in the words of James David Carruthers-- and "es tablish " a sound tradition ac;ainst which to measure the Blac k poetry of today. If the Black poet in question fails, he fails because he collapses from t h e wei c;h t of the past--instead of being buoyed up by it. In estab lishing this sound tradition, the teachers and students must realize, first, that the Black Experience is not monolithic--although 22 �recurring trends and broad i mp lications do exist in the areas of langua ge , reli g ion, humor, dance, music and general life style. Oddly enough, however, there is often more consistency in what Blacks lmou about popular "American II culture. 4 There are several reasons for such a paradoxical i mb alance and lack of focus-- many or tbe:11 locked in the enigmatic see-saw of Black history. Ellison observed in the 19401s that if Black leaders ever unraveled the puzzle of the zoot suit and the dark glas ses (meaninr; the secret of Black urban 11 stylin rs " habits), they could, perhaps, take the political and psychologi cal reigns of Black masses from whites. observation was accurate. Ellison 1 s James Baldwin has written that, in Europe, he looked at the groat Renaissance masterpieces and felt as hame d t ha t his race had not produced such work. S/1t;.;IJ"" Baldwin was not aware that the great~TtallB.11 painter, Pablo '-I Picasso, hnd borrowed he avily fro m African motifs, nor that the architect, Le Corbousier, was greatly influenced by thatched-roof huts used in Africa by Balwinfs ancestors. The implications of this po.rt of my discussion a.re many and far reaching because central to the idea of teachine and learning is what teachers and students expect from each other. 4. Ellison's, For an exciting recitation and indictme nt via a "cultural quiz", listen to poet-critic Stanley Croucb 1 s Ain't Ho Ambulances for no 1Ti13c:ahs Tonicllt (Fly ine Dutchman). 23 �Crouch ' s and Baldwin's ob ser vations are ti mely and i mportant. They sug~es t to us t hnt many, if not most, of t he students who arc in Dlack poe try (Black Studies) classes do not h ave a working know l edc e of tbe tradition out of which t h e poetry grei-1. It has b e co me popular, in sol!le quarters, to i gn ore this fact which Ellison and otbers have so painfully and poignantly expressed. The teacher ~ 10 assumes that a class of Black (or white) students is knowledg eable about tbe Black literary tradition is in for real trouble and many disappointments. The fore going point cannot be stressed too often or too emph atically. I nteresti ngly enough , the majority of the persons wh o want to know something about Black poetry are not preoccupied with t he craft of poetry--,-1i th the hows and wh~rs of poetry. K.Rather =t;:;e students and casual readers, Black and wh ite, seem to be more interested in the sociolo g ical (some teach ers say "path olo gical 11 ) aspects of the poetry. Tbe s i tua.tion varies, of course, fro m campus to campus, from atmosph ere to at mosphere, und frot il Black to white to int.erracial settinc;s. Here again the enthusiast has to draw t h e line and keep the persuit of the poetry by 11 ti Ght 11 in terms of the discipline de ma nded the poetry itself, Another proble m~ investi gators confront is how to organize se Gments when an appreciation of the material is what is souc;ht. Tlie "appreciation" approach could be t h e result of one's initial conception of the poetry or dictated �by level of interest and preparation. A casual reader, for example, ·would not study the same poems with the same intensity as would a senior or graduate-level English major. ~ evertheless, ~ teach er, students and poetry lovers must bear in mind that th ey are investigating Black poetry and not mere ly some literary imitation of traditional Western poetry--even thou gh the two conver ge time and time a gain. Here, too, t he point cannot be over-emphasized because in the context of racial and intellectual mixtures, the melting pot ls all too often likely to boil over. Example: white students, well gr ounded in their own literary tradition and having a skeletal knowledge of Black Culture will want to surge abead. Hot recognizing that many Black ( and some w1) i te) students do not know the meanings of simple poetic devices (such as metapbor s , similes, alliteration and onomatopoeia), the inse nsiti ve t each er and "aggressive" students could press on to the point of premature destruction of group participation. Such situations occur over and over. Even t h e best teachers of literature often tak~ for granted that every student has been drilled in the use of fi gurative language. Ironically, many of t he students have been "drilled" in the figures; but, the holes opened by the drilling allowed the information to g o in one ear and out the other! :Many students, in the whir of words in the classroom and e;roup discussions will not say they do not know the names of poetic devices-especially if they h appen to be Black students and t h ink t h e j �instructor expects them to be 11 experts 11 on the Black Experience. On the other' h and, the intellectual snobbery that often accompanies t be development of student 11 clicks 11 sbould not be allowed to pre vai l in a course in Black poetry. Luckily, for teacher, student and general reader, t h e curve s and crests and peaks in t he study of Black poetry keep br ingi ng all aspects of human nat ure full circle. 26 �CHAPTER II THE BLACK AND UNKNOWN BARDS 0 black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? -- James Weldon Johnson I Origj_ns of Black Expression : In this chapter, as in subsequent ones, I will attempt to place the Black creative mind within the spirit and letter of an African-American cultural tradition. Unfortunately, many early scholars either played down or ignored African influences on Black American poetry. these early scholars. This was certainly not true of all For while some gloated over tbe "findings" of "Southern whites 11 --purpott ing to prove that the S piri tua:\-s were derived solely from English (Hymns and Psalms) sources-Johnson (Book of American Negro Spirituals, 1925), Professor Hork (Folk Song of the American Ne gro, 1915), and others, displayed faultless proof of Africanisms ~xisting in practically all Black American folk materials. The approach to this chapter will be via the philosophical concerns, updating some of the thinking on traditional African views and mannerisms in Black America • . Then brief consideration will be given the major trunks of the folk poetry: and the Seculars (or religious folk poetry and everyday workand-play folk poetry). I have included a fair representation of the original folk poetry. Tnis is appropriate, of course, 27 J The Spirituals �since most antholo gies of Black literature and poetry omit these items; and because without a knowled ge of them one will be hard-pressed to understand the Black poet 1 s use of folk materials ( se e Dunbar, Johnson, Brown, Hugh es, Hayden, Walker and othe rs). Howe ver, before discussing the ori gins of Black expression, we sh ould g ive mention to the role of t h e i;riot-or story teller--in pr e -industrial African (and other) societies. The Black poet, as creator and ch ronicler, stems from the group • of artisans known as griots--human records of fa mily and national lore. Ori ginally trained to recite--without flaw--the g ene- alogies, eulog i e s, v ictories and calamities of t h e folk, t h e griot (like t h e lead sing er of Spirituals) had to spice his ?' • reportag e with dramatic excitement. Hardly a Black youngster grew up (even in recent times) without input from a sort of 7 griot (uncl e , gra ndmoth er, bi g brother or sister, moth er o~ ::;:--- father, prea che r, e tc). The job of the gri(¢ like that of ) the ma~ er-cer emonial drummer, wa s so important that in many anci e nt societies a mistake could cost him his life. The griot began at a very early a ge his mastery of tec h nique and ini'ormation. Like the drummer, he u nderstudied an elder states man of the trade . His training demanded a certain psycholo gic a l adjustment to the si gnificance of h is job-which was to co ntain (and give advice on) t b e of the community. 11 heirloo ms 11 As years and centuries passed, t h is 11 factual" information was conv ert ed into a lore, m:r t h ology, cos molo c,-y and le gend; it became a part of the vast we b of racial co nscious- • 28 �ness and memory. It became the leg acy with which every new born child entered the world. Clearly, then, the myth-and lege nd- bu ilding Black poet has a past into which to dip and a future to predict, project and protect. And any violation of the past, present or future constitutes a serious cri me against one's ancestors--against one's parents, a Gainst one's blood, against one's god. So it follows that the poet--griot-- is not some haphaz/ardly arrived hipster or slick-talker simply mouthing tired old phrases. )/ To the Black g riot-sing er- ;< poet the job of unraveling the complex network of his past and present-future worlds is a painful but rewarding labor of love. We can say, then, that the Black Experience in the United States continues via the African Continuum: a complex of mythical ( see Jahn), linguistic (see Twiggs), gestural (see Emery, Black Dance), psychological, sexual, musical, physical and religious forms. This complex is evidenced in the day-to-day attitudes and activities of Blacks: their sacred and secular (or ganized and random) expressions, their physical appearances, their dress patterns and their fa mi ly life. Not only in the United States, but in the Caribbean, in the West Indi e s, in Latin America, in all areas of the world where Blacks live in substantial numb ers--they exhibit characteristics peculiar to the nature and culture of indigenous Africans. Naturally, general Black expression evolves from the myriad components of Black culture; and the artistic (son g , poetry) expression--traditional Black (African) 29 �c01;11nuni ties did r..ot s e parate life fro m art--is a more sophtsticate d for m honed fro m the ge neral "storehouse. Ho one ff has y ot put t l1 eir h ands on exactly Hhat moment i n ti r,1e ancl Hher c t lie f i rs t Af ri c an sou:1c1 :=.i or- ,,: ov er e nts He r e i ncorpo1,ated into 11 Hb i t e 11 0 1, 1!e ste r n fra mes of references or vice ve rsa; but 11e d o lm ou t 11 a t it did b app e n. Unfortunately , lnept reportin g on t be Black Experience bas muddied t h e waters so much t11at one is r e pul s ed and horrified b:r observations and conclusions of son:e Black and 1.1h i te "researchers. 11 In an un.flinchingly brilliant analysis of Black African Oral Lit erature, presented at the First World Festival of Ne gro Arts (1966) in Dakar, Senegal, Basile-.Juleat Fouda, notin g that 11 phrase oral literature is as old as creation," coined the 11 Arch ival Literature of Gesture. important revelations, Fouda □ aid: 11 Concluding his "Thus in tbe Black Africa. of tradition, literary art is an anonymous art because it is a social art; lt is a social art because it is a functional art; and it is functional because it is humanist. research is not bounded by color. 11 Good Bl~ck sociologist E. Franklin Frazier (Black Bour r;eosis) held(wrongly) that there were no significant carryovers (cultural transplants) from Africa to the Unit ed States. (Slavery, Frazier said, African of his culture and 11 11 s tr•ipped II the destroyed 11 his personality.) Wbite anthropologist Melville Herskovits (Tbe :Myth of the Ne gro Past) proved witbout a doubt tbat tbere were African operating daily in Black Americans culture. survivalisms 11 (For more thou ght • 30 11 �on this see Jahn• s Nuntu, Work I s findings, memoirs of Katherine Dunham, wor ks of Lorenzo Dow Turner, Negro Folk Music of Africa and America (Folkways, Lp) and others. ) Rudimentary Black expression and the numerous folk for ms J it produced (field h ollers, vendors shouts, chants, wor~songs, Sp irituals, blues , Gospels , jazz, rhythm 1 n blues, soul musi c) form the linguistic and modal bases for most Black poetry. The early song and chant for ms were almost always accompanied by what 1.-10 have come to call "dramatic ideograms 11 --or dances. Dance became one of the three basic artistic modes encapsulated by folk expression. The other two are Song and Drum. Aside fro m being the first means of communicating over distances, the drum also played a major role in the social lives of traditional African peoples. The career drummer, like the Black American musician today, went through year s of grue ling practice and preparation--learning not only drrnrunin13 techniques but the lec;ends, t11e myths, the meanings and symbols of which the drum was derivative. Dance always accompanied song--Fouda refers to the "acoustical phonetic alpl1abet"--so that the complex web of oral nuances was illustrated vividly and graph ically. Obviously, when teaching or entertainin~, the artist/teacher had to present his material in interesting and exciting ways so as not to bore tbe audience. Thus repetition became a backbone of Black expression--a flexible, buoyant repetition that was designed to reinforce and increase group participation. The three essential modes --drum, song and dance~- h eigbtened 31 �the i mmediate experience, which was ecstatic, therapeutic, spiritual, visceral and revelatory. Added to these intricate and vary ing modal patterns were the colorful costumes, make-up, props and i mportant subject matter. Tbe achievement was not just t h e vicarious experience but one of the act and symbol being actualized tog ether. \ln1ile such a prospect boggles the mind, a serious study of these forms and the general tradition will prove eye -o pening for many a disbeliever. Early Black American oral and gestural art for ms inherit ed t he qualities described thus far. In language, in danc e , and, more i mportantly, in points of view (attitudes) tmrnrd time, life and death, the cosmology of Africa "continued 11 (with some modifications) in the Black culture of the Western Hemisphere. S pecifically, information was conveyed by way of aph oris ms, riddles, parables, tales, enigmatic dances and · sound s (tonal scales), jokes and poetry. 6b lique and cry ptic utterances, puzzles, The pattern rerna1.ns it\jact today. Jahn's l1untu d ocuments many examples of t h e African "carry overs" and 11 survi valis ms 11 operating in t h e Western He misph ere. 1. One can Ii1or a brilliant and COGent statement on t li is aspect of Black expression see Samuel Allen's "The African Heritage" in the Jan., 1971, issue of Black World. Allen--also known as Paul Vesey--is an acknowled ged authority on b oth African and Afro-American culture. 11 In the article, he finds African carry overs 11 in t h e Black American cburch (Baldwin), literature (Sterlin g Brown, Cleaver) and secular life. 32 �find the tradition in Black poets, in the sermons of Black ministers and in family and otber social gatherings. Tbe scintillatine Black poet Tolson operates in the old enigmatic (word-fencj_ ng ) frame when in "An Ex-Judge at tbe Bar• 11 he says: Bartender, make it straight and make it twoOne for the you in me and one for the me in you. Tolson (known to carry this Black nature into his teaching at Langston University where he reportedly gave a student an "F" to the 20th power) ends the poem with an equally eni gmatic mock: Bartender, make it straie;ht and make it threeOne for the Negro ••. one for you and me . In the Spirituals (to be discussed) one finds similar debts to the African tradition of Sonc;, Dance and Drum. So too in the shouts and hollers where actual African words and phrases were often used. 2 Hence we can say that the traditional African phonolo~y and ritual, modified on the anvil of slavery , were operatin0 and continue to be represented in different forms of Black American expression. The African slave, forced to acquire functional use of Enclish and to reject surface aspects of his religion, went "underground" so to speak and became bi-lingual and bi-physical. 2. Hence, while much of the The fine poet Raymond Patterson (26 Ways of Looking at a Black Man) is currently assembling a book listing several hundred African words that are used daily in the American 33 �th ematic material of the Black folk tradition is taken from the harsh difficulties the slave encountered in America, the for m, spirit and phonology were essentially African. Th e use of poly-rhythms 3 and the introduction of syncopation, the reliance on various rhythmic instruments (drum-related and sometime s invented), tbe adherence to a non-European tonal scale and the employment of the blue tone, the development of a distinct body of folklore and a rich langua Ge to convey the lore--all represent the African's resourcefulness. Cross-cultural inputs are also evident, however, in--for examp le--the Spirituals which, in many cases, were influenced by t he English Hymn and the Psalm. Other considerations in- clude the slave's use of European instruments (Baraka points out, in Blac k Mus ic, that the piano was the last instrument to be mastered by the Black musician. L~ The reason ought to be obvious.), th e Black adaptation of songs heard in the "big house, 11 the continual r e -styling of American fads and the vocabulary. See bib liography for more on('§)li ttle known area of scholarship. 3. Isaac Faggett, a young Black composer-band director in Sacrame nto, Calif., has said that the word "poly-rhythm" (Le., many rhyth ms overlapping each other) should perhaps b e replaced by or alternated with the words 4. 11 poly-me ter 11 or "poly- metrics. Eileen Southern, in Th e }~sic of Black Americans, sets fort h a t ho rough and accurate discussion of these points. 34 She 11 �employme nt of Biblical i ma gery and langua ge in songs and sermons. Langston IIugbes noted tbat the Blues usually dealt with the theme of the rejected lover and personal depression. Hughes' first volume of poe ms , in fact, was entitled The Weary Blues. However, th e Blues, like the Spirituals, do not simply preacb resignation or submissiveness. Rather, as J ~ and Howard Thurman (The Nec;r o Spiritual Speaks of Life and Dao.th) note, underneath the comp laint is a "plaint": or change! tbin gs mu st e; et better For as the slave said: Freedom, oh Freedom, how I love thee! Freedom, 011 Freedom, how I love thee! And before I'll be a slave I'll b e buried in my grave And go h ome to my Maker and be Freel II Black Folk Roots in America: rrGet it together or leave it alone" --Jackson Five Black poets have been writing in the English literary tradition since the middle of the ei gh teenth century. But notes with some detail bow the Africans (made slaves) had to learn to use t he instrwnents of the New World. Professor Southern also relates b ow Black music influenced whites in the ear ly days of America. 35 \ �it is the folk lit erature--those productions of the everyday people--which must be examined before a literary or poetic tradition can be viewed in its entirety. There are few persons in the United States who have not been touched or influenced ( in one way or• another) by the folk express ion of Black America. 1,n1i t e .Americans began collectine; Black folk lyrics and s to1.,i es in the early :,B ars of t he ni neteentl1 century (see bib lio Gr aphy). In the same century, this aspect of Black culture reached wide audiences via at least three major vehicles. '11he first was the abolitionist movement which featured Black pootn (Francis E.W. Harper, Jame s 1foi tf ield, Benjamin Clark, and others), orators and prose writers (David 1valker, Frederick Douglass, etc.), and journalists (John Rus swurm , etc). The second vehicle was the national and Euro pean tours (i n the 1 87o•s) of student choirs fro m Hampton Institute and F is k (~10 Jubilee Singers) University. The abolitionist n1ovement popularized anti-slavery and freedom songs and the college choirs gave wide exposur e to the Spiri tuals, consi dered by most scholars (of Black· culture) to be the first 7> ~ authentic poetry of Black America. Tlrn third major vehic le was the publication ( in t he late nineteenth century) of Br1 'er Ra1 )b i t tales by J oe l Chandler Harris. In studies and writincs, Harris reco cn iz ed tl'ic r.-1ytbi c 1101,th in Black folktales \ at i d , exposed ' readers to su cl1 cl1aractor c as Frcr ':L1errapin, Drer B0ar , nrcr ~ ~ ~ \ r 1.fo lf and ot}; crs . Fox, Erc n Hany of tlrnso tales and clrn. r·a cters have African co unterpar ts. 36 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_12 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, p. 14-36, typed manuscript with handwritten edits Description An account of the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, p. 14-36, typed manuscript with handwritten edits. Draft includes part of section V, section VI, and the beginning of Chapter II. The Black and Unknown Bards. Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/528c7bc7b85889ce572996b01acb4a81.pdf 1584fa37696e95d8a584bf09f7449528 PDF Text Text were forGed--especially the work of Jupiter Hammon, Phillis Hheatley and Geor ge Hoses Horton. IV Polk Seculars: Don wid massa•s hollerin 1 ; Don wid massa•s hollerin 1 ; Don wid massa 1 s hollerin 1 Roll Jordan roll. We observed that there is a thin line between the Black religious and secular worlds. This is true for many reasons-- some of them stemming from the African tradition of interrelating all aspects of life. As John M1 Biti (African Reli gions and Pbilosophies), Gabriel Bannerman-Richter and others point out, the African takes his relicion (his beliefs) with him where ever he goes. Hany investigators (Jahn, l1'Biti and others) · also remind us that most African languages have no word for religion or art. The tuo are inseparable. Again the ways o:r African peoples (see Nphahlele • s 1-J11irlwind) are expressed in 11 integrated II terms. True, in Black America there is some tension between secular and religious communities--but so often ( and most Blacks understand this well though they don 1 t always a.dmit it) they o.re the same: on different occasions. wearing different hats Study, again, the case of a Rev. Jesse Jackson or a Rev. Ike or a Rev. Adam Clayton PowellJ We have also observed that many motifs and components of Black expression are interchangeable. That is 1 songs and • 43 �speeches desig ned for church or other religious activity are lr-/ ~> often re-cut (modified) for a secular-jsocial affair. are numerous exa~~ les of this practice. IU c;ht s e ra., 110 There During the Civil i ronld s inr; I Hoke up tl1is mornin 1 ui th my mind stayed on freedom though Ho wore fully a:ware that church folk were used to sineine; it t h i:::i Hay: I woke up this mormin 1 with my mind stayed on Jesus liany of Curti s IIayfield 1 s (o.nd the I mpressions songs rely 1 ) strongly on the material of songs sung in Black chur•ches. Even M.o.yfield 1 s more r e cent tunes (see "If There's A Hell Below") carry the Black churcb flavor--with their warnings., admonishments., threats of societal destruction, and pleas for love (see also Narvin Gay's pieces like "Save The Children"). Some works by the Temptations ( "Run Auay Child Running Wild 11 ) reflect the historical th erne of songs. 11 searcbing 11 found in Black religious This so.me group I s "Poppa Has A Rolling Stone" describes poppa "steo.ling in the name of the Lord." B.B. King's 11 Woke Up This Mernin" is a blues treatment -of the idea expressed above in the Spiritual: "I Woke Up 1rhis Mornin. 11 When heard the old Supremes singing "Stop in the :Name of Love" we were tempted to replace "love" with "God." Often the songs contain exchangeable and inter-changeable words such as "Mother 11 ; 'Bapy II and 1 "Captain II und 11 11 God 11 ; 11 Lord 11 and "Sweet thing II and "Sweet .Jesus 11 ; M.o.kor 11 ; and "God II and "Man 11 • Tbe reasons for such usages, as wo have stated, are deeply enmeshed in the 44 �mythos of Blacks. Richard Wright's "Bright and Horning Star 11 (in t he Bible, a me taphor for Jesus) becomes the son of old Aunt Sue in the s h ort story by that name. Th e hero of John A. Williams' novel, Th e Na n Hho Cried I Am, says "tbank y ou man" to God after a sex act. "Sli pp ing into Darkness 11 ( Hhen we hear a tune like War 1 s "when I heard my mother say ") we must understand t~ h istorical significance and function of social (therapeutic) art--just as we must understand the function of t he mo ther-like voice that admonishes Isaac Hayes to "s he t yo mouf II in 11 Shaft. 11 mien conservative Black Christians complained of Duke Ellington's use of reli Gious the mes in jazz, he replied "I 1 1r1 just a ecumenical cat 11 -- meanin13 he avoided fine distinctions in where or to whom he played. The church has been the training ground (academy, if you will; see Frazler's The Ne r·ro Church in Amer ica) for most of the big (vocal) names in Black popular music as well as for important orators, race leaders and co mmunity businessmen. A~ai nst the foregoing discussion we can view the Folk Seculars in their right perspecti ve as a vital part of the rich st orehouse of' Black folklore. (my own gra ndmothe r: Throuch songs, aphorisms "You don 1 t bel ieve fat meat•s c;reasy! 11 and "If you ain't g on 1 do nothin g Get off the pot!"), fables (see Aen op), jokes (see minstrelsy and the Black comedy tra~ dition), h lues and other enduring for ms /B lacks capture severe hardships and tribulations, folk wisdo m, joys and tra ~e dies, ~ nd t l1 e lo nc;i n[;S and li opes of Blacks duri nc; s lavery;1 afterwards . • �The Seculars, more so than the Spirituals, give important clues to the inner-workings of the common Black mind. And a closer look at the total folk tradition will reveal t he structure and principles of folk psycholo~y. It is, after all, back and forward to these folk materials that researchers will have to g o if they are serious about delineating the feelin gs , emotions and thou gh t putterns of Blacks. The Seculars are surer indic es to the workings of t h e folk mind be cause t h ey are not as limited as the Spirituals. Though most Blacks in the United States are aware of and have heard t h e Spirituals, an even lar ger number b ave bad sustained exposure (directly or indirectly) to t he s ecular vocalizations and g estures of Black culture . Contemp orary Black popular music and culture con- tinue to be informed by the street and home utterances. An exciting reciprocity allows entertainers to borrow freely from what t hey hear while t he folks "run and tell that" once itfs recorded. Some examp les of songs, titles and oth er epithe ts borrowed d irectly from the people are: New Ba~ , 11 "Licking Stick" (see "Truant 11 ) , 11 11 boney stick" in McKay's story Gi ve It Up or Turn It Loose, "It's Hell 11 ; Marvin Gaye's 11 James Brown's "Drand 11 "The Payback 11 and What•s Going On" and "Let 's Get it On"; Curtis Hayfield's "Superfly 11 ; the Jackson Five's "Get It Tog ether or Leave It Alone"; Flip Hilson 1 s "What You See is 1'n1at You Get 11 (and the Dramatics' tune by the same name); Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and "Run and Tell Tl1at Kni gh t' s 11 IIr . BiG Stuff"--to nar,1e just a f ew . 46 11 ; and Jean �As with the Sp irituals, whites (primarily abolitionists) were among the first to collect Seculars of wb atever type. William Wells Broun, t he first published Black novelist and playHri gh t, collected "anti-slavery 11 songs. Thomas Hentworth Higginson, writer and abolitionist who led a Black re g i ment in the Civil War, coll e cted song s he h eard among his me n around campfires and during marches. Though primarily con- cerned uith religious songs, he also descri bed some of the properties of ge neral Bl ack song delivery. One of the most important collections of these seculars was put to geth er by Thomas H. Talley ( of Fisk University, as was Professor Uork). Professor Talley di d pioneering work in t h e identification and classificatio n of Hegre> Folk Rhymes. Describing the phi lo- sophy , s tructure and, in soma cases, orig in of t h e songs, the Fisk scholar coll e c ted well over JOO examples. / cf:..,~er i mportant examp l es a nd discussions of the artistic products of .t'ol Jr X secular folk life can be found in the works of Huc;hes a nd Bont er;1 ps , Brewer, Sp al d ing, Dodson, Chapman, Brown ( Negr o Poetry ), Ahrahar:is (Deep Dm-m in The Jun gle) and Bell (The Folk Roots of Contemporary Afro-American Poetry). Bell 1 s work is recent (from t h e new Broadside Press) and is soCTewhat vague in perspective a s a result of an i mposed ("forei gn") construct. Also valuable to an examination of t he Seculars are regiona l works (such as Abrahams') including Drums and Sh adows (Georg ia and South Carolina), Goldstein's (ed.) Black Life 47 �and Cultur e i n t he United St a tes, Lorenzo Dow Tur ner's work in t he Gullah cul t ure, Dorson 1 s Ne gro Folktales in Mich i gan, and oth ers ( s e e b i bliography). By far the most faithful r e pr e s entati on of se cular or reli g ious folk materials in t h e writt en po etry is i n t b e work of Sterling Br01m ( see h is Southern Ro ad, e specially Johnson's introductio n , a nd b is critical comments in Degro Poetry ). Brown takes exception to Joh ns on's comment that dialect poetry h as only two stops-uhumor and path os u--a nd i mplies that Black poets up until his time h ad b een re miss (or lazy) in not de veloping hroader use s and deepe n inc; the meaning of Black life t h rou gh t ll e use of fol k materials. The traditio n of 11 tall 11 tale-telling is, of course, sub- mer ged in t he American my tbos. So the Black narrator found a fl ex i b l e a t mos ph er e into which he could introduce his own manne r of s t or y t e lling a nd his own tradition of song . As he h ad d one i n th e S pirituals, he gained a resourcefulness in the u s e of langua ge , acquired instruments to accompany th e song or story, and developed an ab il~ty to seize upon a good or ame nable context in which to tell or sing his story ; h e also made use of t he me s and ideas fro m the vast ethnic potpourri of America. the Spirituals. Th e Seculars grew up side- by -side witb The Spirituals emerged fro m t h e atte mpt of the slav e to web to geth er his disparate (y et 1nutual) wou nds. Spirituals represent t h e slave's perserverence and (in many instanc e s) 11 is ho pe and fo.i th in mankind. The Seculars, also ' �develo ping in t he shad ows of t h e "bi g h ouse, 11 reflect the social l if e of t h e Black American on the plantation and later. In songs a nd dittie s , the Black American couched his long ings and bittern e s s e s , but v oiced bis h opes and cy nicis ms t h rou gh the obliqu e , e liptic a l and encoded words and seemin gly unintelli g i b le pho ne tic symbols. These Afr ican forms (see Rappin 1 a nd St y li n 1 Out, Koc hman) have continu ed up to t h e present. Few Black youne sters are abl e to side - s t e p t h e ri gorous (and someti mes painful) verbal dJ&c e rity dema nde d by playmates during verb al sparring rnatcll es that ine vita.b l y ta ke place. Tbe for ms of sucb b eh a v ior were in,_Ja ct during slave ry--when a slave mi ght be discussing a master's "mama" or 11 old lady 11 during a ratb er h armless "rap 11 (rhapsond? r a pport?) with his fellow field workers. Frederick Dou glass r epor ts (Narrati ve) t h at slave over-seers t h ought . slave s sang b ecaus e th ey were h appy. We know t h at such was not t h e cas e ( s e DuBois, S ouls of Black Folks) a nd that such re.fr a i ns a s 11 s teal ing away" i mplied a lot r11 or 0 t h an wa nti ng to r• each t ho ar ms of J e sus on t b e cr o-ss. similar cod e o i n h i:J :Jtori en a nd po ems. Henry Du mas c11ronicles And Mel vlatkin::.i (l\.mistad 2) discuss ed a n updated ve rsion of at l ea st part of t h is ,ph;n;;--;'.V ,._,...___ ""·' "..--- in b is article on folk singer-hero Jame s Brown. discu ss ing a □ e cul a r to Dr. Th ur ma n 1 s: Though h e is ch aracter, Watki ns' revelations a re s i milar t h at i n the ab surd context of b einc; ow ned by so meo ne el s e, it i s not lif e or death t h at loom so i mportantly. One li ve s, Elliso n su 13 0 e s ts (Invisi b le Ma n ), the day -to-day �? v r5a-. ab s urdi ty i n a sort of comic-trag ic d Hatkins say s: James Brown's initial acceptance by a black audience is fixed in t h is crucial factor. Frorn the moment he slides onto the stage, Hhether unconsciously or intentionally, his gestures, his facial expronsions and even the sequential arranc e me nt of h is materials are external affirmations of a shared acceptance of t h e absurd or, more inc enously, of jiv ing. The t mpe{c}i.bly tailored suits, Hl1tcl1 h e V brandishes at the outset, become meaninc less accoutre me nts a s l1is act proc;resses and, sweatln c a nd straininc; , lle c;et:J down, literall:r down on t l1 e flo or, to wri nc; t h e last drop of e motio n fro 111 Uatkins i::i i ncorrect a1Jout the dress bccomin~ "meaninc less 11 to a Black audi enc e , but his c eneral thesis is on tar g et. E lseHho1°e Hatki n::i , fir mly understundin c; the i 1n rortance of verbal n.e;ility a mo nc Blo.cl::s, sa:rs "it is comnon to h ear h lack lrornen discussinc a 1,ian•s 'rap' or as they <.lJ. ~i ctw n l ii :., 1)a nl~ acconnt. 'pr ci c;ra1r, ' on t he same l e v el 11 Dlacks c;c :i orally wlthl-i old their jnd t;J,ent on ( or nc coptance) of a s p enl·cr or cnt crt n ine r u n til h .; cx11ibi t::.:, in l i[; tlr e.'..l rJ- ce:;t 11r o -rn p , that 11 0 11 nc1cr- - :::t u rJu :J t' u 11cll::.:prt n~ t h a t l :coc.ln c ud the "n, 1 0. c l: nnd trnlcncm u bar ds . 11 :-:~.tur•n:i. n:.; br i e f l y, to our b i s toric a l a s sess ment, ·w e cn n noH :Jt.,u 1101r t bo f olk s tratn in Bl a ck wr·i t tcn o.r t e·,o J. \: ed.. �Fror;i tbis 11 so ng 11 recorded in tbe 1 9~0 ' s by Dou glnss, Dey git u~ de liquor, And so.~ dat 1 s aood enou~h for the n i ccer . 11 to the f oar of cl e Cun jah Han II ca ptured i n "Gul la.h II h~r Camp be 11 in t he latter pa.rt of the 190 0 1 s, De Cunjari r,1an, de Cunjah man, 0 ch ill en r un, de Cu njab man! the decoptlv0ly 11 s:1. n ple 11 e111plo:rmcnt of folk expressions 11a ve prevailed as an i nrortant antidote for the social trm lo.dles 11 inherit ed by Blacks in t he Western Hemispliere. De Cu nj al1 I-la.n II is, of cours o , oqui valent to the "th in1:'.: s that c; o bur.1 pi nc in tho n i c;l1t" in Ir e land--o.nd t hus -li a~ ti es to genera l folk supor•sti tion3 a.nd uy tholo u;y. But tr1o re was also t}1e "riugc:ah- rno.n" (Dun1>o.r 1s "Little Brown Baby"), t he "rac; 1:mn", "pe c:-le g, 11 "raw-hen.d and h loocly b ones 11 and (iQ places like Trinid ad ) t he 11 obeah i:m n, back □ 11 Host of these supernatural characters are throw- to var ious African religious and ritual practices. Of the neH c;encrati o n of poets, Ish mae l Reed (Catechis m of a neoa.merl c an hoodoo ch urch) is the innovator in t he use of supernatural t h e mes and vocabulary. The t heme of tho 2 nd Annual John Henry Memor ial Autl1entic 13luoLJ o.ncl Gos pc 1 Jubilee (110 ld in Cliff Top, ·1:1 . Va . , i n Au c us t and September of 1974 ) was 11 Tryin 1 to Get nome. 11 1I ow st ead - fastly the folk trad itio n runs like a ve in t hr ou c;h Black ll istory . Intl~ Se culars (a nd t he Spirituals) we repeatedly hear something similar to t he last stanza of 51 11 Rainb01-J Roun Ma h Sh oulder 11 : �I ' r,1 gonna break ri2;l1t, break ri c;b t pas that s h ooter, I' m gain b ome , Lai,-Jd, I'm g oin home. Again the us e of' the 1-10~ "Lawd II in a "secular II song f'urther bears ou t the communal inte gration of the folk expression. My own sisters ofte n interject or exclaim "Lord" or "Lawd" in everyday discussions about life. It is next to impossible to list all (or each type) of the Seculars. Wo h ave mentioned Professor Talley's pioneering efforts at classifying the m. But many obstacles lay in the way of recorders of secular folk life. of cenGureship of language . One problem was t h at Such censuring marked all types of Black creativity , from the slave narratives to religious songs. Hence the more "protesting" aspects of tbe works were deleted as Hero 11 offensive words. 11 Anyone who bas be ard ''authentic II Black folk songs knows tbat tbey reflect tl10 conver gence of madnesn, absurdity and hope in tbe Black body. Subsequently what are known as "curse" or "obscene" words are sprinkled t h rou gl10ut mu ch of the "secular II lore. Brown dis- cusses the "realism" in the folk rhymes along with an attempt to{jia:JSify at lea. s t some of them ("fiddle-sings," "corn-songs, 11 jig-tunes, 11 "upntart crows 11 ); ( Ballads, Ballads; ~ Nec;ro Heroes, John Henry (folldfied in sone;), 1:lor•k SonGs, Tlle Blues, Irony and Protest. Irony and protest, of course, run t h rou 01 Black folk and literary poe try fro m t he earliest days (V~itfi e ld, Harper, anti-slavery 11 sonc; □) to the mo □ t 52 recent ti me s (Josh l~1ite, �Leon Thomas, Don L. Lee, John Ech ols, Johnny Scott). Some ob ser v ers h ave poi nted to the silliness of many researchers who, white as ever, appeared in perso n to a sk Black folk song writers arrl singers if tbey endorsed "protest, away satisfied witb a "no" answer. 11 tl1en went Given the nature and history of race relations one can understand t he reluctance on the parts of Blacks to tell wl1ites the truth a b out "anything " let alone a b out such a sensitive area as "protest. 11 Yet in the doc-eat-dog world of survival, the folk person knows that "If he di es , I'll eat h is co 1 n; 1\. n ' if b o 11 v es , I ' 11 ride ' 1 m on. 11 In summary we can say that unlike other etbnic i mmi grant groups ( the Afro-American was not a willinr; i mmi grant!), the Black American did not simply transplant l1is stories--keeping them in t he ir exact :::ia1110 form. He fou nd American or European lanc;uace counterparts for his the mes a nd vocabularies. But h;i.s pho nolo i;ry , style and spirit were informed by the African tradition. The student of Black folk poetry will wa nt to compar e and contrast the Seculars to ·other ethnic stori e s and so ngs. Boasti ng or "ly ing , of the "tall" tale. "Shine, 11 for example, is one inc;redient How does the Black song or story (i.e., "S i g nifyinG Henkey, etc.) fit t h is motif? 11 11 "Dolomite, 11 "Frankie and Johnnie, How does it conceal deeper me a n in g s on the i!Jsues of sla very, inb u man wor k concli tions, or contradictio rw i n Cb r:tstin. ni ty? 1·n1at are the si mil ari t:tes hetween the Se culars und th e Sp irituals? Between t h e Seculars and • 53 11 �the literary poetry? These and other questions (on Black heroes, cultural motifs, blues themes, langua ge and endurance) will lead one throu gh exciting corridors of Black folk creativity and thought. V SPIRITUALS GO DOWU, MOSES Go donw, Mos e s, Hay doim in Esry ptland Tell old Pharaoh To let my people go. lnrnn Israel was in Egyptland Let my people r,o Oppressed so hard they could not stand Let my people go. Go down, l1ose s , Hay down in Egyptland Tell old Pharaoh "Let my people go." "Thus saith the Lord," bold Moses said, "Let my people: If not I 1 11 smite your first-born dead Let my people r_;o. 11 �"No more shall they in bondage toil, Let my people go; Let them come out with Egypt's spoil, Let my people g o, 11 'l1l·ie Lord told Mos es what to do Lot my people go; To lead the children of Israel through, Let my people go. Go dm-m, Hosen, Huy dmm in Egy ptland, Tell old Pharaoh, "Let my people go!" SIAVERY CHAIN Slavery chuin done broke at last, broke at last, broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. Way down in-a dat valley, Praying on my knocs; Told God about my troubles, And to help me of-a He please. I did tell him how I suffer, In de dungeon and do chain, And de days I went with head bowed down;, And my broken flesh and pain. 55 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. I did knoH 111y Jesus heard me, 'Cause de spirit spoke to me, And said, "Rise my child, your chillun, And you too shall be free. 11 I done 'p'int one mighty captain For to marshall all my hosts, And to bring my bleeding ones to me, And not one shall be lost." Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK No more auction block for me, No more, no more, No moro auction block for me, Many thousand gone. lTo rn or·e peck of corn for me, No more, no more, 56 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) No more peck of corn for me, Nany thousand gone. No more pint of salt for me, No more, no more, No more pint of salt for me, Many thousand gone. No more driver' □ lash for me, No more, no more, No more driver's lash for me, Many tbousand gone . SHOUT ALONG, CHILLEN Shout along, chillen! Shout along, chillen! Hear tbe dying Lamb: Ob! take your nets and follow me For I died for you upon the tree! Shout along, chillen! Shout along, chillen! Hear the dyin8 Lamb! SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT Swing low, sweet chariot, Cominc; for to cu.rry me home, Swing low, □ wcct chariot, Coming for to carry me home. 57 �SPIRITUALS (cont 1 d) I looked over Jordan and what did I see Coming for to carry me home, A band of an c els, coming after me, Coming for to carry Lile home. If you get there before I do, Coming for to carry me home, Tell all my friends I' m coming too, Corning for to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home, Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home. STEAL AWAY Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus, Steal awo..y, steal awo.y home, I ain't e ot long to stay here. My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder, The trumpet sounds within-a my soul, I ain't got long to stay here. Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus, Steal a.way, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here. 53 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) Groen trees a-bonding, Po' sinner stands a-trembling The trumpet sounds within-a my soul, I ain 1 t c ot lo ng to stay here. DEEP RIVER Deep river, my home is over Jordan, Deep riv er, Lord; I want to cross over into camp ground. 0 children, O, don 't you want to c o to that cospel feast, 'l1hat promised land, tl1at land, ·wl1ere all is peace? Deep river, my home is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord; I want to cross over into camp Ground. I GOT A HOME: IN DAT ROCK I c; ot a home in dat rock, Don't you se e ? I got a h ome in dat rock, Don't you see? Botirnen de earth an 1 nlcy, Though t I l1earc.l tny Saviour cry, You got a ho me in dat rock, Don't y ou s ee? Poor n an Laz 1 ru3, poor as I, Don't y ou :ic e ? Poo~ma n Laz•rus, poor as I, 59 �SPI RI TUALS (c on t 1 d ) Don ' t ~, ou see? Po or man Laz 1 rus , poor a s I, Uhen he died he found a ho r,1e on h i gh , He h ad a ho me in dat r oc k , Don ' t y ou oee ? Tii ch man Dives , h e l ived so we ll, Don ' t yo u se c ? Rich 1.1cm Div e s , lie li ved so wel l, Don ' t :ro u se e? Tii c h rn an Dj_v co , h o li v e d so well , "\:Thon cllu c1 h e found a ho me i n He l l , 11 0 Ho had no houw in dat r o c k , Do n ' t y ou soc? God c o..vo lfo a l~ d e nainbow sic;n , Don 1 L yo u :.;cc? God .:;n ve No ali d e Ra1. nb01·1 s icn , Don ' t y ou :::iee? Gou Ho 1_, o. '10 LJOl'O 1,1 a t 1.;:c De tt o r de nai nboH :..d.,:n , lToi:d-1 c;o t 1,u t ll 11 0 1.ic fir·o ne xt tj_ we , in c1at roc k , Don ' t you ::.:cc ? 6n �S1'ITII TUALS (c ont 1 d) I BEEH .HEBUJillD AN]) I BEEN scommn I b 0en 1·cbukec1 and I heen s c orned , I been rebuked a~ I been scorned, Chlllun, I bco n r e bul: ecl and I been scor ned , I 1 sc 110.d a b arcl time, so's y ou born . Talk about me t:1u cl1 as you please, Tallc abou t t.,c r,mch as you please , Chillun, talk about me mu ch o.s you please, Gonno. talk a:)ou t yo u when I c;et on 1~1y knees. DE OL!~ SHEEP DEY KNOW DE TIOAD Oh, do ole sheep, doy know de road, De ole sheep, doy know de road, Do ole sbucp, c.1cy know de road, De younc; Lambs mu s t find de way. ify brother , better mind how you walk on de cross, De younc; lur,1bs must find de W(:l.Y, For your foot mi gh t slip, and yo f soul g it lost, De yo un g lo.mbs must find de Hay . Better mind dat snn , and see how she run, De youn g la1nbs must find de wo.y, And rai nd , don I t let he r catch yo u Hid yo ' work u ndone , De yo un c lambs must find de way. 61 �SPITIITUALS (cont 1 d) Oh., de ole sheep , dey know de road, De ole sheep, dcy know de road, De ole sheep, dey know de road, YounG lamb s must find de ·way. DE IIAMHER IillEPS RINGING Oh, de hammer k e eps rin g ing On so mebody's coffin, 011, de hammer keeps ringing On somebody's coffin, Oh, de bammer keeps rin r; ing On somebody' □ coffin: Good Lord, I know my time ain't lon g . Ob , de wagon keeps rolling Somebody to de g raveyard, 011, de wa g on keeps rollin13 Somebody to de g raveyard, Oh, de wagon keeps rolling Somebody to de graveyard: Good Lord, I known~ time ain't long. Oh, de preucber keeps preaching Someb ody's funeyal, Ob, de preacher keeps preacbing ~) omb ody I s funeyal, 62 �SPITIITUALS (cont 1 d) De preacher keeps preaching Someb ody's funeyal: Good Lord, I know my time ain 1 t long. MOTHERLESS CHILD Sometimes I feel like a motherless cbild, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, A long ways from home, A long ways from home . Sometimes I feel like I I 111 almost gone , Sometimes I feel like I 1 m aln10st gone , Sometimes I feel like I' m almost gone, A long ways from home, A long ways from home. Sometimes I feel like a featber in the air, Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air, Sometimes I feel like n feather in the air, And I spread my wings and I fly, I spread my wings and I fly. NOBODY ID-TOWS DA TRUBBLE AII SEE Oh, nobody knows da trubble o.h see, lTob ody knows but Jesus. 63 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) lfobody knows da trubble ah see, Glory, Hallelujah! Sometimes I' m up, sometimes I'm down, Oh, yes, Lord! Sometimes I' m almost to the groun', Oh, yes, Lord! Although you see me goin along, so, Oh, yes, Lord! I bave my trubbles here below, Oh, yes, Lord! Nobody knows da trubble ab see, Hobody knows my sorrow. Nobody knows da trubble ah see, Glory, Hallolujo.111 One day when I was walldn along, Oh, yes, Lord! The elements open and his love came down, Oh, yes, Lord! I never shall forget dat day, Oh, yes, Lord! rn1en Jesus wash my sins away, Oh, yes, Lord! 64 �SPIRITUAI.S (cont'd) Oh nobody knows da trubble ah see, nobody knows my s orrou. Nob ody knows da trubble ah see, Glory, Hallelujah! DE BLIND MAN STOOD ON DE ROAD O, de blind man stood on de road and cried O, de blind man stood on de road and cried Crying "O, ry Lord, save-a me; 11 De blind man stood on de road and cried. Crying dat be migbt receive bis sight Crying da t be 111i2:ht receive his s ic;h t Crying 11 0, my Lord, save-a me;" De blind man stood on de road and cried. HE imvrm SAID A MlJI.IBALING WORD Oh, de wlrnpped him up de hill, up de hill, up de 1iill, Oh, de wbupped bim up de hill, and he never said a mumbaling word, Oh, dey wlrnpped h im up de hill, and he never said a mumbo.ling 1.-rnrd, He jes' bung down bis head, and be cried. Oh , dey crowned him wid a thorny crown, thorny crown, thorny crown, 01, dey crowned him wid a tborny crown, and he 65 �SPITIITUALS (cont 1 d) never said a mumbalinr; word, Ob, doy croimed h im wid a thorny crown, and be never siad a mumbalin g word, Ho j es ' hung down his head, and he cried. \Je ll, dey nailed h i m to de cross, to de cross, to de cross, Well, de~ nailed him to de cross, and be never suid u 1 u mb uling word , Well, dey nailed him to de cross, and he never naid a mumbaling word, He jeD I hun c; down his head, and he cried. Well, dey pierced h i1i1 in de side, in de side, in de Dide, Well, dey pierced h i m in de side, and de blood co me u-twink:lin13 down , Hell, dey pierced him in de side, and de blood cor.1e o.-twinkling down, Den be hun g doHn 11is bend, and he died. JOSHUA P IT DE BATTLE OP .JERICHO Joshua fit de battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho, Joshua fit do hut tle of Jericho, And de uall::: cowe tumblin g down. 66 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) You may talk about yo 1 king of Gideon Talk about yo 1 man of Saul, Dere's none like g ood old Joshua At de battle of Jericho. Up to de walls of Jericho, He marched Hith spear in hand; "Go blow dem ram horns, 11 Joshua cried, "Kase de battle am in my hand. 11 Den de la mb ram sheep horns begin to blow, Trumpets b c c in to sound, Joshua commanded de chillen to shout, And de Halls come tumbling down. Dat morninG, Joshua fit de battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho, Joshua fit de battle of Jericho, And de Halls come tumbling down. OH, HARY, DON r T YOU \·JEEP Oh I1o.ry, don't you weep, don't you moan, Oh Hary , don 1 t you ·ueep , don 1 t you moan, Pharaoh I s army got drownded, 011 Hary, don't you weep. �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) One of dese 111ornings, b:cight and fair, Take my win gs and cleave de air, Pharaoh's army eot drownded, Oh }~ry , don't you weep. One of deso mornings, five o 1 clock, Dis ole world gonna reel and rock, Pharaoh's army got drownded, Oh Nary, don I t you weep. Don I t know uho.t my motl1er wants to stay lier fuh, Dis ole world ain't been no friend to bub, Pharaoh I s army got drownded, Oh Mary, don't you weep. Oh Hary , don't you weep, don't ·you moan, Oh Mary, don't you weep, don't you 111oan, Pharaoh I a army got drownded, Oh :Mary, don't you weep. VT. FOLK SECULAn3 HE IS NY HORSE One day as I wus a-ridin' by, Said dey: "Ole t; an, yo' boss will die. " "If he dies, Ancl if 110 }1 e is my loss; lives, lie is my hoss. 60 11 �FOLK SECULARS (cont 1 d) Nex' day w 1 en I come a 1 ridin 1 by, Dey said: "Ole man, yo' boss may die. "If he dies, I 1 11 tan 1 is 11 skin; 1\.n 1 if be lives, I'll ride lim a g 1 in. 11 Den aG'in w1 en I come a-ridin' by , Said de:r: "Ole man, yo' h oss mou c;·h t die. 11 "If he dies, I'll eat his co•n; An' if he lives, I'll ride 'im on. 11 DID YOU FEED HY COU? "Did y0r feed my cow? 11 "Yes, I1am!" ''Yes, Ha m! 11 "Will yer tell me h ow?" 11 01 l , u 1 at tlid yor g ive 1 cr?" "cawn an hay. II 11 011 , , er?" "Cawn an hay. II ll I D..t clid ycr• g i ve "Did yer milk 1 er g ood?" "Yes, Mam! "Did yer do l ak yer sbould?" 11 0h, how did ycr milk 'or? 11 Swish! "Yes, Ham! 11 S:wisb ! 11 Swish! 11 "Did dat cow r; it sick?" "Yes , !!am! 11 Hus she kivcred Hid tick?" 11 11 11 "Yes, Ham !" 0b, h ow wus she sick?" "All b loated up. II "Oh , how HUS she sick?" "All b loated up. II 69 �FOLK SECULARS (cont 1 d) SONG (From Frederick Douglass, Hy Bondac e and I1~r Preedo: n, 11353) Ue r aise de 1-1l1eat , Dey gib us de corn: He hake de hreo.d , Dey c;ib de crust; U!3 'He s if de mea l, Dey c; i b de huss; UE.: He peel de meat, Dey g i h us de skin ; And dat• s de way Doy tak e no in; Ho skim do pot , Dey ~ib us de liquor, J\.nd say dat 18 c;o od e nou ch for n i c2;er . SONG (Pro:11 Viu.1~ tin R . Delany, "Bl ake ; or, The Huts of At~1e ric a ," in The Anclo-Afrlcan lio.c;az l ne, June H 159) Cone all my ln•e t brcn , let us ta'trn a re st, Olu. u astci:· died a t.L1 J.r_;ft us u ll at last , And l h:J con0 nt the bar' to appear ! 01<.1 , :o.s t cr· 13 J\.nc.l our b l ood cleac1 an<l l :ri.n.3 in 1i i s gra vc; 1-1i 11 now c ease to flou; Ee uill no t.tore tramp on the ne; ck of t110 nla•;e , f.'01• he I c; [;One \-Jri cre slave-holders 7n £.:;O ! �FOLK SECULAri.S ( cont I d) Earnl up t he sbove 1 and the hoe-0 -0- 0 ! I don 1 t care whether I work or no! Old tr,nstor ' s .:;one to t11e slave-holders rest-He':::; 0 one w110re the:r all ou~ht to SELLI H t TII!E Goodbye, Goodhyo, Ii' I n0val1 , ncvah see you any tao. Goodbye, Good ~ye , I will meot you on t he utha oho. Pray fo r Ille , Pray for tr1e , If I ncvah , ncvah see you any Pl O. fray .for r11e , Pray .for !1l C, I will meat you on the utha sho. Do stronG, Bo str on g , If I nevah, nevah see you any mo . Be strong, Be s trong, I will meet you on the utha sho. Fare tbce well, Fare thee we ll, If I nevah , nevah see you an:r mo . Po.re th:..;c Hell, 71 L,;O ! �FOLK SECULARS (cont 1 d) Fare thee well, I will mee t you on the utha sho. l½.ANY A THOUSAlID DIE no r.:ore driver call for me, Ho more dri ver call; No more driver call for• me, I1any a thousand die; No more peck of corn for me, No more pock of corn; No more peck of corn for me, Many a t h ousand die! No more 'h undred lash for r1e, no more bundred lasl1; No more hundred lanh for me, I1any a tl1ous and die! Fm;EDOTI Ahe Lincoln freed the nigger, Wid da gun o.nd wid da tri gger, An I ain't g inna c; it whipped no mo. Ab c;ot mah ticket Out of dis heab thicket, An I' m headin for da golden sho. 0 freedo m, 0 freedo m, 72 �FOIJ~ SECULA.i'1S ( cont Id) 0 freedom after a while, And before I 1 d be a slave, I 1 d be buried in my erave, And go home to my Lord and be free. The1 e 'll be no more moaning , no more moaning, 1 No more woaning after a while, And before I 1 d be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free. No more weeping, no more crying, No more weopinc; after a while, And before I'd be a slave, I 1 d be buried in my grave , An<l go home to my Lord and be free. There'll be no more kneeling, no more bowing, No more kneeling after a while, And before I'd be a slave, I 1 d be buried in my grave, And c; o borne to my Lord and be free. There'll be shouting, there'll be shouting, There'll be shouting after a while, And before I'd be a slave, I 1 d be buried inn~ grave, And go home to my Lord and be free. WE 'LL SOON BE FREE We'll soon be free, He 1 11 soon be free, 73 �FOIJ( SECULARS (cont I d) We'll soon be free, 1vhen de Lord wi 11 call us home. Hy br•udder, how long My brudder, how long, Hy brudder, 110-w long, 'Fore we done sufferin' here? It won't be long (Thrice.) ' Fore de Lord will call us borne. We'll walk de miry road (Thrice. ) Wbere pleasure never dies. Hy brudder, how lone; (Thrice.) 1 Fore we done sufferin' here. We ' ll soon be free (T11rice.) ) When Jesus sets sets me free. We 1 11 fic;ht for liberty ('rl1rice.) When de Lord will call us home. DOH WID DRIBER 'S DRIBIN' Don wid driber 1 s dribin 1 Don wid dribor 1 s dribin' Don wid dribcr's dribin' Roll, Jordo.n, roll. Don Hid massa's hollerin 1 Don wid mo.::isa 1 s hollerin 1 Don Hid tr1 cw [l a ' ::i lJollerin 1 Roll, Jordan, roll. 74 �FOLK SE CULARS ( cont I d) R.ADTBOW ROUN HAH SHOULDER Evahwhuh I, ::,huh I look dis mawnin, Looks lak rain, looks lak rain. I gotta rainb ow, tied 1111 roun mah sl1oulder, Ain gonna rain, ain g onna rain. I don walk till, walk till mah feets 8 one to rollin, Jes lak a whee l, jes lak a sheel. Evah m11ilday, I gets a letter, "Hy son come home, my son come home." Dat ol letter read about dyin, Mah tears run down, mah tears run down. I 1 m gonna break rie;ht, break ri c;h t pas dat shooter, I 1m goin r1orno, LuHd, I 1 1:i g oin h ome. RAILROAD SECTION LEADER'S SONG Ef ab could, al1 sholy Hould, Stan on da rack Hhuh Moses stood. Viary, Martha, Luke and Joh n, All dem sciples dead an g on. Ah g otta Ho man in Jennielee Square, Ef yon wanna die easy, lemme ketch you there. �FOLK SECULARS (cont 1 d) Lil Evaline, settin in da shade, Figurin on da money I ain't made. Jack de rabbit, Jack de bear, Cancha move it jus a hair? All ab hate b out linin track, Dase ol bar3 b out to break mah back. You keep tal k in bout da joint ahead, Ir ever nay nuwtbin bout mah ho g an l)read. Uay down yond er in da b olla of da fiel, Angel::; wuklcin on da chayet wheel. nc ason I stay ·w id my cap' n so lone; , He giv me bi s cuita to rear b ack on. Jc rJ le111rno tell ya whut da cap' n jes done, Looked at his watch and looked at du sun. Ho, Boys, it ain time. Ho, Boys, you cuin't qu:i.t. Ho, Boys, it ain time. Sun ain gone down yit. GO DOUH, OL' IIAlnTAH Go down 01 1 Hannah., u on you riDC no mo? �FOLK SECUL.l\.TIS ( cont 1 d) Go down ol' Hannah, Won you rise no mo? Laud, if y ou rise, BrinG Jud c;t:1ent on Lawd, if y ou rise, Bring Judi:;ment on. Oh, did you hear Hhat tbe cap 1 n said? Oh, did you hear What t he cap 1 n said? That if you work He 1 ll tr ea t you well, And if you don He 1 11 give you hell. Oh, g o doun 01 1 Hannah, Won you rise no mo? Won you go down, 01 1 Hannah, Won you rise no mo? Ob , lon g-ti me man, Hold up ye haid. We ll, you may ge t a pardon And you may drop daid. 77 �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) Lawdy, nobody feels sorry For de life-time man . Nobody feels sorry For de life-time man . J{,)IIN I-illNRY I-IAMH8R SONG Dis is de hammer Killt John Henry, Twon 1 t kill rne , baby, Twon 't ki ll me . Take dis hammer, Carry it to de captain Tell 11im I' m g one, baby, Tell him I 1 m gone. Ef he axe you, Has I running Tell him how fust , baby, Tell him hoH fast. Ef he axe you Any mo ' q u es t i o ns , Tell him you don 1 t know, baby, You don't know . Every lila i 1 duy, Gits a letter, �FOLK SECULARS ( cont I d) "Son, come home , baby, Son come home. 11 Been al 1 nic;ht long Backing up timber , Ha nt to co home, baby, Want to go home. Jes 1 wait till I make Dese few days I started I 1m going home, baby , Is going home. Everywhere I Look dis morning Look lak rain , baby, Look la k ruin. I got a rainbow Tied 'round my shoulder, Ain 1 t e onna rain, baby, Ain't g onna rain. Dis ole hammer n ing lak silver, Shine lak go ld. Take dis hammer 79 �FOLIC SECULARS ( cont I d) Throw it in de river, It'll rin g ri cht on, baby, Ring ri c;ht on. Captain, did you hear All yo' men g onna leave you, Next pay day, baby, Next pa~,r day? SHINE AND THE TITANIC It was 1912 uh en the awful news g ot around That the great Titanic was sinking down. Shine came running up on deck, told the Captain, "Please, The water in the boiler room is up to my knees . 11 Captain said, "Take your black self on back down there' I got a hundred-fifty pumps to keep tl1e boiler room clear. 11 Shine went back in the hole, started shovellin g coal, Sinr;ing , "Lord, have mercy, Lord, on my soul! 11 Just then half the ocean jumped across the boiler room deck. Shine yelled to the Captain, "The water's round my neck!" Captain said, "Go back! Neither fear nor doubt! I got a hundred more pumps to keep the water out." '~our words sound happy and your words sound true, But th is is one ti m.e, Cap, your words won't do. 80 �FOLK SECULATIS (cont 1 d) I don't like chicken and I don 1 t like hamAndi don't be lieve your pumps is worth a damn!" The old Titanic was beginning to sink. Shine pulled off his clothes and jumped in the b~ink. He said, "Little fish, big fish, and shark fishes, too, Get out of my 1.-rn:r because Ir m comi.nc; through. 11 Captain on bridge hollered, "Shine, Shine, save poor me , And I 1 11 make you as rich as any man can be. 11 Sb ine said, "There's more gold on la nd than there is on sea. And he sivirnmed on. Jay Gould's millionaire daughter came running up on deck With her suitcase in her band and her dress •round her neck. She cried, "Shine, Shine, save poor me! I 1 11 g ive you everything your eyes can see. Sbine said, 11 11 There 1 s more on land than tbere is on sea. And he swimmed on. Bi g fat banker begging, 11 Shine, Shine, save poor ne! I 1 11 give you a tbousand shares of T and T. 11 Shine said, "r-Tore stocks on land than there is on sea." And he swi mmed on. 1-nien all tlw m white folks went to heaven, Shine was in Sucar Ray's Bar drinking Sea grams Seven . Sl 11 11 �FOLK SECULARS ( cont' d ) TI-IB SI GNIFYING 1-lONiillY Tbe monkey and Lion Go t to t alkinc one day . Honkey looked down and said, · Lion , I hear you 1 s l in~ i n every way . Bu t I know sot1ie b ody 1Jho do not think that is true Be to l d me he c ould whip The living daylich t s ou t of you . Lion sa id , Hl10? Monkey said, Lion , He talked a b out y our• mamma And talke d about your grandma , t oo , And I 1 m too po lite to toll you Hhat he said about you . Lion said, '\'n10 said wlrnt? 1D10? ~-IonL:0y in t he tree , Lion on the cr•ou nd . !Io nlrny kep t on siGnif~,ing But he d idn ' t co: :e d oun . ~.i:onlrny sai cl , J-T:Ls n a,,ie is Eleplrn.ntTTe stone s ur e in not your friend . Lion :Ja id , He don ' t need to ;)e Because toda~ wi ll b e his end . Lion took off throu gh th e juncle 32 �POLK SE GUIA11f3 ( cont I d) Lickity -s plit, Me aning to c rab Clepb ant And t ear h i ~ b it to b it. Period! He c oi,:e ac r oss E lephant copping a ri e;h teous nod Und e r a fi ne c o ol shady tree. Lion said, You b i g old n o- g ood so-and-so, It 1 s eithe r you or me. Lion let out a solid roar And bopped Elephant with his paw. Elephant ju □ t took his trunk And busted old Lion's jaw. Lion let out a nother roar, Reared up six fe e t tall. Elephant ju c t kicked hi m in the belly And lau ghed to see hi m drop and fall. Lion rolled ov er, Copped Eleph ant b y tbe throat. Elephant just shook bim loose And butted him like a goat, Then he tromped him and he stomped 11im Till the Lion yelled, ffil, no! And it was near•-nigh sunset When Elephant let Lion go. Tbe si g nifyinc Honkey Was still settin g in bis tree 33 �FOLI~ SECULARS ( cont I d) 't·JJ:i en be looked down and saw tbe Lion, Sa i d , l-n1y, Lion, uho can tbat t h ere be? Lion s aid, it' s me. Mon key rapped, Wh y, Lion, You loo k more dead than alive! Lion said, r!o nkey , I don't wo. nt To hear you r j ive - end-jive. Monkey j us t kept on si c nifying , Lion, you fo r sur e caught hellMist er El e~1 0. nt 1 s done wh ipp ed y ou To a far e -tlw o-wcll! ~fuy, Lio n , y ou look like to me You be en i n t h e pr e cinct station And had t he t h ird-de gre, Else you look li ke you been h i gh on ga ge And do ne c;et caught In a mon k ey cage! You ain 1 t no king to me. Facts, I don't think that you Can even a s much as roarAnd if you try I 1 m liable To come down out of tbis tree and 1,n1i p your t a il some more. Th e Honkey st o.rted laughing And jumpine up a nd dow n . �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) But he jumped so hard tbe limb broke And he landed--bam!-on the ground. When he Hent to run, bis foot slipped And be fell flat down. Grr-rrr-rr-r! The Lion Has on him With his front feet and his hind. Monkey hollered, Ow! Lion said, You little flee-bag you! l'fl1y, I 1 11 eat you up alive. I wouldn't a- b een in this fix a-tall Vasn 1 t for your signifying jive. Please, said Monkey, Mister Lion, If you 1 11 just let me go, I got something to tell you, please, I think you ought to know, Lion let the Monkey loose To sec wbat his tale could beAnd Monkey jumped rigbt back ori up Into his tree. ·what I was gonna tell you, said Honkey, Is you square old so-and-so, If you fool with me 1 1 11 get Elephant to whip your bead some more. Monkey, said the Lion, Beat to his unbooted knees, �FOLK SE CULATIS (cont 1 d) You and all your signifying children Better stay up in them trees. Whicb is why today Monley does his signifying A-way-up out of the way. FRANIITE AHD JOHNNY Frankie and Johnny were lovers, Lordy, how they could love, Swore to be true to each other, True as the stars up above, He was h er man, but he done her wron G. Prankie went down to the corner, To buy ber a bucket of beer, Frankie says 11 Mister Bartender, Has my lovin 1 Johnnie been here? IIe is my man, but he ts doin g me ·wronc;. 11 11 I don't want to cause you no trouble Don't want to tell you no lie, I saw your Johnnie half-an-hour a go Making love to Nelly Bly. He your man, but he 's doing you wrong. Frankie went doun to the botel Looked ov er the transom so h i gh , 86 11 �FOLK SECUL/\.RS (co nt rd) There she sau he r lo vin ' Jobnnie Haki ng love to Nelly Bly Ile was her nill n; he was doing her wron g . Frankie threw ba ck her ki~ono, Pulled out her big forty-four; Tooty-toot-toot: three ti mes she shot Tiight t h rough that hotel door, Sl1e s l10t ber man, who was doing her wron g . rrRoll me over c;ently , Roll me over slow, Roll me ov er on my right side, Cause th ese b ullets hurt me so, I was y our rrian, but I done you wroni:; ." Bring all your rubber-tired hearses Bring all your rubber-tired h acks, Th ey're carrying poor Joh nny to ·the burying gr ou nd And they ain't gonna bri ne him b ack, He was he r man, but be done h er wrong. Fr ankie says t o t he sheriff, "What are they goin o; to do? 11 The sher iff he said to Frankie, 11 It 1 s t he 1 lectric ch o.ir for you. He was your man, and he done y ou Wl'onc." • �FOLK SECULAES (cont'd) 11 Put r.1e i n t hat dun.c;eo n, Put lile in t h at cell, Put me where the north east wind Blows fro m the southeast cor ne r of h ell, I sho t my 1,mn, 'cause he done t11e wrong . S T. JAHES INFIR1-1ARY BLUES I went down to St. James Infirmary, Hy b aby t11er e she lay, Out on a cold , cold table. Well, I looked an I turned away. Hl1 at 1 s my baby 's chances, I asked old Dr. Tharp. '~y six o 1 clock this eve nin She 'll be playln a g olden harp. 11 Let h er go, let h er s o, God b l es s h er, W11 erever she may be. She can hunt this wod e world over, But she 1 11 never fi nd anoth er man like me. JUST BLUES I got a sweet black gal Liven down b y t h e railroad track, A swe e t blac k gal 88 11 �FOLK SECULARS (cont 'd) Down by the railroad track, And everytime she cri es The tears run down her ba ck. Cryin 1 , baby , have me rcy, Baby , have mer cy on me! Baby, baby , baby , Have mer cy, mercy on me! If this is your mercy, Hha.t can your pity be ? BLACK W0r-1AN We ll, I said come here, Black Woman, Ah-hmmm, do n you hear me cryin, Lawd, Laud! I say run heah , Black Woman, Si t on yo ur Black Daddy's k nee , Lawd! Hmrnmm, I kn oH yo h ouse f e el lones ome, Ah, don you heah me whoopin, L~wd, Lawd, Do n yo h ouse feel lo nesome , Hben yo biscuit roller gon, Lawd, he lp my cryin time Don yo house f ee l loneso111e , Hmmm , l~en yo biscui t roller gon. �FOLK SECULARS (cont 1 d) I say rny house feel lonesome I know you heah me crying , ob Baby, Ah-hmmm, ah, when I loolrnd in r,1y ki tcl"Jen , I-1ama , An I wen all t h oo my dinin room An-mmam1, when I woke up this mornin I faun my b iscuit roller done gone. Goin to Tex as, Mama, Justo heah t he wild ox moanLaHd help mah cry in time -Goin to Texas, Mama, Jus to beah the wild ox moan, An if they moan to suit me, I'm c;oin to bring a wild ox home. Ah -brnmm, I sa:r I I m got to go to Texas, Black MamaI know you heah me cryin, Lawd, Lawd- Ah-hmmm, I'm got to f!,O to Texas, Black Ma ma, Ah m-jus to heah the white cow, I say, moan! Ah-h mmrn, ah, if they moan to suit me , Lawd, Lawd, I bleeve I'll bring a white cow ba ck home. Say , I f ee l superstitious, Mama, 'Bout my hoggin bread, Lawd he lp my h ungr y time, I feel superstitious, Baby , ' b out my h ogg in bread! Ah-hrnmm, Baby, I feel superstltious, 90 �FOLK SECULARS (cont'd) I s ay'stitious, Black 1fo111an! Ah-bmrinn, ah y ou b eab me cryin Bout I do n c; ot h ungry, LaHd, Lawd Oh , Mama, I fee l superstitious Bout my b og , Lawd Gawd, it's mah bread. I want y ou to tell me, Ma ma, Ah-b 11mm, I he ah me cry in, oh Ma ma! Ah - hmmm , I wa nt y ou to tell me, Black Woman, 0 wh e ah did y ou stay las ni gh t? I love y ou, Blac k woman, I tell the wh ole Herl I do. Ah -h ~nm, I lo ve y ou, Black Woman, I know you h eah me wh oopin, Black Baby ! Ah -h tnm.m, I lo ve y ou Blac k Woma n An I'll t e ll y o Daddy , I do, Lawd. YOU}W BOY BLUES I 1 m a real young boy, jus sixteen years ol, I 1 m a r eal y oung boy, jus sixteen years ol, I need a fu nky black woman to satisfy my soul. ·1y fath er was no jockey but he sure taugh t me h ow to rid e . I s ay my fat her· was no jockey bu t h e sur e tau gb t me h ow to ride. 91 �FOLK SECULARS ( cont I d) He said first in the middle, Then you suay from side to side. BACiillOOR BLUES I left my baby standin in the back door cry in 1 Yes, I left my b aby sta ndin in the back door cryin' Sh e said, baby , y ou g otta h ome jus as long as I Bot mine. A BIG FAT HAHA I 1 m a b i g fat ma ma, [sOt the meat s h akin on ma1) b ones, I 1 m a b i r; fat ma ma, got t h e meat shaki n on mall bones, And ev er y ti me I shakes, s oti1e skinny g irl loses lrnh 11otrte. HOU LONG BLUES How lo nr; , how l onG, has t h at eveninc; tr a in b i n c one? Hou l one; , hou lo ne; , b aby, h ow lon13 ? Had a c al li ved up on tbe hill If she 1 c t her e , uhe loves me still Baby, how lonG, hoH long , boH lon g ? Sta nd in at the station, watch my b a by c;o Feel dis c ustcd, b lue, ~e an a n low II oH lone , h ow lo ne , b a by , 11 011 92 lone ? �CHAPTETI III AFRICAN VOICE IN ECLIPSE: IMITATION & AGITATION 1746 - 1865 Slaves, thou gh we be enroll 1 d Minds are never to be sold --from David Ruggles• Appeals, 1835 I Overview As we embark on a survey of the chronolo g ical development of Black written poetry, it is important to remember that any study of such li t er•a ture concerns that which is "available. 11 11 wri tten II and The fact that one writer has made more works accessible to the public than another writer does not make · him/her the "greatest" or even "greater. 11 In every era, quiet and important writers have been passed over in favor of literature that is more "timely, 11 'flamboyant" and "relevant "--to use ;,.., ..f.p/1.,..,'~ an overworked contemporary term. Here and fellewiM~ chapters, I am including brief representations of the poetry. And while this book certainly is not an ~nthology, /"samples" are g iven to reinforce comments on styles, themes, subjects, language and other aspects of the poetry. The poems included, it is hoped, will allow student, gene ral reader and teac ber immediate acces s to comparisons, contrasts and tentative analyses. also is no over-riding effort to explain the Horks in a 93 There �poem- by- p oem b r e a kdmm. h istori ca l Howe v er, Cha pter VII will offer an "running " analysis of several poe ms with e wpb asis on how t h e p o ems can be r e ad s ilently and aloud. Also to b e examined ar e s ome of t h e cons istencies (a nd si milariti e s) i n th emes that can be found i n many of the poems. II Lit e r a ry and Social Landscape Blacks h ave bee n in the Western He mis phere almost as lon g a s whites . Aft e r 1501, most of the Spanish ex pe ditions to the New World included Black explorers. By the ti me the 2 0 sla ves- to-be were b rou ght on a Dutch vessel to Jamestown in 1619, the pre se nc e of Blacks had been felt for at l e ast 100 years (see Be nne tt, Fr a n klin). Cruci a l to a n und e r s tanding of early Black poetry are t h e circums ta nc e s surrounding slavery and the political and reli c iou s mood s of both E ng land and Colonial-Revolutionary Amer1.c a . Briti s h Ame ric a did not follow t h e Greco-Roma n tra- dition of t h e we ll i nformed slave . It was quit e unlikely , thep, that a "r e volutionary" Black poet would e mer g e from a social and lit e rary landsca pe so char ge d with self-ri ght e ousness and Neoclass icis m (or from the Ro manticis m of t h e Lucy Terry' s "Bars Fi gh t 11 1noo r3 ). (written in 1746 and pub li s hed in ll39.5) could h a rdly be called "protest"; neither could th e work of Phillis Wheatl ey , co tJ sidered the finest Black talent of the coloni a l era, cau ght b etween contrivances of the Ag e of Enli ghtenment and the approaching g rip of the ro mantics. • 94 The neoclassical �tradition that reached its height in the poetry of England's Alexander Pope, had already be g un to die out with the death of Pope himself in 1744. All over Colonial America, however, white poets were i mitating the stiff-collared conventionality of that period. The moral issues considered by most of the poets (Black and white)--universal brotherhood of man, quest for reason and order, the Jeffersonian ideals of freedom, liberty and representative government--were removed from the everyday brutality of slavery. Some of the most liberal men of the day (Jefferson, Washington, Hume) implicitly justified slavery by suggesting that Blacks were in some ways inferior. Despite Jefferson's pontifications on humanitarianism, he was unable to reconcile the disparity between his public stands and bis failure to manumit bis own slaves. Althoush Jefferson carried on a written correspondence with Black astronomer and mathematician, Benjamin Banneker, he considered Phillis Wheutley 1 s work "beneath criticism. 11 On the g eneral American scene, the Revolution behind, a national literature bad begun to emerge. Fascinated with American employment of new technology (Franklin's li ghtning experiments, printing presses, etc.) and the prospects of unexplored regions of the New World, writers started recording travels and observing the mixture of races and religions. Although religious fervor was still hi gh (Calvinism, Weslyanism - - and deism had run their courses), political problems dominated. Between 1790 and 1832 the new American government was being consolidated and the writings of men like Willian Bradford, 95 �John Winthrop, Cotton Mather, Thomas Shephard, Roger Hilliams, Edward Taylor> and Jonathan Edwards were succeeded by t11e embryonic nationalistic works of Franklin, Jefferson, William Byrd, William Cullen Bryant, Charles Brockden Brown, Washington Irving, William Gilmore Simms an:l James Fenimore Cooper. Irving, Cooper and Bryant were to become the early writers most taugh t to American school children. "New England Renaissance, 11 Often called the the early decades of tl1e 19th Century saw increasing tens ion behrnen New England puritan ism and Southern aristocracy over the question of slavery. over s lavery Debates continued up to the beginning of the Civil War. The early part of t he century also saw tbe birth of many of -Ht .tut IQ eA-- 1 white America's greatest writers , along with 1 romanticism and rug ged individualis m. Mystified by the noble sa va ge (Indians and sometimes Blacks) and cballenged by the "new frontier, 11 Americ ans be gan to romanticize their situation and especially that of explorers Hho became the first ori g inal folk her oes. "W'hi te writers who dominated the period fro m 1826-1 865 included Edgar Allan Poe (poet and short story writer, credited with creating the first detective in American fiction), Nathaniel Hawthorne (consid ered the first i;reat American novelist--The Scarle t Letter), John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Hadsworth Longfellow, Jarnes Russel LoHell, Oliver Hendell Holmes, Harri e t Beecher Stowe ( one of the first wl1i te American novelist s to feature a Black pro ta g onist in fiction--Uncle Tom's Cabin), Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, �Herwan 11e l vi ll e (c onsidered to have Hritten one of th e l7andf u l of "grea t" American nove ls-- Moh:r Dick), Halt 'h7hit man. (t eru;ed th e "gre atest II American poe t--Lea ves of Grass). Otl1e r writers, pr• i ri1ar ily po litic al act ivists or ahol iti on i s t s , included John G. Calhoun, Hi l l iuu Lloyd Garris on, and Abrnhar,1 Lincoln. Us i. ng th e ir mm and Black ma terial, n nm,11)er of 1-1bi te comp osers i mmor t a liz cc.1 t h0 ern in songs -- 1.1an:r of t ber,1 nationrtli.sti. c. It Wf.t. , dnr i nc; t )1i. c p c: r-'Lod tl'ia t Francis Scott Kc:r wrot e "T1 e St ar {:ip t,ngl(jcl Banner . 11 S teplrn n Pos t er l7as since 1eo 11 a ccu sed of r.1ere ly puttinc; to music the s on c;s that we1°e sun e; by slaves. Tl10re rn:1.s no ._:;cnoral encourageme nt, bow8ver , for Blacks to l earn to read; but many slave owner•s i ndu l ge d their cha ttel in uritine; ex e rci nes as personal pastti mes nnd bobbies. So many of the earl y Black poets , t hen , g rew u p in relati ve sec urity. To be totally free , Dav id Walker observed in h is Appeal (1 029) was to bo e conomically insecure, socially ostracized and psycholo gically oppressed . Co nsequ en tly, those sla ves priv iled c;ed to r ead and write i nvar iably took European literary models . Poet s , of course , were not the only ones writin g . In a dd ition to aholitionists-essayists, like Wa lker and Frederick Dou g lass, tbts perioc.1 of Black literary acttvity was h i gh li e;hted by exciting slave n a rratives: or freed slaves. autobiographical accounts of es caped The most popular of these, and one of the first recorded, was T~ Interestin e Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African {17 09 ). Bontemps includes it in his Gre a t Slave Narrativ es 97 Arna (1969). �Vassa, wh o also i p~J ~d oo. penned so me notab le verses, co n structed a s tor y patt e r n t hat was to b ecome fa miliar to read e rs of early America: th a t of t h e escaped, freed or run away sla v e wh o reported his or her hardships and struggles. Vassa descri b es his life in Africa u p until the ti me of his kidnapping . With vivid memory and d e tail, he e stab lishes the ori g inal b ases for what we hav e come to call t h e "African Continuum" in America. It is not just mere coincidence t h at t b is state ment fro m 1789 almost fits parts of Black America of today. We are almost a nation of dancers, 111usicians, and poets. Thu s e very great event ••• is celebrated in pub lic dances which are accompanied with song s and music suited to the occasions. Vassa 1 s debut into this literary g enre was followed by hundreds of other narratives, many of the m fakes. Early Negro Hritin g : Dorothy Porter, in 1760-1837 (1971), has dj_scussed tbe problem of det e r mining authe nticity of tbe narratives. Mrs. Porter is librari a n of the Hoorland Foundation at Howard University--which houses an outstanding collection on t h e Black past. book she included: constitutions and laws of b eneficial societies; speeches before nrutual aid and educational societies; t he report of the earliest annual convention for the improve ment of free people of color; ar g uments for and a g ainst colonization; printed letters, sermons, petitions, orations, lectures, essays, reli g ious and In h er �moral treatises, and such creative manifestations as poems, prose narratives, and :::ihort essays. Mrs. Porter thus sums up the intellectual and literary output of the ear•ly Africans. The word "African, by most writers and speakers of the era. 11 was used generously Hhen "African" was not employed it was ir.1plied throu gh the use of "Coloured, "Black, 11 "an Ethiopian Princess" and other terms. 11 Placed against the sometimes sophomoric and h eretical accusations of some of today's Black critics, these early displays of pride in the African heritage makes one want to send many a loudmouth back to school! In addition to the plethora of pamphlets, hroadsides, books r and news organ! tbat emerged from Black individuals and institutions durin g the period up to the end of the Civil War, there was also much political-social consciousness - raising throu gh oratio n . In the ear ly years great reli g ious and political lead ers s uch as Ri ch ard Allen, Peter Williams, Ab salom Jones, Prince Hall (founde r of Black Masonry), Paul Cuffee and Daniel Coker, took up projects of "mutual aid" for Africa ns . Their work se t the stage for missionary, abolitionist and self-help programs undertaken later by people like Jarena Lee, Frederick Douglass, n. Martin Delaney, Sojourner Trutl1, and Alexander Crumme ll, to name only a handfull. The intellectual, reli g ious and moral work of Blacks in the North was paralleled by t he development of folk materials 99 �(the songs and stories) of Blacks on Southern plantations. In general few states, Nort11 or South, allowed educational or vocational opportunities for Blacks. Thus the energies of early Black writers and intellectuals, Mrs . Porter and Hilliam Robison point out, 110r0 aimed at setting up of various "African" societies and free schools , and the promotion of literacy and self-betterwent amonc; neHly freed slaves. Many educated Blacks of the North also acted as conduits for the Underground Railroo.d . The R0v . Allen, popular relic;ious crusader and founder r of tm Bet11el African He t hodist Episcopa,n} Church, seems to ,J have been referrinc; to the same Black "sensibility" described by Vass a when he said ( in 1793) that 11e was conf ident that there was no religious sect or denomination that would suit the capo.city of the colored people as well as the Methodist; .•• Sure I am that reading sermons will never prove so benefi cial to the colored people as spiritual . or extempore preachi nc; ...• Huch evidence oxists, then, of Blacks bandinc; toc;ether for "mutual II concerns in the enrly days of America. The horrors of slavery , the psychological pressures of Northern "fr eedom , 11 white reprisals ln wake of slave revolts (such as those led hy Gabriel Prosser in 1800, Denmark Vesey in 1 822 and Nat Turner in 1831), ma.de for a most unsettling atmosphere (s ee Halker 1 s 100 �Appeal). Reporting on wbite America's "need" to vent its fears and hatreds on Blacks, Winthrop Jordan (tn, ite Over Black, 1968 ) noted that wbites initially feared tbree thin 13s: loss of identity, lack of self-control and sexual license. In an effort to e.scape the "animal within himself t11e white man debased the Uegro, surely, but at the sar,1 e time he debased himself. 11 And a youn[s Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, visitin g America in 1831, said racial prejudice was "stronger in tbe states t h at bave abolisbed slavery than in those where it still exists. 11 {.,.; ( - 'Needless to say, creative literature of the "arty" sort (thou ch much of it Has being done at the ti me) was not the number one priority for Blacks facing hell from all sides. Nevertheless a literary tradition did develop and flourish in Black America. Th e exa mple of the narratives (including those by }Tarrant, Doue;lass and Truth) led to publications by the first Black noveli s t and playwright, Will1am Wells Brown. novel was Clotel: Brown 1 s or The President's Daue;bter (1 853) and his play was called Escape: Or A Leap to Freedom (1 857). The second novel by a Black American Has The Garies and their Friends (1857) by Frank J. Webb. Delaney published the third novel, Black, or the Huts of America, in 1059. Webb Here both published in England. The works by Brown and Brown also worked on in the cause of abolition and other social reform pro grams. His Anti-Slavery Harp (1 848) contained songs and poe ms whose the mes are implied in the book's title. The pattern of the Black educator, intellectual or artisan carrying on tbe dual role of creator and activist, characterizes the history of Black • 101 ,.f:, �creativity in Atnerica. ) Yet many critics, Black and whit e , unaHur e of.' the stresses and demands on Black artists) do not approach their sub jects with the understanding required. r also, ~ Political journalism (see Dann's The Black Press, 1827-1 890), was a strong vein in the development of Black American writing . Beginninc; with John Russwurm (the second Black colle ge graduate and first Black newspaper editor, Freedom's Journal, 1827-29), and e volvine.; througb Ru ggles' Mirror for Liberty (first Black ma gazine, 1838), Douglass' Monthly (1 844) and North Star (1847), to Hamilton's Anglo-African Macazine (1 859), the tradition of Black journalism and research on the African experience was firmly established. Huch of the journalistic writing (like the poetry) took pros or cons on the question of imigration, colonization or the elevation of the Black manls pli ght in America. During tbe early and middle years of the 19th Century, white travelers throu~1 the Soutb collected and compiled slave songs-Seculars and Spirituals. These songs would later form the nucleus for much of the Black and white writing the mes. On the eve of tbe Civil Har, the Dred Scott decision (a hlow to slaves and abolitionists) help step up the demands for the abolishment of slavery. Brown's The Black Han ( 1863) was a capsule of one era which closed on the b lasts of cannon and another that opened on tlle sound of jubilant shouts. 102 �III THE VOICES ON TIIE TOTEM "mean mean mean to be free 11 --Tiobert Hayden Ae;ainst tbc forec_;oing background, tl1e poets of ColonialRevolutionary -Slavery America appear curious, tearful, exciting, paradoxical, fri~1tening and puzzlinc. Biblical i mac ery, classical allusions and themes, llatred of slavery and ai.~bi 13uous praise for s lav c - n1nsters, recollcctionn of Africa, appeals and condemnations, all become enmeshed in the intricate ling uistic and psycholoc;ical 11el1binc; of' this early poetry. In 1770, at 17 y ears of a ge , the privileGed slave cirl Phillis 1,n1eatlcy became the first Black "exception to tbe rule 11 j in Enc lish and American poetry. And for decades students of' American pootr:r had Gone about their recitations and research Ile ,,>,/ as thoui:sh nothinc; or no one of i 1poptat1ce l iapper:ed~ I1iss Hbea tley and Dunbur. It wa:J not until 1 8 C)J tl1at Lucy Terr•:r 1 n 11 Bar 1 s Figbt 11 - - t:;bo account of a 17L1.6 Indian taas:::acre in Deerfield, Ha:::isaclrn:rntts--cnr..c to public li c> t. c1.notl1or• 27 ~r0t:Lr·s to Jupttor IIat,1111011 1 c 11 11 A:x1 readers 1·1ad :rot a :i. t bcf ore O:-~cnr Hcce l i n i. n 101:; discovered .r1l. n Ti'v T'JJ, ou u·1,·t:; ~ . et,iL~,:-· • ~ - , Salvation h:· C1~ri:::it, Hith Penit en tial Cri.::: :-~11 (1761) in tbo 1T011 York Historical Society, tlrns establishinc Hmnmon as the first publ lsbed African roe t in Amer'lca. 103 �H e :,e n tio ne: d c arili or• th at :.:a n:" a n t }1 olo i3 ies 0::1. i t Fi c;li t. n 11 Bnr I s Th is i s lll1ck rstanda1' l e si n c e Hi s s Terr7 (1730-1 ° 31) never u ro t e; , or a t lea s t presented, anymore l i terar:r works. Americ a I s "first Ne g ro poet, be inc; ju s t tha t--f irs t. 11 then, is L;1porta nt prilimril:r for Like ITiss 1'n1ea tle:r, Vas sa and ot11er New EnGland sla v es, s he was kidnapped as a child and br6u gh t to UcH England (Rhode Island). She witnessed t h e Indian raid reported in h e r 2 8 -line do g cerel and h ns a flair for storytelling . Hence clc:::ipi tc tbe poe m I s 11 ol"lViously Heak literary :rieri t, 11 t h is Black Hri ter perfo1~n: ccl one of the earliest services of the poet--that of a sing er of history-- in recordinc actual names and places in her narrative. Since she was 16-:rears-old and a ser v ant c;irl, writing i1us surely not h er pri r.1arily responsibility. Yet "Bar's Fi ght," achieves some success when seen against the oral tradition in poetry: Listen my children and you shall hear Of tlie n idnight ride of Paul Tievere. or HoH, cbildren, I 1 m g oing :to tell you t110 story about raw-head and bloody-bones! and There uas an old woman wl10 lived in a sboe .She had so many children she didn I t know what to do. Compare the fore g oing lines to Au c ust 'twas, the twenty-fifth, Seventeen h undred forty six, 104 �Tb e India ns did in ambus h lay , Some ve r y valient me n to slay , The no.me s of wb om I'll not leave ou t: Samuel Allen like a hero fout, and the ele mental connections will readily be seen. One h as only to re ad t h is poem aloud to get b oth t h e effects a nd Miss Terry's appar en t i nt e ntions . Uhen s h e wrote "Bar's Fi gbt" Miss Terry worked for an Ebenezer Wells of Deerfi e ld, }fussac b usetts, but was c;iven h er freedo m ten years later wh en she married a free Blac k man, Abijah Prince, by whom she had six childr en . Prince later became the owner of considerab le land and was one of t h e founders of Sunderland, Ver mont. 1-Jilliam Robinson (Early Black American Poets) lists Miss Terry with t h e "orator" poets and ri gh tly so. Oth er details about Niss Terry and t he Princes can b e obtained from George Sheldon's A History of Deerfield, I-1 assachusetts, 1 895. Slave poet a nd intellectual, Jupiter Ha mmon (172 0 ?-1 000?), provides yet another look into the capab ilities, mind-sets and limitations of Africans in Colonial America. Ha mmo n is c;enerally not r e gard ed as an "i mportant" Black writor-- but is dis t inc;uish ed for bei nc; t h e first African i n America to publis h his verses. This b e di d in 1761 ( "An Eveni ne; Thou gb t, 11 composed i n De cemb er or 1760); 177G ("An Address to Miss Phillis W110atley"); 17 B2 ("A Poctn. for Ch ildren"); and in the mid-17 80 1 s ("An Eve ning 's Improvement"). I n h is 11 Address to the Ne c;roes of t ll e State of New York 11 (written in 1 786 and pub lished in 1 30 6) Hatmnon . linked in with a tradition t h at i ncluded pamph leteers, like 105 ;- �Quinn, Ualker, Ruggles and others of the period. Hammon's "Address II sought freedom for younger Blacks, claimin[-s tba.t "for my own part I do not wish to be free. 11 This statement appears, on the surface, to be the ultimate in self-debasement and self-denial; but one has to view it in the context of statements by de Tocqueville, \Jalker, and others, aloni with the circumstances of t b e aging and relic;ious Hammon. That Hammon himself was deeply reli ~ious is reflected in his poetry--as with many Black poets, e.g., Hayden today-and he obviously labored under the influence of Methodism and the Wesleyan Revival (see Early Ne gro Hriting ). In the poem to Miss Wheatley, he notes that it was throu gh that rI 11 God 1 s tender mercy" that she was kidnapped from Africa and bro.ught to America as a slave. ~ / re:flect tinent: ~ And Hammon seemed, generally, to prevailing white attitude toward the "dark" con- one engulfed in ignorance, barb aris m and evil. Obviously not as well read as Miss 1.{hea tley, Hammon was unable to take his themes to universal and intellectually arresting levels. fJ He was born a slave and belo~ged to -t-l-l-e influential family of Lloyd's Neck on Long Island and was encouraged by bis masters to write and publish poetry. T11ere is not a great deal of information available on the life of Hammon; but it is difficult to understand why an intelli g ent Black man, Hho li ved such a lone; life, mirrored al most complete ignorance of the horrors of slavery--despite the almost daily local newspaper and verbal accounts and discussions of the 106 �"peculiar institution. 11 Har,m1on I s li terar:r mode ls Here primarily the co nven tional mate1"ial of hymns of the period. So his re- ligious fer vor --at the time of reli e ious re v i va ls in Europe and Colonial America--coupled with his stylistic borrowi ngs fro m hymns con i:iti tute his major poetic effort. "An Eveni n13 Thougl1t," "L·Il1ich Hrs. Porter tells us was probably "chanted during tl1e deli very of a sermon, 11 beGins: S al vat ion come s by Christ alo ne The only Son of God; Redemption now to every one, That lo ve h is only word. Dear Jesus we would fly to thee, And leave off every Sin, Thy tender ~cr cy well a gre e; Salvation fro1 ,1 our king; Like Hiss Ter•ry, Hamr,1on iras not primarily a poet. And hence, unlilrn n.pproachint; Phillis vn:ieatley, one should not spend too mucb ti me or be too barsh in criticizin.s (or complainin g about) him. The basic structure of the Enc;l~sh bymn--wbich merr;ed witb the Spiritual--as Hammon interprets it, is an alternation of iamhic tetrame ter and iamb ic tri meter combined with a ratber clumsy ab ah rhyme scheme. Compared to other hymns , it is no worse and is better than many. .D~i te the ti mes , pressures and censures, hoHever, one is bardprbssed to accept Hanu;10n I s assuranc e to the s lave that: In Christian faith thou hast a share, TTorth all the g old of Spain. 1 07 �Ha.mmon 1 s works can be found critically introduced in Robinson's anthology, in Stanley Ransom's America's First Ne gro Poet, the Complete Works of Jupiter Hammon of Long Island (1970) (and in Barksdale 1 s and Kinnamon 1 s Black Writers of America, 1972); critical-biog raphical attention is in Vernon Lo cgins 1 The Negro Author (1931) and J. Saunders Redding 1 s To Make A Poet Black (1939). Yet anotber slave , Pbillis 1:Jheatley (1753?-l 78Ld, has to be examined. There has been substantial critical-biographical treatment of Hiss Wheatley, so no atte mpt will b e made here to give her full consideration. By far the most gifted and com- plex poet until Dunbar , Phillis Hheatley was also priviledged as a young child and allowed access to the Boston library of 1 John 1fueatl0.~ ,_,., --to whom she ·w as sold after being brou g1Jt from Senec al when she Has six or seven years old--where she read voraciously. By the time of her teens she had learned to speak and write Eng lish, and acquired a New Eng land education which put great emphasis on the Bible and the classics. Her poetry, like Hammon 1 s ) reflect~ deep interest _in and knowled g e of religion; but it is also steeped in classical allusions and conventions of the neoclassical writing school. Critical attention to Miss Wheatley (who, like Dunbar, lived a short life) has been both ravine and unkind. Benjamin Brawley (The Negro Genius) reports that Jefferson vieued her as beneath the dignity of criticism. Yet, other great personalities of the day generously praised and received her work. lO G Geor e e �Washington, so moved by her poetic tribute ("To His Excellency General Washine;ton"), invited the young poet to visit him at his camp at Cambridge, Hassachusetts--an invitation which she later accepted arrl was treated as royalty. Miss v.Jheatley I s earliest verses were penned during~ ~l!P~ 0.'.h her adolescence. Wbi tefield: 1770, 11 much of her poetry. "On the Death of the Rev. George reflects the elegaic the me yhi cl;i e"to ~ Manumitted and sent with other membe rs of the v.Jheatley family to London in 1772, because of frailness and poor health, Miss Wheatley was received like a visiting dignitary in London's literary circles o.nd bailed as t11e The next year ( 1773), while in London, she "Sable Muse . " I became (at 20 ... years-old) the first African, arrl tbe second woman from America, to publish a book of poems: Poems on Various Subje cts, Religious and Moral, by Pbillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to I'-Ir . ltlheatley of Boston. The volume, the only one she ever published, became an i t;1medtate success in both England and Amer ica and won her an everlasting place in the history of English poetry in America. Upon her return to America, Miss Wheatley 1 s misfortunes seemed to come in such liGhtning succession that one wonders how she withstood adversity as long as she did. First, there was the death of Mrs. Wheatley and then, during the 1770 1 s; the deaths of t he relllaining Uhea tleys. The poet then 1;1arried a Job Peters, 1.vbo "proved to be both a r:ibitious and irresponsible, 11 for whom she bore tl1r oe children--all of uhom died in infancy. 1 C9 �Add iti onally , the Pe t ers fara ily li ve d in s qua l or a nd pove r ty , li ke s o ma ny New Enal a nd Bl a c ks . Co~nen t inc on the cir c um- s t an c es surround i nc he r dea t h , Bar ks d a l e a nd Kannamon (Bln c k Wr i ters of Ameri c a ) obse r ve with s t oma ch - c urd li nG a cc ura cy that : Hor oa1°l y d e a t b prov i des a c or,unen t ary on tl1e desp era t e war· t.: inal i t y of life a1,10n g Bo ston ' s free Bl acl:s at t h a t t i me . To Pl1i l lis l ll:o atley , at one t :hie a prLr i l e :;ed se r\·a r1t ul, o e n jo:re<.l an cxt:i •~t .. c l :r benign ma:::; t 8r-::;or~. n nt re l at i on - sh i p , freedo m's uncertainities and insecur- ities were overwhelming . Certainly, h ad she been initially free in Boston, she would probably ne ver have had the time, the opportunity, or the peace of mind to write poetry. For the state of freedom for the Black man in the 1780 1 s--even in godly, liberty-loving Boston--was indeed precarious. The preceding explanation, coupled a gain with the observations of Walker, de Tocqueville and others, make Hanimon 1 s statement about preferring not "to be free" somewhat more tolerable if not plausable. We noted that Phillis Wheatley bas been praised as well as condemned. Some critics denounce her for not being inventive and orig inal enough, claiming that she simply followed the conventions and themes associated with neoclassicism: Salvation, Mercy and Goodness. 110 Truth, Some resent her so-called "pious �sentimentality" and accuse her of calling on Christ when she should be calling for the abolishment of slavery. Still others, during the current period, have accused her of not being "Black enough. 11 Considered on the landscape of the times, however, Miss Wheatley comes off as a genius--witb hardly an equal among !{~ck or white contemporaries. James " Weldon Johnson, during a comparison of Miss Wheatley's "Imagination II to Anne Bradstreet I s "Contemplation, 11 said 1 ~e do not think the black woman suffers by comparison with the white 11 ( Ne gro American Poetry). Durini:; ber lif e ti rne Miss Wheatley published some 50 poems, almost half of them elegies, five or six political and patriot pieces ("General Washington" and "Liberty and Peace"), and the remainder consumed by religious and moral subjects--as she states in her title. Though she never den~s with the question of slavery--and makes only tentative reference to her own predicament--her work sustains a high level of emotional, linguistic, religious and general poetic force. Since her greatest models were Pope, Dryden, Mil~on and the earlier classical writers, one must examine these sources to uncover some keys to her techniques arrl allusions. But one only has to read (aloud) the following passage from "Rev. George Whitefield 11 to feel impact: "Take him, ye ur e tched, for y our only good, "Take h i m, y e starv ing sinners, for your food. "Ye tbrifty , come to this life- gi v in~ stream, 111 �'1Ye preach ers, take hi m for your joyful t h etne; "Take l1i m, my dear Americans, he so.id, "Be y our complaints on l1is kind bosoi:1 laid; "Take him, ye Africans, he longs for y ou, "Impartial Savior is his title due; '~ashed in the fountain of redee ming blood, "You shall be sons and kings, and pries ts to God. 11 More will be s aid of this poem in Chapter VII; but we should state that some of t he previously harsh criticism of Hiss Wheatley lia s been t empered in li c;ht of increasing fe minis m and, especially , efforts by Black women writers, scholars and intellectuals to reevaluate her. Huch of h er work is done in the heroic couplet which dominated the period of poetry-writing . Th e se pentameter couplets (which would be popularized in the 20th Century as "unrhymed iambic pentameter 11 by Robert Frost) call for end-line rhymes to appear in twos, with 10 syllables per line. Roger Whitlow (Black American Literature) complains that Hiss Wheatley Pope called the 1 11 falls short in what correctnessf of diction and meter, that near-perfect choice of word and measurement and weighing of syllable. 11 One could agree., if Miss v-!heatley 1 s sole aim were simply to imitate. But there is a great evidence that she--like Black poets always seem to be doing--was trying to achieve a readable poem without losing the essence of the couplet. After all, as Stephen Henderson (Understandines the New Black Poetry) bas suggested, many Black poets have their ears and thought rhythms attuned to the spiritual and phonological 112 �demands of the audlence that loves "extempore" delivery, even when the written lines are strict and tight. Also, in placing "Their colour is a diabolic dye" in quotations ("On Being Brought from Africn to America"), Miss Wheatley suggests that others deem her color ne gative but that she may not. This remains a possibility despite her closing couplet: Remember, Christians, Ne groes, black as Cain, May be refined, and join the angelic train. Yet there is firm evidence that Hiss Wheatley was not insentJ sitive, at least to her on predicament as a. slave without a fundamental and genealogical identity. Honourable William, Earl of Dartmough, In "To The Ri ght 11 she says Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song, Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung, Whence flow these wishes for the common good, By feelin g hearts alone best understood, I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate Was snatch'd from Afric 1 s fancy'd happy seat: What pangs excruciating must molest, What sorrows labour in my parent's breast? Steel 1 d was that soul and by no misery mov'd That from a father seiz 1 d his babe belov 1 d: Such, such my case. And can I then but pray Others may never feel tyrannic sway? The capital "F" in "Freedom, 11 the phrase "cruel fate, 11 the sorrow felt for her parents and the reinforcement of the a gony 113 �via repetition ("such, such"; see Margaret Walker's lines "How Long ! 11 ) , place her alongside other Black voices that searched for answers to the pall of racial insanity that - -- enwebbe ~ Hi ss Wheatley also experiments with the them. hymn for m. In 11 A Farewell To America" and 11 An Hymn To Humanity'' one bounces along her alternating lines and r hythms. We stated earlier that Miss Wheatley's critical i ma ge h as somewhat shifted. Perhaps the capstone of t h is shift was the Jackson State College Poetry Festival, held in November of 1973 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Hiss Wheatley•s Poems. Eb ony ma gazine (March , 1974) did a five-pa ge picture essay on the festival, organized and hosted by Mar garet Walker poet-novelist and Director of Jackson State's Institute for the Study of History, T,ife and Culture of Black People. According to F.bony "ei ghteen Black > women poets converged" on the Black colle ge campus to salute Miss Wh eatley, read their own poems and discuss poetry and life. Writer Luci Horton noted that recently there has been more respect for the "slave girl who, under unspeakable circumstances, was able to write poetry or any literature at all. 11 In addition to Dr. Alexander, the list of poets included -k- Naomi Long Madgett, Margaret r,. Burroughs, Marion Alexander, Margaret Esse Danner, Linda Brown Bragg, Mari Evans, Carole Gre gory Clemmons, Lucille Clifton, Sarah Webster Fabio, Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Gloria C. Oden, So nia Sanchez, Alice Walker, Malaika Ayo Wangara (Joy ce 1rJ'bitsitt Lawrence) and Carolyn M. Rodgers. 114 Gwendolyn Brooks• absence �was conspicuous. The festival was also the subject of a six-pag~ picture essay by Carole Parks in Black World {Webruary, 1974). One of the most revealing comments was made by Paule Giddings, a young editor at Howard University Press: There is something wrong with a critical tradition that makes Phillis Wheatley an historical footnote ..•• Phillis Wheatley was black and this is the difference (between her and other poets of her day) and also the contradiction: the contradiction between her blackness which she reco gniz ed and never was free to for ~e t by a thousa nd humiliations and white mercan- tile Enc;lnnd, a world that was never to be hers, but whose values she seemed to accept. She was in a slave world, but not truly of it .••. It does no good to reproach a child for yielding to attractive influences when within herself there is no strong residue of any other influence or tradition. It is easy to say she had no racial consciousness. It would be fair to look at the choices she had and ascertatn whether or not she wan capable of end urin~ even more intepse isolation. Ms . Giddin~s has us □ e rted what appears to he a hn lanc ed answer to t he protestations of Redd inc; , Br01,m, Brawley ( "no racial 115 �valu e 11 ) and ot hers . It retains to he seen as to whetber curr e nt and futur e ~e nerations of Black and wbite students Hill keep Hiss Wh e atley a "sta tute in tbe park" or br in g her to the tabl e and "exat,d. ne her blood and ljeart." Critical tr eatme nt of t h is first Bl a ck woman of lett ers already has be e n cx tvn s i v0: Julian Ha s on I s Th e Poems of Ph illi s 'l,fheu tley ( 1966); Dm,.ks clo.lo I s and Kinn amo n I s critical l ntr oclu ction; Rober t C. Ku nc io I s 11 S ot,,e Unpnhl is hed Po etns of PJ·, l lli s 1lhea tle:,r " (Neu Entlnrn1 Qt1 0..Fter l:' , XLIII, June, 1 C:'7t"'\ , 2 °7 -2" 7 ) : J o~· ..· it1:J Th e lT0 ,··1 •0 .'\.11tho1 1 1 (1931); Brawley's The N0c;ro Genius; Redding's To Hake: A Po0t Black; Shirley Graham's The Story of Phillis Wh eatl ey (1949); and Jerry Ward's and Charles Howell's article in the Summ er , 1() 74, issue of Fr·eedomways. 1fo have alr e ady mentioned Gustavus Vassa (1745-1001), one of the mos t interesting of the early writers, in another cont ext. Born the seventh and youngest son of a chieftan (in Es sake.,, now Eastern Nigeria), Vass a (African name: Olaudah Equiano) was first sold to a Virginia plantation owner. His journeys later took him on several A~lantic voyages and then to th e Mediterranean where he served in the Seven Years War. Vassa held technical jobs on ships as a result of his adeptness at th e English language and his mastery of basic mathematics. He became a tireless worker for the abolition of slavery and worked, briefly, in behalf of efforts to colonize poor blacks of England in Sierre Leone. Vassa is chiefly known for his Narrative (1709) which was a best-seller among abo- 116 �litionists in England and America. Slave narratives, we have observed, were a part of a branch of Black writing which gave rise to the more sophisticated autobiographies (that stretch from Douglass through Baldwin and Cleaver) which in turn laid some of the foundation for American fiction. Vassa was not the first writer of a slave narrative, as is popularly thought. Briton Hammon (no relation to Jupiter) published in London A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Sur•prising Deliverance of Briton Hammon, A Negr•o Man ( 1760) and John Marrant published (also in London) A Narrative of the Lordls Wonderful Dealings with J. Marrant, A Black (1785). I / Vassa, wbO"l/e turn to briefly for his efforts in poetry, included "Miscellaneous Verses" in his Narrative. His verse is interesting because it helps to establish the portrait of a complex and many-sided man; it also provides further insight into the workings of the African mind making contact with white culture and especially Christianity. While in his prose and speech-making Vassa was firm in his attacks on slavery, he proves in the end to be a believer in some ultimate force of "deliverance. 11 In the last line of the last stanza of bis "Verses" he reminds us that "Salvation is by Christ alone! 11 vfuicb is, of course, reminiscent of Hammon 1 s opening line: Salvation come by Christ alon~ Nevertheless Vassa 1 s language is less saturated in Biblical terms than Hammon 1 s. And the former, as verse writer, bas a better control @the language. 117 In the "Verses II be applies a �driving iambic tetrameter meter with an a ab b rhyme scheme: Those who beheld my downcast mien Could not guess at my woes unseen: They by appearance could not know The troubles I have waded through. Lust, anger, blasphemy, and pride, With legions of such ills beside, Troubled my thoughts while doubts and fears Clouded and darken'd most my years. In the first stanze quoted Vassa presages the duality and mental pressures that more skilled writers would describe in years to come. Implying that the job of the oppressed Black is to keep his head even and up, Vassa says even those who see him in his sorriest stat e cannot envision the sufferings he has e~dured. Dunbar would say the same thing in a different way in 11 We Wear the Mask" more than a century later. And Countee Cullen would state it more than 130 years later in yet a different way. This apparent ability of Blacks . to "keep cool" and adapt (see Johnson's The Autobiography of An Ex-Coloured Man) under the most trying circumstances has been promoted, nurtured and praised by leaders of the race. Vassa, then, is important as an early writer, not only because of bis skill, but for the insight and understanding he brings to the social and religious pressures, demands and choices around him. There is a r e leasing therapy in Vassa 1 s work which acts as only one of numerous 118 �conduits for Black anguish and outrage when the options were slavery or death. Vassa 1 s Narrative is most accessible in Bontemps' Great Slave Narratives (1969)., In 1967 Paul Edwards published an edition of the Narrative including a comprehensive introduction., Edwards also did a two-volume facsimile reprint of the first edition (1969)~ See also Africa Remembered: Narratives by West Africans from the Era of the Slave Trade, edited by Phillip D. Curtin (1967). Loggins assesses the Narrative and Robinson provides a handy biographical-critical introduction. Hore on Vassa can be found in Marion L., Starkey's Striving to Make It Hy Home: Tbe Story of American fro,n Africa ( 1964) and in Whitlow I s Black American Literature. In the summer of 1974, Darwin Turner conducted a graduate and postgraduate seminar on Slave Narratives at Iowa State University \iliere he directs the Center for Afro-American Culture. The early and middle years of the 19th century witnessed the maturation of Black autobiography, political journalism and abolitionist activities. George Moses Horton was 34 years old when William Lloyd Garrison found~d The Liberator (1831), the most influential and famous of the abolitionist newspaper.s. And by 1830 there ·i-rere more than in America. 50 Black antislavery societie s 7 Blacks in the United States had been stirfed bN___ slave rebellions both here and in places like Haiti, the Carribean and Trinidad. Especially inspiring during this period was the 1839 revolt of slaves aboard the Spanish schooner L 1Amistad. Led by Joseph Cinque, a Mendi-speaking 119 �,,! prince, the fifty slaves~ killed the captain, set the crew adrift and demanded that ship owners steer the ship to Africa. Apprehended, the Africans were escorted by a United States brig to New Haven where the would-be slaves faced murder and other charges. Ex-President John Quincy Adams defended the Africans' right to return to their homeland and in 1842· they sailed to Sierre Leone. Ironically, neither the international press nor most Blacks knew of the connection between Cinque of the Symbionese Liberation Front, apparently headquartered in northern California during 1973-74, and the Cinque of the L 1Amistad revolt. In light of the growing consciousness among Blacks, it was to be expected that (5 George Moses Horton (1797-1883) would appear to inveigh against tyranny and slavery. Born a slave near Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Horton is considered to be the first Black to employ protest themes in a volume of verse. His Hope of Liberty (1829) ranged over the whole area of general and personal protest. The poet was first owned by a planter named Horton who later rented him in the service of a janitor to the University of North Carolina. Horton exploited the academic environment by reading the English classics and composing poems. Often called the first professional Black writer·, Horton hired bis poetic skill out to students who paid him rather handsomely for composing "personal" poems. His second book of poems, Poetical Works of Geor ge M. Horton, the Colored Bard of North Carolina, was published in 1845. 120 �Horton's hopes that he would gain enough money from the sale of his books to secure his freedom were never realized; and he was not freed until Union soldiers arrived in 1865 when his last volume, Naked Genius., was published. Horton's themes are not devoted exclusively to protest and he has been criticized., along with Phillis 'Wheatley., Hammon and Vassa, for writing such lines as those that appear in "On Hearing of the Intention of a Gentleman to Pur•chase the Poet rs Freedom 11 : When on life's ocean first I spread my sail., I then implored a mild auspicious gale; And from the slippery strand I took my flight, And sought the peaceful heaven of' delight. Hard was the race to reach the distant goal, The needle oft was shaken from the pole; In such distress who could forbear to weep? Toss'd by the headlong billows of the deepJ Horton goes on to say that "Eternal Providence" saved him when he was on the "dusky verge of deep despair" and when "the last beam of hope was almost gone." Yet Horton writes bit:terly of slavery as well as lightly of love and humorously of life in general. Inf'luences on his poetry are Byron, Wesleyan Hymnal stanzas., and other sources from books that he had read. In the poem from which the stanzas above were taken he pursues a rather monotonous iambic tetra.meter.. llletsl?. But in a poem like "Slavery" (published in The Liberator, March 29, 1834), he can vary the hymn pattern in the way that Phillis Wheatley does in • 121 �her hyi.:m-inspired works .. The effect is almost ballad-like: Uhen first my bosom glowed 1vith hope, I gazed as from a mo untain top On some d el ightful plain; But ohJ how transient Has the scene-It fled as though it had not been And all my hopes were vain .. I s it because my skin is black, That t hou should 1 st be so dull and slack, And scorn to set me free? Then lot me hast en to t h0 grave, ~le only refuge for t he slave , Ul10 t.10urns for libe1~t::_r. Also 0ffe ctive and sustaining i n pouer is "The Slave's Complaint" wh en featu1'es seven thre e -line stanzas with a final indented one Hord r·cfr•ain: "Forove1~" which is followed by either question mark, colon or exc lau!ation mark . Horton handles well so,,ie of his love poems and in "The Lover's Farewell" is able to touch base ·with that broad and painful understanding of Hhat it means to say goodbye: I leave n:y parents here behind, And all ~~ friends--to love resignad-1Tis grief to go, but death to stay: Farewell--I 1 m gone with love away! In this and oth er pieces Horton makes good u se of dashes--which allow him to dev e l op suspense and render his statements more 122 �dramatic. Because of its various uses, the dash has arrived as an important ingredient of modern and contemporary Black poetry. Contrary to many of his learned contemporaries and predecessors, Horton apparently consciously thought of, and worked toward, his freedom. This fact is reflected both in bis life's work and bis poetry. His own position, coupled with his sanguine delivery of folk wit and emphasis, can be seen in the fallowing stanza from "The Slave": Because the brood-sows left side pigs were black., vfuo sable tincture was by nature struck., Were you by justice bound to pull them back And leave the sandy-colored pigs to suck? For appraisals and selections of Horton•s works see Robinson's anthology, Collier Cobb I s An American Nan of Letters--George Moses Horton (1886), comments by Barksdale and Kinnamon, vfui tlow' s study, Brawley's Negro Genius, Loggins' work, Redding's study, Richard Walser 1 s The Black Poet (1967)., Brown's assessment and Jean Wagner's Black Poets of the United States ( 1973). Horton., of course, trails and precedes a long line of orators and poets, many of whom we know very little about today. In fact, comparatively speaking, there is a wide disparity between the readily available insignificant information on white writers of the period and the lack of vital data on Blacks. We do know that the early decades of the 19th century witnessed a developing Christian and political consciousness among Blacks 123 �and that most northern Black writers, intellectuals and educators turned their attention to th(educational, physical and e ~ n a ~ ne eds of free and enslaved Blacks_ Of these and other matters, Mrs. Porter provides ample proof and discus sion in Early Negro Writing., Occasional verse was also J_ somewhat of a tradition among many learned Blacks as was the ~ One such recorded item is "Spiritual Song" by Rev. Richard practic e of writing hymns, psalms and other spiritual songs. Allen, probably sermon~" 11 r sung during the delivery of a Re v. All e n employs internal rhyme by repeating similar sounds in the middle and at the end of lines. Varying his meter and using an irregular end-line rhyme scheme, he expresses the reli g ious fervor that consumed many Blacks of the period: Our time is a-flying , our moments a-dying ., He are led to i mprove them and qu ickly app ear, For the b less•d hour wh en Jesus in power, In glory shall come is now drawing near, Me t h inks there will be shouting , and I' m not doubting , But crying and screaming for mercy in vai n : 124 �Therefore my dear Brother., let 1 s now pray together., That your precious soul may be fill 1 d with fla me. Another such example is a 11 Hew Year I s AntbemII v-Tri tten by Michael Portune a nd "sung in the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas II on January 1, 1808. Fortune rs anthem is tra- ditional in its use of materials from Ne thodist hymns. tells the congregation to 11 He Lift up your souls to God on high 11 Wh o., with a tender f'ather• 1 s eye Looked down on Afric's helpless raceJ 11 Robery Y. Sidney composed two anthems For the National Jubilee of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, January 1st, 1809. 11 "Anthem. I" be g ins: DRY your tears., ye sons of Afric, God has shown his gr•ac ious power; He has stopt the horrid traffic, That your country's bosom tore. See thr•ough clouds he smiles benignant, See your nation's g lory rise; Though your foes may from indignant, All their wrath you may despise. This stanza is followed by a "Chorus, 11 "Sole" and "Recitative. In ."Anthem II II an abbreviate form is employed and Sidney drops the solo and recitative--keeping only the chorus: Chorus. Rejoice that you were born to see, 125 11 �•, This glorious day, your jubilee. Sidney also wrote a hymn which Mrs. Porter includes along with hymns by religious leaders Peter 'H illiams Jr., and 1-Jilliams Hamilton. Both men, using the English for ms, celebrate freedom, call for mutual aid among Blacks and preach the virtues of the Christian God. Williams praises the "eloquence/Of' Wilb.e rforce" after whom a predominantly Black university was named in Ohio .. For de tailed information on sources for these and similar 1:1ritings see Mrs. Porter's Early Negro Writing: 1760-1873. The collection includes two very touching examples of writings "On Slavery 11 and "On Freedom II by 12-yea.r- old boys from the . . New York African Free School established in 1786. In reading into the life and works of Daniel A. Payne (1811-1893), one is immediately struck by his dedication to the task of upgrading Blacks. Educator, university president, missionary and poet, Payne was born in Charleston, South Carolina of free parents. He was orphaned at 10-years-old, apprenticed to a carpenter and then to a tailor. Later trained in classical education at the local Minor's Moralist Society's school, he taught free Black students for a fee and slaves free of charge at night. Payne's travels took him to various places (New Orleans, Baltimore, Canada and twice to England) where be helped expand the programs of the African Methodist Church. Trained in the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he was ordained in 1839, Arter preaching for several years, be was made an M.M.E. Bishop in 1852. In the political and educational spheres he helped ~rge Lincoln 126 �(on April 14, 1862) to sign the bill to emancipate slaves in the District of Columb ia., and spearheaded the purchase of Wilberforce University--serving as its president for 16 years. Payne devoted most of his life to the cause of free and enslaved Blacks and to writing poetry and religious history. \J\¼ Pleasures and Other Hiscellaneous Poems Has publish~d in )Baltimore in 1850~ He also wrote books on the history and mission of the A.M.E. Church. Especially valued for its social and intellectual insight into 19th century Blacks is Paynets Recollect ions of Seventy Years published in Nashville in 1888. As a poet Payne is erudite and imitative. Robinson correctly observes that a major problem with the poetry is 11 the repe- tition of end stopped lines, and his diction, a hybrid of classical and Biblical vocabularies, can prove distracting to many readers. 11 Much of this we can forgive, ho1vever, when we understand Henry Dumas ' remark that 11 a Black poet is a preacher. Certainly a preacher--in fact or as poet--knows very well the meaning of and need for repetition. convince us of h is seriousness . Yet Payne never fails to So hurt was he in wake of the 1834 South Carolina law that, effective in 1035, made Black literacy illegal, Payne wrote "The llot.u-.nf ul Lute of t h e Preceptor 1 s Fo.rewell. 11 He find hi oncern for students in these lines: Ye lad s , uhom I have tau gh t Hi th sacred zeal, For yoin-. hard fate I pangs of sorroH feel; Ob, Hho shall now your rising talents guide, Hhere virtues reign and sacred truths preside? 127 11 �Pay n e i s a h a ndler of t he language , ob s e r v i ng t b at "tu o revolv i ng mo o ns s rw.1 1 l i gb t t he shor e s la1-1 11 s1i ut t he do ors 11 II af te r t he dr e ad on e ducatt on f or S outh Caro lina Blac ks . E ngu lf 0d i n tbo r- c l i c; i ous and r:1oral f er vor of 111a ny Bla ck mi ni s t e1°s of tbe p er i od , t he poe t o. nd or at or refl e cts a g e-old conc e r ns a bout de c e it a nd mistru s t i n sucb pi e c e s as rrTba Plcasu:i. e s. 0 n He c omp lains tha.t I-IE::: n talk of Love! But f e11 do e v er f e el Th e s p ee chle s s r a p tures u h ich it s j oys r e ve al. I1en "u i s tak o l ove, 11 Payne no t e s, F or grove lling lust, that vile, t h at fi l t h y d a me, Hh ose bo som n e ' e r eve r f e lt the sacr e d flame / ;--+ 1 For i ns i ch t into Pay n e rs lif e a nd works one could g o to any one of' bis @consid erable numbe;@ of' writing s. Among others, they include The Ser.ii- Cen t enary and th e Retros pe ction of the Africa n Methodist Ep iscopal Church (Baltimore, 1866) a nd Th e Histor y 6f the A. M. E . Church (Nashvi~le, 1866). Josephus R. Coam•s 1935 (Philidelphia) biography: S ee als o Daniel Alexand e r Paynej Christian Educator, Robinson 1 s comment s and Brawl ey' s Ne gro Genius. Unfortunately too little is known of romantic poet John Boyd; esp e cially since his work reflects genuine g ifts and talents. Boyd's poetic imag es ar e brilliant, sustained, searing and generally accurate even if they are not always 128 �connected in a way that makes them readily acessible .. The only record of Boyd is made available by C.R .. Nesbitt, Esq .. , Deputy Secretary and Registrar of the Government of the Bahamas. Nesbitt must have recognized the talent and the promise and he aided Boyd 1 s poetry through publication in London in 1834,. Boyd, it seems, was self-taught on New Profidence Island where he remained all his life. His poem "Vanity of Life" was published in the February 16, 1833, issue of the Boston-based Liberator .. His 1834 volume is entitled The Vision/ and other/ Poems,/ in Blank Verse/ by John Boyd/ a man of Colour/. Practically unedited, the manuscript is what Robinson calls a "publishing scramble." Like most of the poets of the period Boyd's work owes debt to Milton, the Bible and classical influences. "The Vision/ a Poem in Blank Verse" is immediately reminiscent of Milton's Paradise Lost .. Boyd skirts a rhyme scheme but employs a. fairly regular iambic pentameter meter. All things considered, his work partially cancels the criticism by Sterling Brown that Black poets lag in their stylistic awareness. opens brilliantly with: Me thought the Hoon, pale regent of the sky, Crested, arrl filled with lucid radiance., Flung her bright gleams across my lowly couch; 129 "Vision" �And all of heaven's fair starry fir ,1 ament Delightful shone in lmes of glittering light, Reflecting ) like to fleecy gold, th e dewy air. In his "Vision" Boyd encounters characters of both the heavens and the hells. Uh e n the narrator, "dreamer" joined the train Fervent hosannas struck the astonish'd ear., As wben in the midhour of calmest night, Stillness pervadeth the awakened wave., Roused by the secret power that moves the deep, It heaves its loud surge on the sounding shore; The "vision" is also peopled by 11 grin:i death and ghastly Sin" who "lay coiled, like snakes in one huge sco.ly fold, consider their "inexpiable doom--. 11 11 and Boyd's tones are sacred and surreal and he assembles harmlessly complex subordinate clauses that help build an exciting linguistic crecendo as in "Ocean 11 : \fuen the fiat of the most High., Thy fountains burst., a copiously 130 �Thy secret springs, with ample store, Pourtd forth thair waves from shore to shore Wide as the ·waters roll, oh, wave. co MM e,JI/S<IV',4 f e,_,,, Boyd's work has yet to be appraised in t e r m s ~ with its importance. Robinson makes brief but significant comments on his poetry. Ann Plato, another romantic poet, is also one for whom r- ) there exists 11 ttle g,:;f' th~ important factual data. This second Black American female to publish a book almost skirts the racial theme completely .. Her Essays:/ Including/ Biographies and Miscellaneous Pieces,/in/ Prose and Poetry was published in Hartford in 1£341. What little is known of her comes by 'l;,Tfl.Y of an introduction to her book 'Wllieb --rn.s HFii5ten by Rev .. J. W. C. Pennington.., pastor of the Colored Congregational Cburch in Hartford, of which she was a member. First of August, 11 Except for her "To the 1-1ritten in celebration of the 1833 abolition of slavery in the British Hest Indies, there are only allusions to slavery. Her book also contains ~ssays on religion, mod- eration, conduct and other conventional themes. These same themes are pretty much paralleled by the 20 poentV in her boo which deal with home life, deaths of acquaintances and moral issues. "Tieflections, Written on Visiting the Grave of a Venerated Friend" begins: Deep in this grave her bones remain, She's sleeping on, bereft of pain; 131 / �The language and the subject matter are stock but Not, 11 11 For•get Me each stanza of which ends with the title, is well handled and has flashes of the preachment of self-control that Vassa alluded to in his verses: lfuen bird does wait thy absence long, Nor tend unto its morning song; lfuile thou art searching stoic page, Or listening to an ancient sage, i·! hose spirit curbs a mournful rage, Forget lfo Not. Her interest in oral literature and the storytelling tradition is a.ppar·ent in 11 11 The Natives of America II where she asks: Tell me a story, father, please., 11 And then I so.t upon his knees. Again, as in her contemporaries, we find the inf]uences of English writers of a preceding generation or so, the debt to Biblical learning and much imitation. For brief critical notes on Niss Plato see Robinson's Early Black American Poets. LJ,'fS Another abolitionist-minister an<;l orator-poe;,1Elymas Payson Rogers (1814?-1861) who, after teaching public schools in Rochester, New York, took up pastoring in Newark, New Jersey. One of Rogers' students &8 e teae~or was Jerimiah w. Loguen ·who later become an important social-religious leader and a Bishop of the A.M.E. Church. Fugitive slave Loguen's bio- graphy (see Negro Caravan) appeared in 1859, in Syracuse, under the title, The Reverend J.W. Loguen, As a Slave and as 132 �a Freeman.. Known, as were many of the orator-poets, for reciting his poems orally, Rogers' themes are unashamedly abolition, Black betterment arrl political hypocrisy. Working politically on behalf of Blacks, Rogers apparently designed The Fugitive Slave Law (Newark, 1855) and Repeal of Missouri t Compromise Considered (Newark, 1856) to be read aloud from platforn~. Like., James H. ·whi tfield, who came later, Rogers gave up hope in America's ever giving Blacks a fair deal and / sailed for Africa where he died after contacting a. fever a few days after he arrived there,. His incisive no-hoi{s-barred approach to the political climate and conditions of the time is seen in 11 0n the Fugitive Slave Law": LawJ What is Law? The wise and sage, Of every clime and every age, In this most cordially unite, That 'tis a rule for doing right. And the ringing cry of the elocutionist can be heard later in the poem when, in discussing the fugitive bill, he asks and answers: That Bill a law? the South says so, But Northern freeman answer, NoJ Anticipating the fiery and torrential 1,J bitfield (and 20th century "angry voices 11 ) Tiogers continues: That bill is law, doughfaces say; But black men everywhere cry 11 Na:,r: We'll never yield to its control While life shall animate one soul 133 �At times bi ting and o v e ~ n g l y harsb as a poet, Rogers resounds in "The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise Considered 11 with these words: > "I want the land, 11 was F~edom 's cry; And Slavery answered, "So Do I J By all that's sacred, I declare I 1 11 have my just and lawful share. The Northern cheek should glow with shame To think to rob me of my claim." With built-in drama and careful cuts, Rogers assessed the state of the nation during his time. In a line like "LawJ What Law? 11 he purposely begs the question in order to wring the emotional and rhetorical pouer from the words and to evoke responses from audiences. References to Rogers can also be found in Robinson's Early Black American Poets. Iw.tbematicia.n., poet, educator and Black community worker, Charles L. Reason (1818-1898) uas born in New York City of Haitian parents. He attended the New York African Free School Hhere he later returned as a member of the all-Black faculty. Seeking the ministry, Reason was, for racial reaso ns , forbidden full time attendance at the ~1eological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Eventually, however, he became eligible for a professorship in ?~thematics and Belle Lettres (1849) at the Ne1v York Central College in NcGrauville, Courtlandt County. William G. Allen and George B. Vashon Here also on the faculty ther e . Ile held various educational jobs including a princi- palship of tho Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia 134 �and graurnar sb co ol Ho. 80 in Hew York City Hhile H. Cordelia. nay uas a teacher• thero. neason uas a.n intellectual and a sch ol ar but was not blind to the practical needs of Afro/\.t11or ica ns . Irv oppos0d plans to colonize Bl acks, c lailili ng inst ead that th ey nee~ded to pursue vocational careers here in Amer• ica. Again, not primarily a poet, Reason is competent as a poe t in "The Sp irit Voice II which opens with: Come ! r ouse ye brothers, rouse! a poal nou breaks Prom lowe s t island to our gallant lakes: 1 Tis summoning you, who in bonds have lain, To stand up ma nful on the battle plain, and ur ces Blacks to fight for freedom and opportunity. The poem (whos e comple te title is "The Spirit Voice or, Liberty Call to th e Disfranchised") is indebted to the rhyming couplet so famous dm.. ing the era and which had been used with great skill by Phillis \·n1eatley. It appears in William Simmons Men of Nark (Cleveland, 18B?). r Like that of other orator-poets, Reason's work is designed to be read aloud in order to stir and move poeple to action. Therefore he exhorts, reinforces, demands, warns, admonishes and issues veiled threats. 11 His s piri t voice" (see the idea of African Spirit Force) longs for the time when freedom's mellm• light 135 �Shall bre a k, and usher in t he e ndless day , Th a t f r om Orleans to Pass 1 maquoddy Bay, Despots no more may earth ly homa ge claim, No slaves exist, to soil Columbia's name. The poem was ·w ritt e n in 1841 and shows Re as on I s poetic abilities etched out und er the strain of racis m and the countless chores demanded of an educated Black of the period., Elsewhere ("Freedom") he gave this familiar cry: 0 Freedom: Freedom! Oh, how oft Thy loving children call on TheeJ ~ 7 In wailings loud a~d breathings sf oft, Beseeching God, th ~y face to see. I How r eminisc e nt of and 11 not unlike" the Spirituals this burst isJ Certainly the student of this peirod of Black poetry will want t o ke ep his rhy thmic lyres attuned to the Biblical and innovative cadences of those "Black and unknown bards." For assessments of Reason see Robinson, Brawley and Kerlin. :More of Reason's work appears in A Eulogy on the Life and Character of Thomas Clarkson (1847) and in Auto graphs for Freedom (1854). Anticipating the .Ure-American poignancy and humor in this line by Langston Hughes, America never was America to me 136 �and this one by Lance Jeffers to make me more American than America James M. vJhitf'ield (1823-1878) voiced some of the most powerful and angry protest yet heard in Black American poetry when / he publish ed America and Other Poems in Buffalo in 1853. V Barber, worker for Black colonization, poet and pioneer journalist, Whitfield had earlier authored various types of writings: Poems in 181~6; "Hm-;r Long? 11 ( publisbed in Julia Griffith rs Autographs for Freedom in Rochester, 1853); "Self-Reliance, Delusive Hope, and Ode for the Fourth of July" (in The Liberator, November 18., 1853); 11 Lines--Addressed to Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Holly, on the Death of Their Two Infant Daughters 11 (In Frederick Douglass' Paper, February 29, 1856); and Emancipation Oration (San Francisco, 1867). lrJhitfield is known chiefly for America which was received so favorably that he was able to leave bis barber shop and devote full time to making speeches for the abolitionist cause, working for colonization programs and general Black develop- > ment. He had personal contact with b~th DoL,lass and novelist :Martin Delaney who called the 1854 National Emigration Convention of Colored Men which Whitfield attended. respected and admired Hhitfield., Douglass apparently But the two men differed on the question of colonization and participated in a lively debate. Pursuing his own position with vigor, Whitfield established the African-American Respository, in 1858, as a pro-colonization propaganda organ. Though born in Exeter, New Hampshire Whitfield ) 137 �spent most of bis life in Buffalo uhere be barbered and conducted most of his colonization efforts. He apparently died on bis way to look into the possibilities of colonizing Black Americans in Central America. Delaney had changed bis mind and the emigration scheme was never realized. Like most of the orator-poets, Hbitfield is 1.;riting to be heard, listened to and read aloud. Consequently much of his poetry (though not lacking in religious fervor) reinforces his ideology and negative vieus of America. America, the Street land of liberty becomes for Uhi tfield, "America 11 Thou boasted land of liberty,-and To thee I sing becomes It is to thee I raise my song, Thou land of blood, and crime, and wrong. Like Rogers, \·Jhi tfield did not believe America was capable of redemption; and, ac;ain like his pred_e cessor, he died on a > journ~, to find something better. The idea of 11 giving 11 • up on America would uppear thematically in the poetry of later writers like Fenton Johnson, Lee, Baraka and sor,1e of the Muslim poets. It would also be implicit in the expatriation of wri te1°s and artists such as Paul Robeson, Wright, Baldwin, Chester Himes and Katherine Dunham. In a driving iambic pentameter "'18:b::P' (in couplets), whiah has o.11 the openings for spontaneous interjections and expletives, ·whitfield in 138 11 Amer\ca, 11 accuses �the United States of killing the Black sons uho fought for her and of general hypocrisy. Here one can see Whitfield CV anticipating; current slogan, which Hayden makes use of in "Words in tho Hourning Time 11 : Killing people to save, to free them? Though more general, \Jhitfield continues a similar assault (stating life is hell) in "The Misantbropisi~,'' but tones down 11 to a reverent salute 'I, I All bailJ To Cinque 11 : thoui;h truly noble chief, ·who scorned to live a cowering slave; Tby name shall stand on history rs leaf, Amid the mighty ani the brave: Whitfield praises the revolutionary Cinque who "in freedom's lJ1ight II Shall beard the robber in his den; and ••• fire anew each freeman's heart_ Since Whitfield's primary goal is to get o. political "message" over, bis poetry, as art, leaves some_ things to be desired. Robinson points out that Hhitfield "is genuinely angry" (despite the inf'luence of Byron) and that the bitterness and force in his work is not to be mistaken for romantic or linguistic cosmetics_ Lastly, we must note that Uhitfield expressed concern for global oppression; quite modern in this, he s~rved, more or less, as a chronicler of world turbulence and a harbinger of the direct and emphatic assaults that today's Black poets heap upon tyranny. He viewed the 139 11 Russian Bear" (reflecting �on European despotism of the mid 1800 's) in bis poem "Holl Long? 11 : I see the "Rugged Russian Bear" Lead forth his slavish hordes, to war Upon the right of every State Its own affairs t-o regulate; To help each despot behind the chain Upon the people I s rights again., And crush beneath his ponderous paw All constitutions, rights am law., Selections of vfuitfield's poetry can be found in the Robinson anthology., in Negro Caravan ( 1941), and in the Barksdale and Kinnamon text. Hhitlow discusses Whitfield's poetry and im- pact as does Loggins, Brown, Brawley, Wagner., and Ruthe Hiller (Black American Literature., 1971). The most popular Black 19th century poet before Dunbar was Frances E.W., Harper (1825-1911), the first Black American to publish a short story ( "The Two Offers, 11 1859). Born free in Baltimore as Frances Ellen Watkins, she was educated in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and spent most of her adult life in the · cause of antislavery and other types of social reform. She worked in turn for the abolition movement, the Underground Railroad, the A.M .. E. Church and the Women's Christian Temperance league. According to Dunn (The Black Press) she contributed to ne,;-rn and propaganda publications. Her• reform work was slackened by her marriage to Fenton Harper in Cincinnati in 1860., But after his early death in 1864 she resumed her efforts, lecturing in all but two southern states and promoting Black �• self-help p1"ograms. Her fame rested primarily on her Poems on Hiscellaneous Subjects published in 1854 in Philadelphia. A very popular volume, it wcrnt through twenty editions by 1874 (William Still 1s Undergr·ound Railroad, H372). Her literary activity was stepped up after the Civil War and included Hoses, A Story of the Hile which went through three editions by 1870; a volume entitled Poems came out in 1870 followed by a second edition in 1900; and attempts at prose fiction including Southern Sketches (1872, enlarged in 1896) and a novel, Iola LeRoy, published in 1892. has not been located. Her first work, Forest Leave~, Critics generally agree that Hrs. Harper's poetry is not original or brilliant. But she is exciting and co'.Iles through wi tb powerful flashes of imagery and statement. Her models are lh"s. Hemans, Hhittier and Longfellow, and so ue find an overuhelming influence from the ballad. In reading her poetry in public, Hrs. Harper ·was · able to appeal to what ) Johnson (God's Trotnbones) called a 11 higbly developed sense of sound" in Afro-Americans (see, again, sta t e1r1ents by Rev. Allen and Vass a). She apparently kneH her l .i mi to.tions, for Robins on tells us that her popularity ••• was not due to the conventional notion of poetic excellence, 11rs. Harper wo.s fully 0.1·1are of her limitations in that kind of poetry, it 1ms du e more to the sentimental, e:,1otion- freishted populari t~r uhat sbe had given the lines Hith her clisarmingly dramatic voj_ce and gestures und si~1 s and tears. �Up until t he Ci v i l 1far•, Hrs. I-Iarper 1 s favorite t hemes Here slavery, it s harshness , and the hyp ocris es of Amarica. She is car efu l to place graphic details tfuere they will 3et the great est result, especio.lly wb0n t he poe,;w are read aloud. An oxauple of' tb i s is found in "Tl1e S lave Eo tl1er ": Ho is not hers, f o~ cruel ~a~tls The onl~r 1-n-eu.t h of hon o el:old love ~1at binds he r bre a k i n~ heart. A. sir.lilar play on tho emo tio ns is seen in poe u s like in a T1re8 Land, 11 "~-io ncs for the P0ople, 11 (Hi th its sth rine;s of fe minis 1;1 ) and 1 11 1 11 • Bury He ''Doubl e S ta nd ard" Tbe Slave Auction. rr A woman is not solely responsible for her in 11 11 fall, rr s he suggests Doub le Standard II a dding that And uhat is ur onc in a woman I s life In man •s cannot be ric;ht. Hi gh ly r·eadable and less academic in her us e of p oe t:lc techniqu es and vocabular ies, Nrs. Harper is neve1 tl1e less quite 1 indebted t o th0 Bible :for much of her i magery a nd moral me ssag e. And she is able to merge and modify the folk a nd religious forms in a poem like 11 Truth II where s he ope ns with u debt to the Spiri tua.ls: A rock, for ages, ste1. . n and hi e;b, S tood fro1-m ing 1 gainst t he e arth a nd sky, And never bowed bis haur;hty crest When angry s tor1-:1s around h i m prest. Horn , spring inc fro m the arms of ni;)1t, �Had often bathed his brou with light, And kissed tbe shadous f1°om his face Uith tender• love and gentlsi grace. Several religious songs are suggested here; but she also loves to return to the theme of women as she does in and "The Slave Hoth er. 11 11 A Double Standard 11 In the ballad "Vashti II she tells of the heroine v1ho dared to disobey her dictator-husband. The strength and dete1 mination of womanhood is expressed in the 1 last two stanzas: She heard again the King's command., And left her high estate; Strong in ber earnest i;-10manhood, She calmly met her fate, And left the palace of the King Proud of her spotless name-A woman who could bend to grief But 1-1ould not bow to shame. Certainly a comprehensive biographical-critical study of }I.rs. Harper is long over.Jue. Selections of her work can be found in Kerlin•s critical anthology, in Negro Caravan, in Robinson's book., in Miller's anthology, in the Barksdale and Kinnamon anthology and in numerous other recent anthologies. Mrs. Harper's works are critically examined by Loggins, Wagner, ·whi tlow, Bro.i-rley, Broun and Sherman (Invisible Poets: Black Americans of the 19th Century, ' 1974). Like other writers, educators and activists of his day, �George B. Vashon (1822-1878) contributed to the influential Anglo-African l1aga.zine which was published intermittently between 1859 unti 1 the end of t11e Ci vi 1 'I.Jal".. Vashon had a good solid educa.tion--in classics and history--at Oberlin College where he received his A.B., in 1844 and I-LA., in 1849 .. ' Vashon, known chiefly for his "Vincent Oge," which Sterling Brown tells us, "is the first narrative poem of any length by a Negro poet,. 11 Vashon distinguished himself as a teacher, la-wyer, lectu1°er and uriter. He practiced laH in Syracuse, taught school in Pittsburg, served on the faculties of College Faustin in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, New York Central College (Hherc he was a colleague of Reason and Allen) and Houard Unive1"'sity in D .. C. uhere he was a law professor. lfuch of Vashon•s poetry reflects debts to his strong education and the influence of Scott and Byron. All are seen in "Vincent Og~," inspired by the courageous (but foolish) . f efforts of Vincent Oge, a Haitian mulatto who was "entrusted with the message of enfranchisement to the people of mixed blood on the is land. 11 The order bad _come down from the Con- vention in France, of i.-J hich Hai ti wa.s a colony.. Internal disruption in France (due to tho Revolution, 1789-1799) had I echoed to its colonies in the Caribbean t~ere Oge led a short-lived armed uprising that cost hir,1 his life when he wa.s refused asylum in Spanish Santo Doraingo and remanded to the French autho1"'i ties in Hai ti. As punishment and a. warning to ' other•s., tbc P1°ench had Oge tortured on the uhee l and severed his body into four parts eae1".l o:f' c-rhich w e Jre-,W.Q,,it" hung . up in the four �leading cities of the island. I Oge's followers were either put to death or i mpr isoned and t he ir pr•operties confiscated. ' example as Has "'\·.J bitfield by Vashon 1-1as as L1.oved by Ogets In the lengthy poem, Cinque's~ II f Vincent Oge, rr Vasbon i1m11or- r talizes Oge in an admixture of classical and Biblical language, using a pleasant iamb ic tetra.111 eter meter and an over.J.ose of dissonance in his rhyme scheme which featu1,es an alternating a b a b/ a a hb. The style is som01-1bat reminiscent of Whitfield who breaks his rhyme scheme (see "America 11 ) after each group of eight or nine lines. "Vincent Ogt II and · "A Life-Day II were both printed in Auto graph s for Freedom for 1853. For Vashon, the strugele is very much alive, I And Oge stands mid this array Of matchless beauty, but his brow Is brightened not by pleasure 1 s play; He stands unmoved--nay., saddened not., As doth the lorn and mateless bird ' and Oge, dedicated to struggle, presses on. Vashon carefully weaves the graphic details of his protagonist's execution into the narrative and anticipates the more fire-tipped pens of later Black (lynch.:.theme) poets such as Johnson, HcKay, Hughes, Brown and Dodsen: Frowning t he y stand, and in their cold, Silent solemnity 7 unf'old r.r11e strong one Is triumph o'er the weak-The at:ful gr oan--the anguished shriek-The unconscious mutterings of despair-- 145 �11he strained eyeball's idiot stare-The hope less clencb--the quivering frame-The martyr's death--the despot's shame4 The ra.c k--the tyrant--victim,--all Are gathei-•ed in that Judgment Hall. Draw ue a veil, for •tis a sight But fiends cnn gaze on wi tb deligh t. Freighted ·with emotion and terro1~ like much of the work of Mrs. Harper, and setting the stage for such awesome poei@ as Wri ght's "Bet·ween the World and He, " McKay• s "The Lynch inc; , 11 Dunbar Is "The . Haunted Oak" and Dodson's "Lament," Va.shon•s relentless narrative signals a new and sustaining power in t h e work of Black poets. Compare, for example, the last two lines of the stanza above to HcKay 1 s couplet in his sonnet "The Lynching ": And little lads, lynchers that were to be, Da nced round the dredful thing in fiendish gle e ., Unlike HcI(ay , however , Vashon cheers up at the end: Thy coming fame, Ogel is sure; Thy name with that of L · •Overture, And all t he noble souls that stood 1vi th both of you, in times of blood, Will live to be the tyrant's fear-Compare this ending, if you will, to the ending salute to 11 General Hash ington" by Hiss Hheatley. 11 A Life-Day" is a shorter poem, in three parts, a nd, like "Vincent Og~, is founded �on a factual event: the love-ai'fair and eventual marriage of a young white man and a light-skinned Black. For selections of Vashon' s works see Autographs for Freedom and Robinson's anthology. For critical discussions see the works of Brown and Brawley. As we prepare to move to the next phase in the development of Black poetr•y, it is important that we tarry long enough to pay brief attention to some of the Creole poets. He select Pierre Dalcour., Armand Lanusse (1812-1867), Victor Sejour (1817- 1874), Nelson Debrosses and Nicol Riquet. Somewhat of an anomaly in Afro-American literature and poetry, these Creole poets are nevertheless important if the complete p:ortrait of this many-sided and complex tradition is to be understood. There is nothing typically American in their poetry--not even in terms of American imitators of English forms--a.nd they rarel:r display any racial consciousness and general injustice. 01, concern for slavery Nost were fluent in speaking and writing French and from that influence their work derives a spicy melody and an unhibited treatment of romantic love and revelry. Huch of the work is also intimate and sophisticated in its use of conventions and materials gained from French educations. The Creole poets' Horks appeared as "tbe first published anthology of ·Negro verse in America II in a volume called Les Cenelles (New Orleans, 1845). In addition to French, the Creole poets also 1-1rote in Spanish, La.tin and Greek and uere Generall~r from the wealthy land-owner class J-4 7 �and 01-1nod slaves. About Dalcour little is 1-::noHn e::rnept t11at he 11as born of wealthy par•ents uho sent bim to Pr anc e in t he ea.rly 1800 • s t o re c 0i vo a gooc.1 education. Roturninc to l'Tew 01°leans after his schooling, he uas unab le to acc ept tl~e racial tempe1~ and again took up rE: sidency in Fra nce. 1-Jhile i n Hew Orleans, houe ver , ho uroto a number of poems, one of u h ic11 was ~h i tt 0n in th.3 .Alh u~.1 of I:a.dar,10 iselle. 0 11 r e li ves the vaulted sk i es II 11 11 Vor•se Tl.1e poe D toucbinc ly and "gentle flashes rr 11l1 icl1, to the poet , ar e " loss l ovo ly 11 wb.cn seen U.'.:;ainst the la¢ly's eyes Beneath their brown lashes. Lanusse, Le r.enelles editor, contributed to New Orleans nreole newspapers, L'Union and ~a Tribune, served ns a conscript ed Co nfederate sold i e r in the Civil Har , spent some time ns principal of t bo Catholic :J ch o ol for Inc1iscnt Orphans of Color. He also encou rage d lit erary and other artistic exp1·ess ion a1.10nc fcllo-tJ artists and ::rn lici ted uork for Les Cenclles. He culoc;iz0d h is br·othcr , lTuma , in the poem 1 '1.Tn Pr!re/Au Tombeau de Son Pr!re," re calling t h at "u r @!. n:; death has cut you down." VS 0 Elsewhere Lanuss e refers to death as " some other b a nd shutting your e:re lids. 11 S omcH!rn. t no.ught ier a nd more poignant in "Ep igram," La nusse g i ves the account of . a 11 . ·wor:1an of ev il" who wants to "r enounce the devil n but, ask fl . Before pure gr ac e takes me in hand , Shou l dn I t I shoH my daugh t er how to ge t a man?" "'-./ �sJjour• lived ~110st of his life i n France a nd only returned to Hew Orl0ans for br ief visits to h is lilOther . Son of a ·wealthy family, he 111,ote s ever al plays, 21 of wh ich were stage d in Fr•ance a nd three in Hew Orleans in the 1850 1 s. sJjour 's literary a b ilities were praised by Napoleo n III and he rubbed shoulders lJi th major Fre nch literary personalities of bis day. Eis scope is uider t h an some of the other Creole poets. "Le Re tour de FapolJon 11 ( His "The Return of Napoleon 11 ) is an e le g7 f a.nd a celebration all j_n one. While eulogizing Napoleon, Sejour prai ses both his and France's triump~s and g lories. poem of flouing, g-r aphic exaltation. 11 a "sea II that It is a Opening on t h e scene of gr oans under the burning sun, 11 he narrates the gr outh and collapse of France as a. world power: And on a nd on she swe pt, an unleashed tempe st wild, and France mov ed on ahead. No more. All is over • ••• Yet, hail, 0, captainJ Hail my consul of proud bearing. Admonishing France to country that 11 11 1:leep, France, ll$ep., 11 , Se jour reminds the death has lightning struck the people rs g iant. 11 Little is known about the perso nal life of Debrosses which, according to Robinson., "seems in keeping with bis Haitian gained experience in Voodoo, aspects of which he practised in Hew Orleans. 11 In Debrosses' "Le Retour .au Village aux Perles 11 ( "neturn to the Villag e of Pearls 11 ) , he seems to a nti cipate what Waring Cuney sees through the "dishwater" in h is poem 149 �_j_ "Images." The Creole poet returns to the village to find that Her spirit dances here and there in these enchanting places and to locate --that flower-bosomed grove again., the witness of our secret passion, and too, the cherished brook to which my soul would on this day confide its ho.ppy memory. A cigo.r-mal{er by trade., Riquet lived all of bis life in New Orleans where be pursued a vigrous avocation of ·writing light verses. His "Rondeau Redouble/ Aux Franc Amis 11 ( "Double Rondeau/To Candid Friends 11 ) leaves no doubt that Riquet saw himself as at least serious in bis avocation. A rondeau is a French-originated lyrical poem of 13, or sometimes, 10 lines., There are two rhymes throughout the poem and the opening phrase is repeated twice as a refrain. The form is remotely reminiscent of the blues an:1 Spiritual forms of Afro-American poetry., Riquet says that since his "candid friends aJ:'.e calling for a rondeaul he and his ":Muse • • • must worlr a 1vonder. 11 11 Other Creole poets included Niebel Saint-Pierre (18? - 1866)., Camille Threrry (1814-1875), Joanni Questi (18? - 1869 compiled an Alma nach of Laughter) and T.A. Desdunes Nb om Jahn says "is reminiscent of the Senegalese poet Birago Diop. 11 The duty of the poet is to "rhyme in an uncommon uay 11 or he will "earn the name of poetaster--from our candid friends." 150 �The Creole poets are examined and represented by selections in E. Nn ceo Coleman 's Creole Voices (Hasbington, D.C., 1945) See also Charles Rousseve 1 s The and in Robinson•s anthology, Negro and Louisiana (Xavier University Press, 1937), and the critical selection by Jahn. in Hughe s r and Bontemps Lanusse and Lecour also appear The Poetry of tbe Hegro (1949~ 1970). I There were other poets Hriting and publish ing during this same period. I1any of them published their works in single editions, and copies of some are no longer extant., refers too. poet knoun as 11 Caesar 11 who allegedly 1vrote but 1,1bosc poetry is not available. are: Brawley Other poems and their collections Ilaria and Harriet Falconar, Poems on Slavery (London, 1783); Jo.mes Hontgomery, Jamas Graham, E. Benger, Poems on the A1) oli tion of the Slave Trade (London, 1809); Anonymous, Tbe Uest Indies and 0th Gr Poems ( 1 8 11); John Bull, The Slave and Other Poems 1824); Rev. Noah c. Cannon, Tbe nock of l!isdom .,. (London, To Hhich Ar•c Added Several Interesting Hymns (New York,? 1833); Anonyu1ou s, "The Comlilemorative Hreath: In Celebration of the Extinction of Negro Slavery in the Bri tisb Dominions (London, 1835); Anonymous, Anti-Slave ry l-Ielodies (Hingb a 1;1, Hasso.chusetts, 1834); George 1'n1itfield Clark, compiler, The Liberty I-Ii nstrel (Neu York, 1844); Hilliam Hells B1 own, Anti-Slavery Harp (Boston, 1 1849); 11 A West Indian, 11 Charleston, Soutll Carolina: a satiric poem shouinc; that slavery still exists in tbe conntr~r which boasts, above all otbcrs, of being the seat of liber·ty. 1851); Sar.1-----------------Darlmcss BronGb t to li ch t 151 (London, (Derry , �lTeH Hampshire,? 1855); George H. Cletrk, The Har•p of Preedom (:New York, 1856); and Abel Charles Thomas, The Gospel of Slavery ( Heir York, 1864). In 1860 Blacks represented l.4.1~; of' the United States population and were 4,1~41, 830 str•ong. The sour tastes lei't by the 1vorst internal social inflagration until the 1960 1 s and 70 • s, the problems of car int; for and protecting the soon-to-be-released slaves, the need to develop and staff educational facilities i'or Blacks, all engulfed Afro-Americans in a deluge of horror and hope. Although it is clear that the works of many poets leap the arbitrarily-imposed chronological boundaries, the temperments, themes, dictional preferences and limitations discussed generally hold for most of the poetry of the period. Despite the surprising successes, and the flashes of brilliance intertwined with mediocrity and comedy, the Black poet would labor long to remove "the image of a face 11 that, in the uords of Corrothers, on the wild s1veet flowers. 11 Lieth, like shado1v 11 The following poems are included as examples to enhance and possibly clarify the foregoing discussion on the and Agitation II of "African Voices In Ee lips e. 152 11 11 Imitation ... � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_11 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, p. 43-152, typed manuscript Description An account of the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, p. 43-152, typed manuscript. Draft includes IV. Folk Seculars, V. Spirituals, Section, VI. Folk Seculars, Chapter III. African Voice in Eclipse: Imitation & Agitation, and III. The Voices on the Totem. Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/51408857591f7f0c3640bec0fdb42527.pdf de36b85b59b755b511d30942e4342850 PDF Text Text 1 .. ' ' At t h is perilous juncture in Bl a ck hi s tory ., on the e ve of America's Bi-Cent enni a l a n d amidst a n ew wa ve of 'rh ird World Humanism., Drumvoicea co me s a s a partial rebuttal to those who say poetry's impact on mank ind I s cons ciousness has been insi gnificant. •rhe thesis is simple: that God's Bl a ck trombone s have historically blared through or soothed the h ars h a nd stark realities of the Afro-American ~xperience; and that the sources (records) of these blarings and soothsayings, locked i:P.•, • ,, . 1~ ·'= ''-II, '· of the folk, t-emain accessible to anyone desiring "'to ~~ap them. source,,-$pi ri ts ("roots" )r, are what the author has tried ·to coh ,, ' · up in Drurnvoices, · • ·---z•• which owes great debtlto a lengtheni ,. of marvelous visionaries., "known and unknown." ~ ·, ' , ~-~ As a reference work, this text makes a modest attempt .. t t. ~-- ;.in the tradition of Vernon Logg ins I The Negro Author ,• ~.t. ':, ,1?·~Ame:ri.c 11 ~-. jamin Brawley•s Early Negro American Writers and The N'egro Geni ~•.. ·,..,. Sterling A. Erown I s Negro Poetry and Drama ~and J. Saunders Reddin To Make A Poet Black. We have~...als& cprofitted ' :tmmenael7of110111: ~ate.~hl . ,, . '!, l .works by George Washington Williams., Benjamin E.· _Maytt, W.E.B. DuBoi s , ~~ ' John Hope Franklin, Franz Fanon, Loften Mitchell and b'ofothy Port er: . / I,. • Of the li t er~ry historians a nd c ritics, only Brown is c~nc e rned ·ei - . . ~:. .• ' . ~ elude a checklist of Bl a c k, po e ts. Lo ggins I study v i ews .._ Black . autho\ up until 1 900; and Re d ding , Bro wn an d Brawley examine them through the mid 1930s. Drumvo ices combines all previous vEm'tures in the area of the p oetry-- g i ving new int erpretations and updating en exciting history which b e g an with Lucy •r e rry wh o wro te a poem 229 years ago. :c 1 "·•'!/! elusively with poets--th ough Mrs. Po rt e r's man y offerings also in' ~ ' ·cultural safe-deposit boxes , of drums and the intricate acoustics ~ •• · 1 ' 1 �Initially conceived a s a monologue and later enlarged to its present siz,e, Drumvoic es is aimed a t s tudents and te a chers of Black poetry, literature, history a nd cu ] tu r e. However , the author hopes that all who read from t he se pages will benefit . The very general thesis stated above is consi stentJ.y implied in the book I s approach. ~ And unlike some recent works, this one does not present a consciously . •, 1 ;.{.labored construct or aestheti cal matrix, i.e., Black Nationalism, · - or . ~,,-· r,an-A.fricanism, the Black Aesthetic/\ Aliena tion, though none of -,..~\ alternatives has been overlooked whenever and wherever poets or ., i?J,. ,, . ., · · t· ha.ve dealt significantly with them. Occasionally chronology is viola elnce any time barrier is, by definition, arbitrary. R •{!It ? f n i ff fliW I . ' was impossible to find birth or death dates for some of ~ early poets} Also arbitrary is the author 1 s selection of poets t. emphasis on various styles, techniques, themes or periods. Yet ': ~the organization of the text is somewhat original since, at the' tim has ~ pt this writing, no single workadiscussed Black poetry from its be~ 1 • I' , ,/{ ginnings into the 19 60s and 1970s. As a history, Drumvoices '1 ': .. _" i 1x chapters: I; Introduction--Black Poetry: Views, Visions, Conflic!is; \ •~~ J \/II, ~-ft • ~• ' I.• ' The Black and Unknown Bards: Folk Roots; III, -· Af"-rican Voice in ! l •;.. ~c;t.ipSe: Imitation and Agita~io n(l746 -1 865); IV, Jubilee.s , Ju'jus _and ~/~ {::.I "· ·;~ ,Justices(l865-191 0 ); V, A Long Ways From Home _( l 910-1960); VI, Festivals . ~ Funerals: Black Poetry of th e L9 60s and 1970s. Finally there is Ii J a Bibliographical• Index. The historical as p ect of t hi s two-pron ged study(critical and t I •.}lominates: the rationale being t h '.=tt I ~~ text which chronicles the develo :,f·, ot the poetry is a prerequi s ite to sound critical assessment. AlsoiJ the ~· .. author ~ I was not unmindful of the f a ct tha t most anthologies or studies (~: of recen t Black p o e try are gen F:: ra.lly nlo a ded" and t o p-hea'vy with house.: hold name s; but none of t hem has ex t ende d their vision to include a �~ representative("complete" is out of th i> que~tion) look at the numerous important centers where this p o etry is b eing cr N1. ted . It seemed a worbhwhile task, then, simply t o su ggest the d emogranhic range of the rt\t4dnew poetry. Such is the attempt~in Chapt e r VI wnere the author has 4 pu11tosely decentralized a star-dominated pattern in the new poe try I I in fa.-or of a more truthful and historical pi cture of its development. pick up a journal or book in practically any l ibrary a:nd read praise of the . new poetry; hence the author has simply referred to these comments instead of re-hashing them here. ,.. U~fortun~,t ely, · significant studies of lbth and 19th century po'etry were not 'av~ilable to the author while chapters on these ',{. I 1 ·, \ · ' ' ,, areas.· w re being written. But Jean Sherman,s _____ Invisible __:.. __ __ __;.. ______ ..;__ , the 19th Sentury: and M.A. Richmond's Bid the Vassal Soar: Interpretive ,7 -, · on ·the Life and Poetry of Phillis Wheatley and George Moses Horton, provided additional insight and caused some . :li' \~l a. . re ~· slight , • .,.1 h~ffling ?f this text. Of great service, howe v er, was Ea rly Black American Poets, William Robinson's impo rtant a nthology(with notes); at ~J, writing, it remains the bestAsource for the period. The author is , · lso indebted to a number of important works on 20th century Black l'Oetry: Jean Wagner I s Black Poets of the United. States.:., .E:cgm Pau}. Laur.§U~ Dunb~r "' Wr1 tere, J9QQ-J 960 1 and Louis Rubin's BJJ,d, Donald Gibson Is ~~.la.c.k...J:.Q,eot •.s' Blyden Jackson Is ' ~a,Q~ PRJi:ttY in Am~rjca, the Aslxenturs gf_:West,ern Cu] tu.re Geo r ge P. Kent's Bl8 ckness and .Joy Flasch 's H~. J..x,t11,.P. A book does not just happen Hnd t he fueJ for this one hns been pouring in over a number of ye ar s ond from a r;riw t many sources • ._ Germinating ideas came from various qua rters : s tud en ts, fri en ds, teachers, and mor1t importantly, from co1leDr,uc~s :it ;jouthc'r•n 11linois University's .l:!;xpo rimont in Hi t;twr .e:duc ntlon in bas t St . l,nui s. The . �•r ".literally hundre ds of po e ts, writ e rs and thinke r s(in Watt·s, New Yo rk, Ch icago, . New Orleans, Athmta, Det ro it, Clevel and, ete. ~with whom • #tt «111ftoh J. t.t.S · '\ met a n d t a l ke d t hro u gh ni gh ts and days, now stand faceless and namele s s, but they are a s much a p a rt of this book as the author hims elf. Of sp eci a l si gnificance we r e the critical readings of sections { fr-1end and tli 2 I of this text by Te d t-l.ornba c k , ·, Aformc r te a cherj C1yde Taylor who ~ 0 -1_P11:ucil rt'-1h1ntir-g u,t~t-W~~"ljand 'U critic Charles Rowell who should have been commissioned to write the chapter or folklore~ • Likewise, for their patience, assistance and great stores ; tion, deb+ts.o.fAled to librari ans at California St;te University , (Sacramento), the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York Public Library), the Moorland-Spingarn Hesearch Center at Howard University, Oberlin College, and Southern University in Baton Rouge. While a book does not just hap pen in the min!i, neither doec, miraculously appear on the page. Hours of meticulous and re.lentless work was invested by my gradua te assistant Julie Blattle with bibliographical and textual problems • .· Younger • ' \ ., '. • j .,_ ·assistants in these matters included Keith Jeffer~on' ap.d I Ronald \ • Tibbs. However, a lion's sharJ of producing this book was as.awned ~- by Marie Collins, supervisor of Sacramento's Oak Park School or Afro-Ame rican Thought, who typed, criticized a nd otherwiae committe4 herself to the project. Beiterley Williams, CSUS English secretary, also shared a portion oft he typing load. Fjnally, my gracious I I editor, Marie Brown, des e rves a huge salute· for her encouragement, concern, and continued support of th e writing-research through to the end. Onward, t ha E0 ~1' S I Fugene B. r<eafnona. March S, 1975 Sacramon to , Cali f o rni f1 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_10 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Preface, p. I-IV, typed with handwritten edits Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/6c8b122f225b26f0c41a0ce3394ddfea.pdf 19076a7f3309a78c9dd9a24de4a6f363 PDF Text Text BIBLIOGRAPHY This bibliography is designed to serve the needs of beginning and advanced students of Black Poetry. It is not intended to be exhaustive since many bibliographies repeat the same items. No attempt has been made to cite the count- less single collections of poems because numerous checklists and specialized bibliographies are available. Moreover, most anthologies, critical studies and hist ories list individual collections--in selected bi bliographies and biographies. Since many Black poets publish privatel3r or with small and relatively unknown publishing houses, the student will want to examine listin~s and reviews in Black periodicals (Black World, Journal of Black Po~try, Freedomways, Black Books Bulletin, Black Creation, CLA Journal and others). Some Black publishing houses print title listings on the inside covers of their books. Scores of records and tapes of readings, films, broadsides (single poems), pamphlet publications and tracts are also available from individuals or small publishing houses. Recently, such large recording companies as Folkways, Flying Dutchman and MoTown have begun to record and distribute Black Poetry. However, the task of locating and developing a c h ecklist for the myriad publications and publishing activities of Black poets still awaits some serious student of Black literature. For con- venience, a list of Blacl: pub~ ishing compa nies is included at the end of' tllLs~ibl io rrra nbv. �B I B L I O G R A P TI Y GENERAL RESEARCH AIDS Ada.ms, Russell L. Great Negroes, Past and rrese_n_:t. Chicago, l 96~. The Arthur B. Spingarn Collection of Nerrro Authors. Washington, D.C., 191i,fJ. Bontemps, Arna. "The James Weldon JohnsoQ __l:~.rr1orial Collection of Negro Arts and Letters. 11 Yale University Li~r.ary Gazette, XVIII (October 1943), 19-26. • "Special Collect ions of NeP:roana. " Li brarv --o-u-arterly, XIV (1944), 187-206 Chapman, Abraham. The Negro in American Literature _ and a Bibliography of . Literatur.~____Qy and about Negro Americans. Stevens Point , Wis., 1q66 . Deodene, Frank and William P. French. Black American poetry Since 1944, A Pre1_l_IT!.inary Checklist. Chatham, 1971. Dictionar:_y__Catalo_g_ of ... the __ Jesse_ E. __ Moorland__Collection of~Ne gro Life _and_History (at Howard Uni versity,. 9 vols. Boston, 1970. Dictionary Cata.lo ~ or the Schomburg Collection of Negro _Literature_&_ Hist ory-. 11 vols. Boston, 1962, 1967. Drzick, Kathleen, John Murphy, and Constance Weaver. Annotated Bibliography of Works Re latin r to the Negro in Literature and to Negro Dialects. Kalamazoo, Mich ., 1969. Du Bois, W.E.B. A Select Bibliography of the NA~ro American. 3rd ed. Atlanta, 19n5. , and Guy B. Johnson. Encyclopedia of the Negro: Pi:_~p-~_!'-~_t;o:ry _Vol un:_i~. Rev. Ed. New York, 1946. Guzman, Jessie P., ed. Ne ~ro Year Book, Tuske~ee, Ala., 194 7. Index to Periodical Articles hy and About Neproes (formerly A Guiq~__t__g__N.?. .Kt:Q ___ ]:~x.i od ic.al.. Li..teratJJ.r.e and Index to Selected Pe..r.i..QQ~_c..al.s.). International__ Library __ of_) fo.e:.ro _Lif e_and .. Utstory. 10 vols. Washington, D.C., 1967-l06G . Jahn, Hanheinz. A -Bibli_o~raphy of Neo-Af'rican Literature from Afri_ga, __ Arnerica_t.__and tw _Car:lhbean. New York , 1965. Johnson, Harry A. Multimedia Materials for AfroAmerican Studies, New York , 1971. 11 Kaiser, Ernest. The }Li.~torr of Neri-:r0 TU s~()rv. 11 _Negro Dige_st, XVII 0• ebruary lt.J6 t\ ), 10-l_S, 64-80. 11 Recent Books. H Freedomwe.ys, in each issue. --- 1 i �McPherson, James, et al, eds. Blacks in AmericA: Bibliographical Essays. New York, 1G72. Major, Clarence. Dictionary of Afro-American Slang. New York, 1970. · Miller, Elizabeth W. and Mary L. },isher. The Ner.;ro tn America: A Bibliopraphy. 2nd ed. Cambridge, Mass., 1970. The Negro in Print: ~i,p).iori:raphic Survey. Porter, Dorothy B. 11~arly American NeP:ro Writinrrs: ;;,.\i '( tw,J..7-,_Q,;.,,~..''.} A Bibliographical Studv." Papers of the BiqJiq.:·· ___,, 9_f __Arg~_:rjqQ-, XXXIX ( 19~), T~~:~gg:J__§--9~i~:!;y___ • North American Ne~ro Poets: A Biblio--g-r-aphical __ Check _List__ of~Th_e ir __ Wri ti ops, 1760-19h4. HattiesburB, Miss., 194~. Rowell, Charles H. 1¼ Bibliography of Bibliographies for the Study of Black American Literature and Folklore. 11 Black Experience, A Southern University Journal, LV (June 1969) 95-111. Smith, Jessie Carney. ''Developing Collections of Black Literature. 11 Black World. XX ( June 1971), 18-29 Turner. Darwin T. Afro-American Writers. t~- - ~ - ~-New York, 1970. Wor'k, l"Jonroe N. A Biblior;ra.pby of the Negro in Africa and America. New York , 1923. 11 Yellin, Jean Fac;an. An Index of Literary Materia.ls in _The Crisis, 1910-1931+: Ar ti cles, Belles-Lettres, and Boole Revfews. '' CL'-1. Journal, XIV (1971), 452-1~65. PERIODICAL.S Amistad Black Academy Review Black Books Bulletin Black Creation Black Orph~_us: A Journal o;f _Af'.r.ican _nnd _Afro-American Literatur~ The Black Position Black Review The Black Scholar Black Theatre Black World (formerly Ner:ro Dipest) CLA Journal Controntation: ~ Journal of Third World Literature The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races Douglass• Monthly Essence Freedomways �PERIODICALS (cont'd) The Jo_ul'nal of Black Poetr..:r The Journal of Black Studies The Journal of Ner:ro Histo.u Ner;ro American Li te_J;:1.§.~t1!l:!LJ.:.~ Negro History Bullet::l,...rr. Nkombo Nommo Opportunity: A Journal of Negro _Life Phylon: The Atlanta _University Review of nace and ,culture Presence Africain~: Cultura.l _..Revue_ of _the_Ne_g]'o World Roots: _A __Journal __ of' Cr:i.tical __and Creat_i ve. Expression Soulbook Studies in Black Literature Umbra Yardbird __ Reader ANTHOLOGIES (NOTE: Most, but not all, of the followinr.; antholoA;ies are devoted primarily to BlQck Poetry.) Adams. William, Peter Conn, and Barry Slepian, eds. Afro-American Literature: Poetry. Boston, 1970. Adoff, Arnold, ed. Black Out Loud: An Anthology of Modern Poems by Black Americans. New York, 1970. , ed. I Am the Darker Brother: An AntholoBv --o-f-Modern Poems by Black Americans. New York, 1963. , ed. The Poetry of Black AmeJ1~.9a. New York, -,973. Afro-Arts Anthology. Newark, 1066. Alha~nisi, Ahmed and Harun K. Wa.ngara, eds. Black Arts: An Anthology of Black Creations. Detroit, 1970. Baker, Houston A., Jr., ed. Black Literature in America. New York, 1971. Barksdale, Richard and Kenneth Kinnanon, eds. Black Writers of America. New York, 1972. __12CD. Soul Sessioq. Newark, 1969. Black History Museu~ Co~Mittee of Philadelphia. Black Poets Write On. Philadelphia., 1969 (?). Bontemps, Arna., ed. American Negro Poetrv. New York, 1963. Brawley, Benjamin, ed. Early Negro American Writers. Chapel Hill, N.C • ., 19~ Brooks, Gwendol::,i., ed. A Broa.dside T:reasur__y. Detroit, 1971. *_ -:1-Belt., 6e 'rtlt'A.Y'ti ~ .e.d, WeM\ ctnd_ _~.o~_~mpot"o..r A~e Y' ·i c~n.~J:..rj/,. Sot'nn·, ~ . 0 Afr.Q- �ANTHOLOGIES (cont'd) , ed. Jump Bad: A New Chicar:o Anthology. ---=n-e~troit, 1971. Brown, Sterling A., Arthur P. De.vis, and Ulysses Lee, eds. The Ne~ro Caravan. New York, 19ltl; Arno, 1969. Ca.de, Toni, ed. The Black Wome.n: An Anthology. New York, 1970. Calverton, Victor F., ed. Anthology o~ American Negro Literature. New York, 1929. Chambers, Bradford and Rebecca Mo on, eds. Bight On: Anthology of' Black LiterattJ,re. New York, 1970. Chapman, Abraham, ed. Afro-American Slave Narratives. New York, 1970. . , ed. Black Voices: An~~hology of Afro-American _ _L_.i...-terature. New York, 1968 . , ed. New Black Voices. New York, 1971. -0--1-a.-r.....k-e, John Henrik, ed. Harlem: Voices from the Soul of Black America. New York , 1970. Coombs, Orde, ed~ We Speak as Libera.tors: Young Black Poets. New York, 1970. Cornish, Sam and Lucian w. Dixon. Chicorv: Young Voices From the Black Ghetto. New York, 1969. Cromwell, Oteliz, Lorenzo D. Turner, and Eva B. Dykes, -. eds. Readings from Negr__Q_Authors. New York, 1931. /cruise, Harold. The Crisis of the Ne ,;:ro Intellectual.) 1,.ds/1'] ~ New York, 1967. Cullen, Countee, ed. Carolin~ Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets. New York, 1927. Cunard, Nancy, ed. Ne~ro AntholOBY• London, 1934. Danner, Mar garet. ReRroup. Richmond, Va .• 1969 • . The Brass House. Richmond, Va ., 1968 . -n-a_v_i_s_, Arthur P. and Saunders Reddin~, eds. Cavalcade: Ner;ro American Writinp from 1760 to the Present. Bosto n, 1971. Davis, Charles T. and Daniel We.lden, eds. On Beinp; Black: Writings by Afro-Americans from Frederick Dou~lass to the Present. New York, 1970. Dreer, Herman, ed. American Literature by Negro Authors. New York, 1950. Emanuel, James A. and Theodore Gross, eds. Dark Symphonv: Negro Literature in America. New York, 1968. Ford, Nick Aaron, ed. Black In?.iggts: S i~nificant Literature by Afro-Ame_r icans-1760 to the Present. Waltham, Mass., 1971. Freedman, Franc Gs S., ed. The Black American Experienc :· A New Anthology of Bla.ck Li te~atur_~. New York, 1 g70. Giovanni, Nikki. Night Comes Softly. Newa.r-K >· • 1971'. �ANT!IOLOG IES (cont'd) Haslam, Gerald W., ed. Forgotten Pa.rre s of American Literature. Boston, 1970. Hayden, Robert, ed. Kaleidoscope: Poems by American Negro Poets. New York, 1967. , David Burrows, and Frederick Lapides, eds. --A-r-ro-American Literature. - New York, 1971. Henderson, David, ed. Umbra. Blackworks Antholoc;y 1970-1971. New York;-T971. Henderson, Stephen. Understa.ndine; the New Black Poetry. New York, 1973. Hill, Herbert, ed. Soon One Mernin~: New Writi n bv American Negroes, 19 0-19 2. New York, 1963. Hughes, Langston, ed. 'l1he Book of Ner,:ro Humor. New York, 1966. , . ~ , ed. La Poesie N,gro-Am~ricaine. Paris : Editions Segbers, 1966. , ed. New Negro Poets U.S.A. Bloomington, Ind., --19-64. and Arna Bontemps, eds. 'l'he Poetrv of the Nerro_, 1Tu6-19~l.Q. Rev. ed. Garden City, U.Y ., 1970. Johnson, Charles s., ed. ~bony and Topaz: A Calleetanea. New York, 1927. Johnson, James ·weldon, ed. The Bo ok of' American Ne ,q;ro Poetry. Rev. ed. New York, 1931. , ed. The Book of American NoQro S irituals. --N-ew- York, 192; The Second ~ook of Nerrro Spiritua ls. New York, 1926. Jones, LeRoi and Larry Neal, eds. _Black FirQ: An. Anthology of Afro-American Writing. New York, 1968. Jordan, June, ed. Soulscript: Afro-American Poetry . Garden City, N.Y., 1970. Kearns, Francis E., ed. The Black Exp~;r.J~nq~: _AQ_ Anthology of American Literature for the 197.Q...!_~. New York, 1970. Kendricks, Ralph, ed. _Afro-Americn.n Voice~: 1770' s1970' s. New York, 1970. Kerlin, Robert T., ed. Negro Poets and Their Poems. · 2nd ed. Washington, D.C., 1935. King, Woodie. ]?lack Spir_i ts: A_Festi val _ of __}I~~ Black Poets in Amer ica. New York, 1972. Knight, EtheridGe, ed. Black Voices from Prison. New York, 1970. Lanusse, Armand, ed. Creole Voices: :e9_~ms __ in French by Fr_e~ __ M~_n_ of . Color. Ed. Edward r~. Coleman. Centennial ed. Washington, D.C., 1945. �ANTHOLOGIES (cont'd) Locke, Alaine, ed. Four Negro Poets. New York, 1927. , ed. The New Ner:;ro: An Interpretation. New York, 192.5. Lomax, Alan and Raoul Abdul, eds. 3000 Years of Black Poetry. New York, 1970. ~Lowenfels, Walter, ed. In A.Time of Revolution: Poems From our Third World. New York, 1969. Major, Clarence, ed. The New Black Poetry . New York, 1969. Miller, Adam David, ed. Dices or Black Bones: Black Voices of the Seventies. Boston, 1970. Miller, Ruth, ed. .Blackamerican Li tera.tu.r_e 1760-Present. Beverly Hills, Calif., 1971. Moon, Bucklin, ed. Primer for White Folks. Garden City, N.Y., 1945. Murphy, Beatrice, ed. Nee;ro Voi~. Hew York, 1938. • Ebony Rhyt_h~. New York , 19µ. 3 and 1968. - - - . Today's Negr o Voices. New York , 1070. Nelson, Alice Dunbar, ed. Masterpieces of Ner:r.9 Eloquence. New York , 1914. Nicholas, Xavier, ed. Poetry of Soul. New York, 1971. , ~ ;-• Lanp;ston IIur;hes, Black Genius: ) 6£'...\.a,1 . Ji ( O 'Daniel, Thurman, ed. • A Critical Evaluation. New York, 1971. Osofsky, Gilbert, ed. Puttin' on Ole Mass? : ____T11e Sle.ve Narratives of Henry Bibb, Willi.am W. Brown, and Solomon Northrup. New York, 1969 . Patterson, Lindsay, ed. ~n Introduction to Black Literature in America from l to the Present. W&shington, D.C., 19 9. Perkins, Eugene, ed. Black Expressions: An Anthology of New Black Poets. Chicaso, 1967. Poems by Blacks, vol. I. Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1970. , Vol. II. Fort Smith, Arkansa s, 1972. - - - , Vol. III. ( Pinkie Gordon Lane, ed.). Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1973. Pool, Rasey E., ed. Beyond the Blues: New Poems by American Hep:roes. Lympne, Kent, Entland, 1962. • Ik Ben de lJieuwe Neger. The Ha.cue: Bert --B-a....-kker, 196h. Porter, Dorothy, ed. Early Nep;ro Writ_ins, ____1760-183..7. Boston, 1971. Randall, Dudley , ed. Black Poet~_y: A Supplement to Anthologies Uhich Exclude Black Po~_t s. Detroit, 1969. and Margaret Burrour;hs, eds. For Malcolm: Poems on the Life anj Death of Malcolm X. Detroit, 1969 ., ed. The Black Poets. New Yo~k, 1971. _R_e_d_m_o-nd, Eugene. Sides of the River: _A Mini Anthology . of Black Hritings. ·E.k!.·t"S1".1.. m.ti~Jt.t.L·;.~- , 1970. ~,tona·r Rich~F& A. ~r'\d ~u'be.Y\i~ ct3l.l:ler.J" eds .. Af.r:,o-Ahl.e·ry.can ~ i ,°\l\ , _, t'\ A.nttlplOBY oP Pt~ ro:~'n-if ~ voG. 1\-ew \ •ot1-K1 'r..?;~ -.__ 'q w O �ANTHOLOGIES (cont'd) Reed, Ishmael, ed. 19 Necromancers from Now: An _Anthology of Original American Writing tor the 70s. Garden City, N.Y., 1970. Robinson, William H., ed. Early Black American f--2.tl.§.. Dubuque, Iowa, 1969. Rodgers, Carolyn M., ed. For Love of Our Brothers. Chicago, 1970 •. Schulberg, Budd, ed. From the Ashes: Voices ot Watts. New York, 1967. Shuman, R. Baird, ed. A Galaxy of Black Writing.~~ Durham, · N. C., 1970. , ed. Nine Black Poets. Durham, N.C., 1968. BourITession. Newark, 1970 (?) Stanford, Barbara Dodds, ed. I, Too, Sing America: Black Voices in American Literature. New York, l • 1971. Ten: An Antholof. of Detroit Poets. Fort Smith, Arkansas, 196. Troupe, Quincy, ed. Watts Poets and Writers. Los Angeles, 1968. Turner, Darwin T., ed.· Black American Literature: Poetry. Columbus, Ohio, 1970. Watkins, Sylvester c., ed. Antholo~ of American Negro Literature. New York, 1944. White, Newman I. and Walter C. Jackson, eds. An. Anthology of Verse by American Negroes. · Durham. N.C., 1924. .I Wilentz, Ted and Tom Weatherly, eds. Natural Process: An Anthology of New Black Poetry. New York, 1971. Woodson, Carter G., ed. Negro Orators and Their Orations. Washington, D.C., 1925. LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM · (General) Allen, Samuel. "Negritude and Its Relevance to the American Negro Writer. 11 The American Ne_gro Writer and His Roots. New York, 19-60. Pp. ·cT.:..20 -- ----The America-n Negr_Q__ W.!"~_ter_~_n_g.__ H~-~ Ro_ ot~. New York, 1960. Baraka., Imamu Amiri (LeRoi Jones). "The Black Aesthetic." Negro Digest, XVIII (September 1969), 5-6. Bontemps, Arna. "The Black Renaissance of the Twenties," Black World, XX (November 1970), 5-9. • "Famous WPA Authors." Negro Digest, VIII --.(.-..J.... une 1950), 43-47. · • "The Harlem Renaissance." The Saturday Review __o_f....L1terature, XXX (March 22, 1947), 12-¼3, 44 . • "The Negro Contribution to American Lettere." --...Th..----e American Ne~ro Reference Book. Ed. John P. Davis. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1966. Pp. 850- 878. _,. �LI'.11ERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM (General) • "The New Black Renaissa.nce." Nea:ro Dir·est, --x-r--(November 1961), 52-58. , ed. The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New --y~o-rk, 1972. 11 Brawley, Benjamin. The Uegro in Amer>ican Literoture. u The Bookman, LVI (October 1922), 137-1~1. Bronz, Stephen II. Roots of Negro Racial Consciousness: The 1920's: Three Harlem Rena issance Author~. New York, 1961.i.. 11 Brooks, Russell. "rhe Comic Spirit and the Negro's 11 New Look. CLA Journal, VI (1962), 35-L~3. Brown, Lloyd W. "Black Entitles: Hames a.s Symbols in Afro-American Literature." Studies in Black Litera.~ , I (Spring 1970), 16-44-. 11 Brown, Sterling A. The American Race Pr oblem a.s Reflected in American Literature. " The Journal of Negro Education, VIII (1939), 275-290 • 11 • The New Ne gro in Literature (1 925-1955)." _ _T.,...h-e New Negro 'rhirtv Years Aft_erward. Ed. Rayford w. Logan et al. Washingto n, D.C., 1955. Pp 57-72. Calverton, Victor F. rhe Liberation of American Literature. New York, 1932 • 11 • The Negro and American Culture. 11 The Saturday ----:R'eview of Literature, XXII (September 21, 1940), 3-4. Cayton, Horace R. "Ideological Forces i.n the Work of Negro Writers. 11 :fl.ne;er, and Beyond: The Nee;ro xfriter in the United States. Ed. Herbert Hill. New York, 1966. Pp . 37-50. Chapman, Abraham. "The Harlem Renaissance in Literary History. 11 CLA Journal, XI ( 1967), 38-58. Clarke, John Henrik. "The Neglected Dimensions of the Harlem Renaissance." Black World, XX ( Nove mber 1970) 1 118-129. - • "The Origin and Growth of Afro-American Litera----r-t-u-re. 11 Negro Digest, XVII (December 1967), 51-t-6 7. Clay, Eugene. "The Ne gro in Recent American Literature." Ed. Henry Hart. New ~~!~~-gl~}?'t.t~~: ':df5~r5~:13. _Col l_QQ_ui um_ 9. q_E~E!'..~ Jl:r.t : !:.~_rs t Wor 1 d Fe_~t?:..~-~ l- of N~_fil'....O W (1966). Presence Afr i caine Editions, 19bD. Conrad, Earl. '¼merican Viewpoint: Blues School of Literature." The _Chi_ca~Defender, December 22, 1945, p. 11. Cook, Mercer and Stephen H~p,d,erson. The Militant Black Writer in Africa and United ~tates. Madison, Wis., 1969. Cullen, Countee. "The D~,,rk Tower. 11 Opportunity, rrronthly column, 1926... 1928. --.,.'Cru$e tto.r~ld ; 0 .. ~ , s;. c.f t'he N._~~-D.__J1?~~7~J~ttu~1.. J~ew yv ""i-~ J--:J too �LITERARY HISTORY AND CTUTICISP (General) Davis, Arthur P. "Growing up in tlrn New Nec;ro Renaissance: 1920-1935." Nee:ro Amer:i.cnn Literature Forum, II (1968), 53-59. · Dillard, J.L. Black English. New York. 1q72. Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls·of Black Folk. Chica~o, 1903. Ellison, Ralph. ~hadow and Act. New York, 1964: Evans, Mari. "Contemporary Black Li tereture. 11 Bl a.ck World, XIX ( June 1970), 4, 9 3-9ti. Ford, Nick Aaron. Annual "Critical Survey of Significant Belles Lettres by and About Nee-r oes." Phylon, XXII (1961), 119-131+; XXV (196h), 123-lJh . • "Black Literature and the Pro blem of Eval_ _u_a..,...tion. 11 College Enr:lish, XXXII ( 1971), 536-5L~ 7. ~ Black Studies: Threat Or' Cballen r,:e? Port \1'(tiG_,# Washin 0 t?n, N.Y., 1973. _. . . ,Jticn-'Cl}~.s~.!J~ _ D.' Fuller, Hoyt W. "Black Ima g es and Wnite CrJ.tics. "\' ~ 1 -·v-~~-\J u,q b 1 • "Tho llier1:ro Hriter in the Un1ted States ." ~--.1• Jt~ n y . XX (November 1964), 126-131-1-. • " Perspectives." Nep-ro Di r·est and Black ·world, --m-o-nthlv column. , e~. '¼ Survey: Black Writers' Views on Lit--e-r-nry Lions and Values, n ~-~_p;ro Digest, XVII ( January 1968), 10-48, 81-89. Gayle, Addison, Jr., ed. The Black Aestbeti~. Garden City, N.Y., 1971. , ed. Black Expression: Essavs bv and About ---=B...-1-ack Americans in the Crea.ti ve Arts. h ew York, 19 69 • . - -- -- - Gerald, Carolyn. n'I1be Black Wr:l ter and His Ro le. 11 Negro Digest, XVIII (Januar y 1969), 42-4 9. Haskins, Jim and Hu gb F. Butts, M.D. The Psycbology of Black Lanrrua!{i• New York, 1973 . Haslam, Gerald W. The Aweke □ inc of American Negro Literature 1619-1900. n The Black American Writer. Ed. C.W.E. Bigsby. Deland, Pla.. , 1969. VoT-~ II, pp. 41-51. 11 • Two 'l1 radi tions in A.fro-American Literature. 11 -ires"ea.rch Studies, A Quarterly i)ublication of Washington State University, XXXVII (Septembe r 1969), 183-193. Hill, Herbert. "The Negr o Writer and the Creative 11 Imap;ination. Arts in Societv, V (196D), 24Li-255. Huggins, Nathan I. Harlem Renais-sance_. New York, 1971. Hue;bes, Langston. The Biv Sea. Hew York, l 9L~O. I Wonder as I Wander. New York, 1956. • "The Ne r;ro Artist and tbe Racial Mountain. 11 --T~h-e Nation, CXXII (1926), 692-694. �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM (General) "To Negro vlri ters. 11 American Writers' ConD.:ress. --E-a-. Henry Hart. New York, 19J5:~~~-==:Pp';'139_141. • "The Twenties: Harlem and Its He p:ritude." --A-f-rican Forum, I (Springl 19~6), 11-20. Jackson, Blyden. Annual "R~sume of Ne p:ro Literature." Phylon, XVI (1955), 5-12; XVII (1956), 35-L~o. Jahn, Janheinz. Ueo-African Literature: A History of Black Writing. New York, 1968. Jeff'ers, Lance. "Afro-American Literature, The Conscience of Han. 11 The Black Scholg_r. II (January 1971), L).'7-53. Johnson, Charles S. "T·be Necro Enters Literature." Carolina Magazine, LVII ( May 1927), 3-9, Ji4-L~8. Johnson, James Weldon. Along This Way. New York, 1933. Jones, LeRoi (Ima.mu Amiri Ba.raka). Home: Social Essays. New York, 1966. -Keller, Joseph. "Black Writing and the Wt1ite Critic. 11 Negro American Literature Forum, III (1969), 103-110. Kent, Geor ge E. Blackness and the Adventure of Western Culture. Chicago, 1971. 11 Kile;ore, James C. The Case for Black Literature. " Negro Digest, XVIII (July 1969), 22-25,66-69. 11 Killens, John Oliver. Another T:ime Wben Black Was Beautiful." Black ·world, XX (IJovember 1970), 20-36. Lamming, George. "The Ne p;ro Writer and His World. 11 Prisence Africaine, Nos. 8-10 (June-November 1956), pp. 324-332. La.sh, John. Annual "Critical Summary o.f Literature by and About Ne groes." Phvlon, XVIII (19 c~7), 7-24; XIX (1958 ), 143-154, 21~7-257; XX (1959), 115-131; • XXI (1960), 111.-123. Llorens, David. '~hat Contemporary Black Writers are Saying." Nommo, I (Winter 1969), 2L1-27. • ''t-Jriters Conver ge at Fisk University. 11 Ner.;ro --n-i-gest, xv (June 1966}, 54-63. Locke, Alain, ed. The New Ne gro; An Interpretation. New York, 1925. Loggins, Vernon. The Negro Author: His Development in America to 1900. New York, 1931. 11.lurray, Albert. Tbe Omni-Americans: New P~pectives on Black Experience and American Culture. New York, 1970 • • South A0:a.in to A Verv Old Place. New York, - ...... 19"""'7~- -~ --- Neal, Larry. "Any Day Now: Black Art and B~ack Liberation." Ebony. XXIV (August 1969), 54-58, 62. "Our Prize Winners and What They Say of Themselves. 11 Opportunitv, IV (1926), 1 80 -1 09. ~edding, Saunders. ''American Ne gro Literature. 11 The American Scholar, XVIII (19L~9), 137-11-1-G. " ,,~, Dani~l , i"hu trrn'1n. , ed. .an_grf'i,fl BQ,lhe.s, 6to..c)( Geni \J,;Sl : .L- A. Cv-i -1--i cetl /;;v;?i,'lP.~tJJf(I' . l\etu </'ow-iKJ lq'71, · �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM (General) • "The Negro Writer and His Relationshi.p to ---...H.....i-s Roots. " The American Negr o Writer and His Roots. New York, 1960. Pp 1-8 • • To Make a Poet Black. Chapel Hill, N.C., --19~39. Rourke, Constance. "Tradition· for a Negro Literature." Roots of American Culture. New York , 1942. Pp. 262-274. . Shapiro, Karl. "'rbe Decolonization of American Literature." Wils_pn Library Bul letiQ, XXXIX (1965), 842-853 . Spingarn, Arthur B. "Books by Negro Authors. 11 The Crisis, 1938-1965, annual feature. Thurman, Wallace. "Negro Artists. and the Negr o. 11 The New Republic, LII (August 31, 1q2 7), 37-39. Turner, Darwin T. "Afro-American Li tera.ry Critics. 11 Black World, XIX (July 1970), 54-67. • "The Teaching of Afro-American Literature." --c-o--llege Engll~l-:1, YC{XI (1970), 666-670. Williams, Sherle-y. _gJve Birth to Bris;htness: ~Thematic Study in Nee-Black Literature. New YOrk, 1972. (Poetry) Bailey, Leaonead. Broadside Authors: A Bigpraphical Directory. Detroit, 1971. Barksdale, Richard K. "Trends in Contemporary Poetry. Phylon, XIX (1958), 408-416 . • "Urban Crisis and the Black Poetic Avant--G-a-rde. 11 Negro Ame-rican Literature Forum, III 11 (1969), 40-44. Bennett, M. W. "Ne gr o Poets.'' Ne e;r o History Bulletin, IX (1946), 171-172, 191. Berger, Art. "Negroes with Pens. 11 Mainstream, XVI (July 1963), 3-6. Bland, Edward. "Rae ial Bias and Negro Poetry . " Poetry, LXIII (194~.), 3213-333. Bone, Robert. "American Nec;ro Poets: A FY'ench View. 11 Tri-Quarterly, No. 4 {1965), pp 135-195. Bontemps, Arna. "American Nep;ro Poetry. 11 The Crisis, (1963), 509. LXX • 0 Negro Poets, Then and Now." -~(-1""'950), 355-3 60 . . Phylon, XI �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICIS M ( Poetry) Braithwaite, William Stanley. "Some Contemporary Poets of the Negro Race. " The Cr•is is, XVII {1 q1 g), 275-280. Breman, Paul. "Poetry Into the 1 Sixties." The Black American Writer. Ed. C.W... E. Bigsby. Deland, Fla., 1969. Vol. II, pp 99-109. Brooks, Gwendolyn. "Poets Who Are Negro. " Phylon, XI (1950), 312. • Report from Part One. Detroit, 1972. - - - . "Introduction." The Poetrv of Blacl\ America. Arnold Adoff, ed. 11 New York, 1973. Brown, Sterling A. "The Blues. Phylon, XIII {1952), 286-292. • "Negro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Seculars, --B-a..-llads, and Songs." Phylon, XIV (1953), 45-61 . • ~egro Poetry and Drama. Washington, D.C., -.....,1,..,.9.....37 • • Outline for the Study of the Poetry of American --N-e-groes. New York, 1931. Cartey, Wilfred. "Four Shadows of Harlem.'' Negro Digest, XVIII (August 1969), 22-25. Chapman, Abraham. "Black Poetry Today. 11 Arts in Society, V (1968), 401-!~08. Charters, Samuel B. The Poetry of the Blues. New York, 1963. Collier, Eugenia W. "Herl tage from Harlem. 11 Black World, XX (November 1970), 52-59. . ''I Do Not Marvel, Countee Cullen." CLA ----;Journal, XI (1967), 73-87. 11 Davis, Arthur P. The New Poetry of' Ela.ck Hate. " CLA Journal, XIII (1970), 382-391. Daykin, Walter I. "Race Consciousness in Nec;ro Poetry." Sociology and Social Research, XX (1936), 98-105 . Echeruo, M. J.C. If.American Negro Poetry. " _phylon, XXIV (1963), 62-68. Ellison, Martha. "Velvet Voices Feed on Bitter Fruit: A Study of American Neero Poetry." Poet and Critic, IV (Winter 1967-1968), 39-49. Ely, Effie Smith. "American Negro Poetry . " The Christian Century, XL (1923), 366-367. Fla.sch, Joy. Melvin B. Tolson. New York, 1973. Furay, Michael. '¼frica in Negro American Poetry to 1929." African Li~ture Tod§:Y, II (1069), 32-41. 1 Garrett, DeLois. ~rAam Motif in Contemporary Negro · Poetry." English Journal, LIX (1970), 767-770. �LI'rERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM (Poetry) -·~l·~/' Garrett, Naomi M. •~acial Motifs in Contemporary ., ..Jtr11,§,!'JCll.JLJlnd...F.r__ench Negro Poetry. 11 West Virf1:inia __..,,.,.,,-•· IJniversity Phil6!dcal Papers, XIV (1963), 80-101. Gibson, Donald B, ed. Modern Black Poets: A Collection of Critical Essays. Engl~wood Cliffs, N.J., 1973. Glicksberg, Charles I. "Neero Poets and the American Tradition." The Antioch Review, VI (1946), 243-2.53. Good, Charles Hamlin. ttThe First America.n Negro Literary Movement." Opportunity, X (1932)~ 76-79. Heath, Phoebe Anne. "Negro Poetry as an Historical Record." Yassar Journal of' Underc;ra.dua.te Studies, III (May 1928 ), 34-52. Horne, Frank s. "Black Verse." Opportunity, II (19211-), 330-332. Johnson, Charles S. 11 Ja.zz Poetry and Blues." Carolina. Magazine, LVIII (May 1928), 16-20. Johnson, James Weldon, 11 Freface. tr Tt.e Book of American ~egro Poetry. Ed. James Weldon Joh nson. New York, 1931. Pp. 3-46. Kerlin, Robert T. "Conquest by Poetry.'' The Southern Workman, LVI (1927), 282-2 04 . • Contemporary Poetry of the Negro. Hampton, --v~a-., 1921. . • "A Pair o.f Youthful Ne vro Poets. 11 The --'Southern Workman, LIII (1924), 178-l f~ l. · • "Present-Day Ne gro Poets. 11 The Southern Workman, XLIX (1920), 543-548. • "Singers of' New Songs." Opportunity, IV --(-1--926), 162-164. Kilgore, James C. "Toward the Dark Tower." Black World, XIX (June 1970), 14-17. · Kjersmeier, Carl. "Ne groes as Poets.'' The Crisis, XXX (1925), 186-189. Lee, Don L. ''Black Poetry: Which Direction?" Negro Digest, XVII (September-October 1968 ), 27-32. • Dynaml te Voice~: Black Poets of the 1960 !..§.. --n-e-troit, 1971. Locke, Alain. "The Message of the Ne gro Poets. 11 Carolina Magazine, LVIII ( May 1928 ), 5-15. Moore, Gerald. "Poetry in the Harlem Renaissance. 11 The Black America_t:}___lf.I"_U_~r. Ed. C.W.E. Bi gsby. Deland, Fla., 1969, Vol. II, pp. 67-76. Morpurgo, .J.E. "America.n Negro Poetry. n Fortnightly, CLXVIII (July 1947), 16-24. Morton, Lena Beatrice. Negro Poetry in America. Boston, 1925. · "Negro Poetry. 11 Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Ed. Alex Preminger, Frank J. Warnke, and O.B. Hardison. Princeton, N.J., 1965. Pp 558 -559. �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM { .Poetry) "Ne gro Poets, Singers in the Dawn. fl Bulletjn, II {1938), 9-10, 14-15 . Oliver, Paul. The Ner;ro History Blues Fell This ~ ornin ~ : The Meaning of The Blues. New York, 1960 . • Conversation with the Blues. New York, 1965. Foo!-,-Rosey. "The Discovery of American Ne i-:i; ro Poetry. " Freedomways, III (1963), 46-51. Ramse.ran, J.A. 11 Tbe ''I'wice-Bort~' ,'\rt .i sts I Si lent Revolution. 11 Black World, XX {May 1971), SB-68. Redmond, Eur;ene B-~ "The Bla ck American Epic : Its Roots, Its Writ ers. 11 The Ela.ck Scholar, II ( January 1971), l .' J-22. 11 • How Many Poets Scrub tbe River's Bae k?" ---Confrontation, I (Spring, 1971), 47-53. Rod gers , Carolyn M. "BJ.Pr,!{ Poetry-Wh ere It's At. 11 Negro Digez,g_t, XVII (S{oQtemoer 1969), 7-16. Rollins, Charlemae. Fa,,,0us American lJ~ro Poets. New York, 1965. 11 Taussig, Charlotte E. The New lfo t-;t'o as Revealed in His Poetry.'' Op?iortunity, V (1927), l OP, -111. Thurman, Wallace.Negro Poets and Their T' oetry. 11 The Bookman, LXVII tl92 8 ), 55'_5-_,'61. "The Umbra Poets. 11 Mainstream, XVI (July 1963), 11 7-13. The Undaunted Pursuit of Ii'ury. 11 Jime, XCV (Apri 1 6, 1970)' 91'3 -100. ' ' ' Wagner, Jean. Les poete¥ n0gres des Etats-vnis: Le ' sentiment ra'f ia_l __~t relig ieux dans la poesie de P.L. Dunbar a L. Hughes. Paris, 1963. 1t:----1fa.1ker, Harga1"et . "New .P oets. 11 _ })hylon. XI (1950), 345-35'4. White, Newman I. "American Negr o Poett'y ." Atlantic Q.uarterly, XX (1921), 304-322. • ttRa.cial Feeling in NeP:ro Poetr~r. •r __;)outb South --A-t-lantic Quarterly, iXI (19~2), 14-2~. 11 Work, Monroe N. 'I11:i.e Spir:L t of Ner:ro P oetr:l • " The Southern Workman, XXXVII (1 900), 73-77 . (Folklore) Abrahams, Roger. Deep Down in the JunP.;l~: Ne~ro Narrative -·. Folklore from the Street of Phi ladelphi~. ···- - - ; T -·- -·------· - -· -···---·-·· -- -----·-·- .. ···-··--··llatboro, Pa ., 1904. Brewer, J. Mason. "American Negro Folklore. 11 Phylon, VI (1945), 354-361. * --- ·r,_-: ·~-)'·•~), . -_ ....- ~ • - ,..·1-;::-;...-,J -P:1 r' :~· : ,. ~ .c, 1--·... l', ., ,. " ; 1) .- ,:-:·-~~-.-.- . ·y -f"--::1· .- ·.'.--- ------- - --,1-- ·-··--;:-~·-,. -_7~---· 7 -:,-y_... ·--. ·:··,.. ~---=-1·~r -,. ·.. - -:·1--.. :,··~- ·--·---. .,. ., _,, ,, - -- - -~ F,,., ... r>1 prn) -:-~- ~-,:-:;-,--:.t:"t �LITERARY HISTORY A1i:D CHITICIS M (Folklore) • American Ne§ro Folklore. Chica c o, 1968. """B_r_o_w_n_, Sterling A. The Blues. n Phylon, XIII (1952), 286-292. · • "Negro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Secu---1-a-rs, Ballads, and Songs. 11 Phylon, XI V (1953), q.5-61. Conley, Dorothy L. 11 0ri gin of the Ne p::ro Spirituals. 11 The Negro HistorY_Bulletin, YJ..V (1962), 179-1 80. Courlander, Harold. Necro Folk Music, U.S.A. New York, 1963. Dorson, Richard M. American Negro Folktales. New York, 1967 • • ed. African Folklore. New York. 1972. Ellis, A.B. "Evolut io n in Polklore: Some West African l)rotot y pes of the Uncle Remus Stories. tr Popular Selene~, XLVIII (November 1895 ), 93-104. Fisher, Miles Mark. Ne~ro Slave Songs in the United States. New York, 1963. Geor p.; ia Writers• Pro j Act. Drums and Shadows: ~ vival Studies Among the Geor P,ia Coastal Ner;roes. Athens, Ga. , 19h O. ((i'i;~~-z.,,:c .: fl cu• I -~t ;,. ;; 1o/;'.-y--·· ·Handy, W.C. and Abbe Niles, eds. Treasury of the Blues. New York, 1949 . Harris, J·oe 1 Chand 1 er. D;:; _; ,;a.'-"d:. .:.d:. .y--'J:. .:a: .:. ;kc::. e; :__..; . t=h..=ce--=-R:. .; u.:..:n=a=w"-'a=y"'-:!:-,-;,:-=a.c;;.;n'"""d Short Stories Told After Dark. New York, 1089. Jones, LeRoi (Imamu Amiri Baraka). Black Music. New York, 1967 • • Blues People: Negro Mu3ic in White America. --N~ew- York, 1963. K.rebhiel, Henry Edward. Afro-American I-<'olksongs: A Study in Racial and National Music. New York, 1914. Lovell, John. "Reflections on the Ori p;J. ns of the Ne c:ro Spiritual. 11 Negro American Li tera.ture Forum, III (1969), 91-97. McGhee, Nancy B. "The Folk Sermon: A Facet of the Black Literary Herita ge. 11 CLA Journal. XIII (1969), 57-61. Odum, Howard W. and Gu:r B. Johnson. Tbe Ner-ro and His Songs. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1925 . • Negro Workaday Songs. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1926. -◊-1-1-v-e-r, Paul. Blues Fell This Mornin g : The Meaning of the Blues. 1~ew York, 1960. Scarborough, W. \r-l. "Ne gro Folklore and Dialect. 11 Arena, XVII (1 897), 186-1 92. Talley, T. W. Ner:ro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise. New York, 1922. 1 . ' ' I �LI'l1ERARY HISTORY AHD CHI':I.1ICIS V (Folklore) Deep River. New York, 1955. ffAn Anthropolo s ical Look at Afro-American Folk Narrative." CIA Journ1J.l, Thurman, Howard. '11wining, Mary Arnold. XIV (1970), 57-61. White, Newman I. American Negro Folk-_~onP-s. Cambridge, Mass., 1928. 11 Work, John W. Ne?ro Folk Son g . " Opportunit y , I ( 1923), 292-29L~. �B L A C K P U B I, I S II I N G H O U S E S AFRO-AM PUBLISHING CO. 1727 South Indiana Avenue Chicag o, Illionois 60616 AL KITAB S1JDA~,J PUDLISHETG CO* P .O. Box 6536 San Francisco, California 9hl0l ASSOCIATED PUBLISHERS 1530 19th Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 BLACK ACADEMY PRESS 13~ University Avenue Buffalo, New York li~21~ BLACK RIVER WHITERS P .O. Box 1591 East St. Louis, Illinois 62205 BLACK STAR PUBLISHER:::', 8624 Finkle Street Detroit, Michi gan 4 8 200 BOGLE-L' OU-1T8RTURE PUB LICATIONS 110 Windermere Road, London, England W.5 BROADSIDE PRESS 126~1 Old Mill Place Det~oit, Michi~an 4 8 239 BUCKINGHAM LEAR11ING CORPORATION 75 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10016 DRUM AND SPEAR PRESS 1902 Belmont Road N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 EDWARD W. BL:i..'DEN :PRESS P.O. Dox 621 Manhattanville Station New York, New York 10027 �B L A C K P UB L I S H I G H OU S E S ~ (cont'd) EAST AFRICAN LITERATURE BUREAU Headquarters of the Bureau Ea.st African Community Nairobi, Kenya. EAST AFRICAN PUBLICHING HOUSE Unia:fric House Koinar:e St:r•eet P.O. Box 30571 Nairobj_, Kenya EMERSON HALL PUBLISHING CO. 209 West 97th Street New York, New York 10025 BLACKSOUTH PPESS 103 Ollie Street ENERGY DeRidden, Louisiana 706Jh FIRESIGN PRESS P.O. Box 21h47 San Jose, California 95151 JIHAD PRODUCTIONS, INC. 633 Newark, N~w Jersey P.O. Box JOHNSON PUBLICATIONS COMPANY 1820 Michi gan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60616 JOURNAL OF BLACK POE'I'RY PRESS 922-B Hai e ht Street San Francisco, California 94117 NEW DIMENSIONS PUBLISHING CO. 151 West 25th Street New York, New York 10025 NKOMBO PUBLICA'I1IONS P.O. Box 51e 26 New Orleans, Louisiana PRESENCE AFRICAINE 25 bis, rue des Ecoles Paris 5, France 70150 �B L A C K P U B L I S H I N G (cont'd) H O U S E S THIRD PRESS 444 Central Par~ West New York, New Y rk 10001 THIRD WORLD PRESS 7850 E. Ellis Avenue Chicago, Il l inois 60619 YARDBIRD PUBLISHING COOPElll\~r.IVE Box 2370, Station A Berkeley, California � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_09 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Bibliography, typed with handwritten edits Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/68d012d0b9695bb0f7444cc1f4bae2f8.pdf c1ebbfda2c659719a00ed718ce279ad0 PDF Text Text ( contents s , conto.) I o...;v rview II Litero.ry rnc< .:)oci'll Iands c cne A. 'l'o ~ ID 1930 B. 1930 - 1960 \JOices II I The A. ?he C0 ning Cedence: Pre - enaissance--c"-"Voices " . ,......,.,,. ,______. c. on the -'otem ? 3 '2 ~ ~~,"W'.li. · ~ - , , ,·~.,,.........~ . , . . . . . . )'inor _Q_£_ ::,econd .wC'"'elon :oe ts of the nenaissance - - - - - --- -- al. --........ nnd ~an-. fri an .,r:..tin e ?...,llout : ne:::r itude Poet D. rs,,r_.;,,,,,I,. E. Til_e .c;xtended Renais~~: 30 , CHAP'l'~R !I: ?estivals and 7 l:' unerals: 13 o.C~{ u.a_s, 5~ "he 'lO\C€S n t "; L',-,~ B. oetr 3-enoral r:;: ?e1·iodtcals ~t•Y ::I Anth~lo ·es ) .:?o"' 1 .lo-re 1 (<-\'} J !'"'.C.e.: s~ ~ • - - . . . _ ............ J ~ .,j P0etry of the 1-;i'0s ·nc. l 7 s I III '") 3 2- t.Job 317 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_08_02 Title A name given to the resource Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, partial Table of Contents with handwritten edits Description An account of the resource Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, partial Table of Contents with handwritten edits. Draft includes Chapter V through Chapter VII. Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/f82dc5f7f4fa1297c88197deb4035a3e.pdf 9f5e5a58bd1a403bbb844888d1e80b15 PDF Text Text in!f[// #1 FrfJ.fe.rshe.11 Davis for lines from . "Jazz Band" from A Black Man's Verse, ( 1pyrignt ~ 1935 by Frank Ma.rshtll Davis . Author or representative could not be located for pm:!lmUi:l reprint rtgltlbs. insert #2 Robert Hayden f o~ lines lines from "Gabriel," from The Begro Caravan, copyright c 1941 by Robert Hayden ; for lines from "Runagate Runagate , 11 from Selected Poems , copyright c 1966 by Robert Hayden and published and by October House; for lines from 11 ~1-Hajj Malik El Shabazz" and "Zeus Over Rede-ye" , from Words in the Mourningtime, copyright @I 1970 by R0 bert Hayden and published by October House . All reprinted by permission of Robert Hayden. insert #3(add to on-going ackn . ) ; Harold Ober Associates for lines from "Goo<ibye, Christ, 11 from Good Morning, RevolJtion, copyright c 1932 by Langston Hughes, c renewed• reprinted by permission of Harold Ober associates . insert 1f4 Ted Joans for !ines from "The . 38, 11 from New Negro Poets: u . s . A., copy- right c 1964 by Ted Joans . S0 urce for reprint rights could not be located at publication time . insert # 5 Fenton Johnson for lines from "Tired, " from The Book of Ameri;JS Negro Poetry, copyright c 1922, 1931 by J ~ ~ a . ~ ~ ~ d @ r e n e w e d IC(~ 1959 by Mrs . Grace Nail Johnson . Source for r~print rights could not be found at publication time . insert :ff6 Elouise Loftin for lines from "Getting Oaugnt" and "Rain Spread," from Jum.bish , copyrignt c 1972 by Elouise Loftin and published by Emerson Hall, Inc . Reprinted by permission of the authamr. �• t f _p.ns; rtl ' #i I • ,' Oj/rn,'e(Alvin Saxon) for lines from "Watts," from 'the Poetry of Black .•••. / Kmerica, copyright c 1973 by Ojeknke. Reprinted by permission of 1 ' the author. insert #e 'Job:nJie - S'cott for lines from "The Fish Party" and"Watts," from From Ashes: Voices of Watts , copyright c 196"( by liohni-ie Scott. Negobiations for reprint rights incomplete at time of publication. ¼ Wrife ·, r Si'n /1.:1+ insert :/19 Paul Vesey(Sarnuel Allen) for lines from "To Satch, 11 from Soon, One Morning, copyright /4' 1963 by Paul Vesey. Reprinted by permission of the author . �I ' I' I '' ' ' I , t I • I l. , ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ✓ Many thanks are due the following poets, editors, publishers and survivors of poets for use of cited material. All efforts have been made to secure the proper permission for each selection. However, if some of the selections are not properly acknowledged, please contact Doubleday &Company, Inc., in order to clarify the situation. Mrs. Anna L. Thompson for lines from "Nocturne Varial, 11 by Lewis Alexander, from The Poetry of the Negro, copyright@l949, 1970 by Anna L. Thompson. Published by Doubleday & Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Mrs. Anna L. Thompson. Margaret Walker Alexander for lines from "Bad-Man Stagolee, 11 "For My People," "Pappa Chicken," "The Struggle Staggers Us," and "We Have been Believer~' from For My People, copyright(£)1942 by Margaret Walker and Yale University Press. Reprinted by permission of Margaret Walker Alexander. The Associated Publishers, Inc. for lines from "The Psalms of Uplift," by J. Mord Allen, from Negro Poets and Their Poems, edited by Robert Thomas Kerlin. Copyright@l923, 1935 by The Associated Publishers, Inc. Samuel Allen (Paul Vesey} for lines from "To Satch," copyright@l962 by Samuel Allen. Reprinted by permission of Samuel Allen (Paul Vesey). Russell Atkins for lines from "At War" which first appeared in American Weave, copyright01962 by Russell Atkins, and "Irritable Song" which first appeared in Naked Ear, copyright@l958 by Russell Atkins. permission of the author. 1 Reprinted by �'t .. ,I I Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. for lines from Imamu Amiri Baraka s Black Art, 1 11 Black People, 11 11 leroy, 11 11 11 and Sterling Street Septembe13 from Black Magic: 11 11 E_getry 1961-1967, copyright©l969 by LeRoi Jones. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. Exposition Press for Austin Black's ASEXUAL FLIGHT from The Tornado in My 11 Mouth: 11 Poems by Austin Black, copyright@l966 by Austin Black. Reprinted by permission of Exposition Press, Inc., Hicksville, N.Y. 11801. Harold Ober Associates for lines from Arna Bontemps' 11 Golgotha Is a Mountai~ from Personals, copyright@)l963 by Arna Bontemps. 1 Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates. Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc. for lines from Gwendolyn Brooks's The Anniad, 11 11 The Ballad of Rudolph Reed, the poor, 11 11 "Beverly Hills, Chicago, 11 11 the children of 0f De Witt Wi 11 i ams on His Way to Lincoln Cemetery, be afraid of no, "Negro Hero, 11 11 11 We Real Cool, 11 11 11 11 11 The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till, The Preacher: 11 Ruminations Behind the Sermon, 11 do not 11 and all of from Jhe World of Gwendolyn Brook_s , copyright@l971 by 11 Gwendolyn Brooks; and for lines from "Langston Hughes, Blood-Red Wrath and 0f Robert Frost, 11 11 11 11 Riders to the from Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, copyright@l963 by Gwendolyn Brooks. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. 11 Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press for lines from Gwendolyn Brooks I s Speech to the Youn97 1 from Family Pictures, copyright (£)1970 11 by Gwendolyn Brooks Blakley. Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press. Ster 1i ng Brown for 1i nes from Memph is B1ues; f ram Southern Road, Beacon Press 11 reprint, copyright@l975 by Sterling Brown, and 01d Lem, 11 by Sterling Brown. Used by permission of Sterling Brown. 2 11 copyright@l975 �t The Associated Publishers, Inc. for lines from Benjamin Burrel1 1 s 11 A Negro Mother," from Negro Poets and Their Poems, edited by Robert Thomas Kerlin, copyright (f) 1923, 1935 by The Associated Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of The Associated Publishers, Inc. Doubleday &Company, Inc. for lines from Marcus B. Christian s 11 McDonogh Day 1 in New Orleans, 11 from The Poetry of the Negro, cop_){ri ght © 1949 by Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps. -re_nev.JW Copyright,@1970 by Arna Bontemps. Reprinted by permission of Doubleday & Company, Inc. Random House, Inc. for lines from Lucille Clifton 1 s 11 Lately 11 and 11 Mary~11 from Good News About the Earth, copyright(yl972 by Lucille Clifton, and 11 God s 1 Mood 11 from An Ordinary Woman, copyright@l974 by Lucille Clifton. Re- printed by permission of Random House, Inc. Sam Cornish for lines from Middleclass Girls with crippled fingers waiting for 11 me to light their cigarettes;• from People Beneath the Window, copyright@ 1968 by Sam Cornish. Published by Sacco Publishers. Reprinted by permission of the author. Jayne Cortez for lines from Festivals and Funeral~' from Festivals and Funerals, 11 copyright €)1971 by Jayne Cortez. Reprinted by permission of the author. The Associated Publishers, Inc. for lines from "The Don t Care Negro" and 1 "The Negro Child," by Joseph Seamon Cotter, sr;and for lines from 11 Rain Music) by Joseph Seamon Cotter, Jr., from Negro Poets and Their Poems, edited by Robert Thomas Kerlin. Publishers, Inc. Copyright@l923, 1935 by The Associated Reprinted by permission of The Associated Publishers, Inc. 3 �Harper and Row Publishers, Inc. for lines from Countee Cullen's "Heritage," "Scottsboro, Too, Is Worth Its Song, I Stand. 11 and "Yet Do I Marve yr from On These Copyright@l927, 1955 by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Waring Cuney for 1ines from "Hard Times" and "No Image~;' from Storefront Church, copyright @1973 by Waring Cuney. Reprinted by permission of Waring Cuney. Broadside Press for lines from James Cunningham's "St. Julien's Eve: Cross; from Jump Bad, edited by Gwendolyn Brooks. Broadside Press. For Dennis Copyright(S) 1971 by Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press. Frank Marshall Davis for lines from "Jazz Band" from A Black Man's Verse, ) copyright(f)l935 by Frank Marshall Davis. Author or representative could not be located for reprint rights. Jupiter Hammon Press for lines from Walter Delegall's "Psalms for Sonny Rollin~• from Burning Spear: An Anthology of Afro-Saxon Poetry, copyright (s)l963 by the Dasein Literary Society. Reprinted by permission of Jupiter Hammon Press ~asein Literary Society. Doubleday &Company, Inc. for lines from Alexis DeVeaux's Spirits in the Streets, copyright('.9 1973 by Alexis Deveaux. Reprinted by pe~ission of Doubleday & Company, Inc. Charles Dinkins for lines from "Invocationj' from Negro Poetry and Drama, copyright@l969 by Sterling Brown. Reprinted by permission of Atheneum. Farrar, Strauss &Giroux, Inc. for lines from Owen Dodson's "Countee Cullen," Divine Comedy, "Guitar," "Jonathan"s Song," "Lament," "Open Letter" and Poems for My Brother Kenneth from Powerful Long Ladder. copyright@ 1946 7 4 �by Owen Dodson and copyright@renewed 1974 by Owen Dodson. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, Inc.; Owen Dodson for lines from llll!I. 11 The Confession Stone," "Let me rock him again in my trembling arms" and "Mary Passed This Mornin~ from The Confession Stone, volume 13 in the Heritage Series, published by Paul Bremen, Limited, London, 1970. Copyright @1970 by Owen Dodson. Reprinted by permission of Owen Dodson. Mrs. Shirley Graham DuBois for lines from W.E.B. DuBois's "A Litany of Atlanta," copyright@:)1906 by W.E.B. Du Bois, "Hymn of Hat~• from Darkwater: The Twentieth Century Completion of Uncle Tom's Cabin, copyright@l920 by W.E.B. Du Bois, and "Song of the Smoke, 11 copyright@l899 by W.E.B. Du Bois. Reprinted by permission of Mrs. Shirley Graham Du Bois. Random House, Inc. for Henry Dumas'~: Talk Joke" and for 1i nes from "Jackhammer," "Ngoma, 11 "Play Ebony Play Ivory," 11 Rite, 11 "Root Song, 11 and 11 A Song of Flesh," from Play Ebony Play Ivory, copyright©l974 by Loretta Dumas and edited by Eugene B. Redmond. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. The Associated Publishers, Inc. for lines from Alice Dunbar-Nelson's "The Lights at Carney's Point, 11 from Negro Poets and Their Poems, edited by Robert Thomas Kerlin. Inc. Copyright@l923, 1935 by The Associated Publishers, Reprinted by permission of The Associated Publishers, Inc. Paul Bre"":;)o, L i m i t e ~ : Durem's "Broadminded," from Take No Prisoners, __/~ume 17 in the Heritage Series, published by Paul Bremen Limited, London, / 0 1971. Copyright@)1971 by Dorothy Durem. Bremen Limited. 5 Reprinted by permission of Paul �Mari Evans for lines from "Who Can Be Born Black" and "The Rebel," from I Am A Black Woman, copyright(0)1970 by Mari Evans and published by William Morrow, 1970. Reprinted by permission of Mari Evans. B. Felton (Elmer Buford) for lines from "An Elegy to Eternity," from Conclusions, copyright@l971 by B. Felton and reprinted by permission of the author. Moore Publishing Company for lines from Julia Fields's "Aardvar~ from Nine Black Poets, edited by R. Baird Shuman, copyright {)1968 by Moore Publishing Company. Used by permission of Moore Publishing Company, P.O. Box 3143, West Durham Station, Durham, N.C. 27705. Black River Writers Press for lines from Sherman Fowler's Thinking, 11 Sides of the River: 11 from A Mini-Anthology of Black Writing, edited and copyright@l969 by Eugene Redmond. Reprinted by permission of Black River Writers Press. William Morrow &Ca., Inc. for lines from Nikki Giovanni's ''Concerning One Responsible Negro with Too Much Power," "Of Liberation," "Nikki-Rosa," "The True Import of the Present Dialogue, Black vs. Negro," from Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement, copyright@l968, 1970 by Nikki Giovanni; for lines from "Africa" from My House, copyright c 1972 by Nikki Giovanni. All reprinted by permission of William Morrow & Co., Inc. Jupiter Hammon Press for lines from Oswald Gavan's "The Lynching," from Burning Spear: An Anthology of Afro-Saxon Poetry, copyright© 1963 by the Dasein Literary Society. Reprinted by permission of Jupiter Hammon Press of The Dasein Literary Society. Farrar, Strauss &Giroux, Inc. for lines from Angelina Grimke's "The Black Finger," j 6 �from American Negro Poetry, edited and copyright@l963 by Arna Bontemps. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, Inc. University of Pittsburgh Press for lines from Michael S. Harper's Dear Coltrane. 11 11 Dear John, Reprinted from Dear John, Dear Coltrane, by Michael S. Harper, by permission of University of Pittsburgh Press. Copyright@1970 by University of Pittsburgh Press. Robert. Hayden for lines from "Gabriel , 11 from The Negro Caravan, copyright@l941 by Robert Hayden; for lines from 11 Runagate Runagate, 11 from Selected Poems, copyright@)l966 by Robert Hayden and published by October House; and for lines from "El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz" and "Zeus Over Redeye, 11 from Words in the Mourningtime, copyright (£)1970 by Robert Hayden and published by October House. All reprinted by permission of Robert Hayden. John Wesley Hollaway for lines from "Calling the Doctor" and "Miss Merlerlee 1 from From the Desert, copyright@l919 by John Wesley Hollaway. Reprinted in The Book of American Negro Poetry, edited by James Weldon Johnson. Copyright@l922, 1931 by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. 1959. by Mrs. Grace Nail Johnson. Copyright@1950, Source for reprint rights could not be found at publication time. The National Urban League for lines from Lucy Ariel Williams Holloway•s 11 Northboun 1 11 , from The Book of American Negro Poetry, copyright (9 1926 by Lucy Ariel Williams Holloway. Reprinted by permission of the National Urban League. Random House, Inc. for lines from Langston Hughes 1 s "Mother to Son" and 11 The Negro Speaks of Rivers, 11 from Selected Poems, copyright© 1954 by Langston ~I" Hughes, reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.; iliile:l"'ines from 7 �"Harlem," from The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times, copyright @1967 by Langston Hughes, reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.; A1fred A. Knopf, Inc. for 1i nes from "Jazzoni a," from The Weary Blues, copyright(s)l926 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and renewed by Langston Hughes, reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; Harold Ober Associates for lines from "Goodbye, Christ," from Good Morning, Revolution, copyright @1932 by Langston Hughes, @)renewed , ~printed by permission of Harold Ober Associates. Broadside Press for lines from Lance Jeffers's "Black Soul of the Land" and "My Blackness Is the Beauty of This Land," from My Blackness Is the Beauty of This Land, copyright(91970 by Lance Jeffers. Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press. Ted Joans for lines from "The .38," from New Negro Poets: U.S.A., copyright (g 1964 by Ted Joans. Source for reprint rights could not be located at publication time. The Associated Publishers, Inc. for Charles Bertram Johnson's lines (no title given))from Negro Poets and Their Poems, edited by Robert Thomas Kerlin. Copyright@l923, 1935 by The Associated Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of The Associated Publishers, Inc. Fenton Johnson for lines from "Tired," from The Book of American Negro Poetry, copyright (£)1922, 1931 by Harcourt, Brace & World and ®renewed 1950, 1959 by Mrs. Grace Nail Johnson. Source for reprint rights could not be found at publication time. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. for lines from Georgia Douglas Johnson's "Dreams of the Dreamer," from Caroling Dusk, edited by Countee Cullen. 8 Copyright@ �1955 by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. for lines from Helene Johnson's Magulu from 11 Copyright@l955 by Harper & Caroling Dusk, edited by Countee Cullen. Row, Publishers, Inc. 11 Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Viking Penguin, Inc. for lines from James Weldon Johnson's My Lady's Lips Am 11 Like de Honey" and 0 Black and Unknown Bards, 11 11 from Saint Peter Relates an Incident, by James Weldon Johnson, copyright©l917, 1935 by James Weldon Johnson, copyright@renewed 1963 by Grace Nail Johnson. by permission of Viking Penguin, Inc. Reprinted The Viking Press, Inc. for lines from James Weldon Johnson's The Creation and "The Prodigal Son, 11 11 11 from God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson, copyright@1927 by The Viking Press, Inc. reserved. Copyright@l955 renewed by Grace Nail Johnson. Reprinted by permission of The Viking Press, Inc. Jupiter Hammon Press for lines from Percy Johnston's Opus All rights 5) from Burning Spear: 11 Fitchett's Basement Blues, An Anthology of Afro-Saxon Poetry, copyright @ 1963 by Dasein Literary Society. Reprinted by permission of Jupiter Hammon Press of Dasein Literary Society. E.P. Dutton & Co. for lines from June Jordan's Uncle Bull-Boj' from Some 11 Changes by June Jordan, copyright@ 1967 and 1971 by June Meyer Jordan. Reprinted by permission of the publishers, E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. Third Horld Press for lines from Norman Jordan's "High Art and All That Jazf from Destination-Ashes, copyright@ 1970 by Norman Jordan. Reprinted by permission of Third World Press, 7524 South Cottage Grove, Chicago, Ill. 60619. 9 �City Lights Books for lines from Bob Kaufman's "Heavy Water Blues," from Golden Sardine, copyright@)l967 by Bob Kaufman. Reprinted by permission of City Lights Books. Broadside Press for lines from Etheridge Knight's "The Bones of My Father," from Belly Song, copyright © 1973 by Etheridge Knight, and "Haiku _"9_)11 from Poems from Prison, copyright©l968 by Etheridge Knight. Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press. Pinkie Gordon Lane for lines from "Griefs of Joy, 11 from Wind Thoughts, copyright @)1972 by Pinkie Gordon Lane. Published by South &West, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Pinkie Gordon Lane. Elouise Loftin for lines from "Getting Caught" and Rain Spread, 11 from Jumbish, 11 copyright(s)l972 by Elouise Loftin and published by Emerson Hall, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author. Black River Writers Press for lines from Wayne Loftin's of the River: 11 Realit:f from Sides A Mini-Anthology of Black Writing, edited and copyright~ 1969 by Eugene Redmond. Reprinted by permission of Black River Writers Press. Broadside Press for lines from Audre Lorde's "Black Mother Woman, from From a 11 Land Where Other People Live, copyright@l973 by Audre Larde and reprinted by permission of Broadside Press; Audre Larde for lines from Moon-minded 11 the Sun" appearing on pp (fill in), from Sixes and Sevens, copyright(g 1962 by Audre Larde, and "Rites of Passage," from Cables to Rage, copyright@ 1970 by Audre Larde. Used by permission of the author. 10 �Twayne Publishers for lines from Claude McKay's "Baptism," "If We Must Die" and "The Lynching," from Selected Poems of Claude McKay, copyright@l953 by Twayne Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Twayne Publishers, a Division of G.K. Hall & Co. Broadside Press for lines from Haki R. Madhubuti's "First Impressions of a Poet's Death," from Think Black, copyright(s)l967 by Don L. Lee, and "The Self-Hatred of Don L. Lee" and "Don't Cry, Scream," from Directionscore: Selected and New Poems, copyright(s)1971 by Don L. Lee. Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press. George Reginald Margetson for lines from The Fledgling Bard and the Poetry Society, copyright@ 1916 by George Reginald Margetson. Reprinted in The Book of American Negro Poetry, edited by James Weldon Johnson. 1931 by Harcourt, Brace &World. Johnson. Copyright~l922, Copyright(91950, 1959 by Mrs. Grace Nail Source for reprint rights could not be found at publication time. G.C. Oden for lines from 11 ••• As When Emotion Too Far Exceeds Its Cause, 11 from Kaleidoscope, edited by Robert Hayden. Copyright@l967 by G.C. Oden. Reprinted by permission of the author. Ojenke (Alvin Saxon) for lines from 11 Watts, 11 from The Poetry of Black America, copyright@ 1973 by Ojenke. Reprinted by permission of the author. Pat Parker for lines from "Brother," from Child of Myself, copyright @1972 by Pat Parker. Reprinted by permission of the author. Third World Press for Dudley Randall's 11 copyright(pl971 by Dudley Randall. Iwo Jima 11 from More to Remember, Reprinted by permission of Third World Press, 7524 South Cottage Grove, Chicago, Ill. 60619. 11 • �Black River Writers Press for lines from Eugene Redmond's 11 Invasion of the Nose, 11 from River of Bones and Flesh and Blood, copyright(£)1971 by Eugene Redmond, and "Inside My Perimeter," from In a Time of Rain & Desire, copyright© 1973 by Eugene Redmond. Reprinted by permission Black River Writers Press. Paul Bermen Limited for lines from Conrad Kent Rivers I s II In Defense of Black Poets 11 and "The Still Voice of Harlem" and for 11 Watts, 11 from The Still Voice of Harlem, Volume 5 in the Heritage Series, published by Paul Bremen Limited, London, 1968, copyright@l972 by Mrs. Cora Mciver Rivers; for lines from "To Richard Wright, 11 from The Wright Poems, Volume 18 in the Heritage Series, published by Paul Bremen Limited, London, 1972. Mrs. Cora Mciver Rivers. Copyright(£)1972 by All reprinted by permission of Paul Bremen Limited. Broadside Press for lines from Sonia Sanchez's 11 Malcolm 11 from Homecoming, copyright~l969 by Sonia Sanchez, reprinted by permission of Broadside Press; Sonia Sanchez for lines from 11 definition of blk/children, copyright@:)1969 by Sonia Sanchez. 11 from Homecoming, Reprinted by permission of the author. Broadside Press for lines from Judy Dothard Simmons's Schizophrenia, 11 from 11 Judith's Blues, copyright~l973 by Judy Dothard Simmons. Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press. Johnie Scott for lines from 11 The Fish Party 11 and 11 Watts, 11 from From Ashes: v·oices of Watts, copyright@l967 by Johnie Scott. Negotiations for reprint rights incomplete at time of publication. Welton Smith for lines from Malcolm, 11 11 from Penetration, copyright@Jl971, published by Journal of Black Poetry Press. available. 12 Source of reprints not �• • . • The Jupiter Hammon Press for 1i nes from LeRoy Stone I s from Burning Spear: II Fl amen co Sketches, 11 An Anthology of Afro-Saxon Poetry, copyright(E)l963 by the Dasein Literary Society. Reprinted by permission of Jupiter Hammon Press of The Dasein Literary Society. Firesign Press for lines from Joyce Carol Thomas's "I Know a Lady, 11 from Crystal Breezes, copyrightes)l974 by Joyce Carol Thomas. Reprinted by permission of Firesign Press, Box 402, Berkeley, Calif. Dodd, Mead &Company, Inc. for lines from Melvin Tolson's "Rendezvous with America, 11 "Dark Symphony" and "An Ex-Judge at the Bar, 11 from Rendezvous with America, copyright~l944 by Melvin Tolson. Reprinted by permission of Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc.; Twayne Pub 1i she rs for 1i nes from 11 II Do, 11 Do and Ti, 11 from Libretto for the Republic of Liberia by Melvin B. 11 11 Tolson, copyright(f:)1953 by Twayne Publishers, Inc.; and for lines from 11 Alpha, 11 11 Beta, 11 11 Eta;' 1 11 Gamma, 11 11 Lambda, 11 11 XI 11 and 11 Zeta 11 from Harlem Gallery by Melvin B. Tolson, copyright01956 by Twayne Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Twayne Publishers, A Division of G.K. Hall & Co. Liveright Publishing Corporation for lines from Jean Toomer 1 s "Song of the Son, 11 from Cane, copyright©l923 by Boni & Liveright; copyrigh~enewed 1951 by Jean Toomer. Reprinted by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation; W.l~. Norton & Company for lines from "Blue Meridian," from Black Writers of America, edited by Richard Barksdale and Keneth Kinnamon, copyrigh,0 1972 by The MacMillan Company. Inc. Copyright 1936 by W.W. Norton & Company, Copyrigh~ enewed 1964 by Lewis Mumford, co-editor with Alfred Kreymborg, of The New Caravan. Reprinted by permission of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 13 �• ! ' A. Philly Riginalski for lines from Mark Traylor s Cool Black Nights, 1 .. Black Poets Write On: 11 11 from An Anthology of Black Philadelphian Poets, copyright (5)1970 by A. Philly Riginalski. Reprinted by pennission of the publisher (author dead at age 22.); permission granted by James G. Spady of the Editorial Staff. Quincy Troupe for vJhite Weekend, 11 from Embryo, copyright© 1972 by Quincy Troupe. 11 Reprinted by permission of Quincy Troupe. Paul Vesey (Samuel Allen) for lines from To Satch, 11 copyright(c)l963 by Paul Vesey. Alice Walker for lines from Rage, 11 11 11 from Soon, One Morning, Reprinted by permission of the author. from Revolutionary Petunias & Other Poems, copyright©l973 by Alice Walker, Reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Brace, Janovich, Inc. Black River Writers Press for lines from Romenetha Washington's from Sides of the River: 11 Rat Race, 11 A Mini-Anthology of Black Writing, edited and copyright@l969 by Eugene Redmond. Reprinted by permission of Black River Writers Press. The Associated Publishers for lines from Lucien B. Watkins's A Prayer of the 11 Race That God Made Black, Thomas Kerlin. 11 from Negro Poets and Their Poems, edited by Copyright©l923, 1935 by The Associated Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by pennission of The Associated Publishers, Inc. Jupiter Hammon Press for lines from Joseph White's Burning Spear: 11 Black Is a Soul, 11 from An Anthology of Afro-Saxon Poetry, copyright@1963 by The Dasein Literary Society. Reprinted by permission of Jupiter Hammon Press of The Dasein Literary Society. 14 �I ! • i :' I ' 1 , I Paul R. Reynolds for specified lines from Richard Wright's "Between the World and Me, 11 copyright@l935 by I.re Partisan Review, and ! Have Seen Black 11 Hands, 11 copyright{£)1935 by The Partisan of Paul R. Reynolds, Inc. 15 Reyiew. Reprinted by permission � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_08_01 Title A name given to the resource Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Inserts and Acknowledgments, p. 1-15 Description An account of the resource Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Inserts 1-9 and Acknowledgments, p. 1-15 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B.