https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/3750fd412ad33a7de877a58647a136bc.pdf 4496e95c1b0c6d77c3611fded77f214f PDF Text Text III EXPLORING BLACK POETRY: A. Oral and Gestural Origins: CLASSROOM DYNAMICS Myth Development All bodies of literature--nationalistic, racial, religious, geographical--have oral and gestural beginnings for they were conceived and developed from ritual expression. earlier, "is as old as creation." 11 0ral literature," we noted Yet differences in life styles, traditions, customs, beliefs, and reactions to the impact of technology-all combine to create a rich, varied and changing fabric of contemporary international folklife. When one is hurt, happy, angry, ill, or bubbling with pride, one does not seek out a pen or typewriter to "express" the resulting spontaneous emotions. Rather, the "touched" person will react in tears, laughter, grief, pain or exhuberance. After all, man's pro- foundest statements arise from his responses to life's essential rites and ceremonies: birth, childhood, puberty, adulthood, marriage, parent- hood, old age, death, etc. Of prime importance to these atavistic cycles is the mythological world designed to explain or justify them and the ever presence of the elements: water,~, .!!E_, ~ and the quintessential element, God--whoever or whatever he/she/it may be. Through his cosmology, man attempts to develop a view of himself and time, tries to come to terms with the inevitablility of disaster, illness and death, and seeks to define and cormnunicate with his god. In these attempts, he often uses mediators such as prophets, sages, seers, poets and visionaries to probe and explain the regions of the unknown--the supernatural. Jerome Rothenberg calls these interlocutors (between God and man) Technicians of the Sacred. In traditional Black African cormnunities, myth-making and cosmological heraldry were carried from generation to generation-- essentially via drum, song, dance and, occasionally, by handwriting or hieroglyphics. When the rich storehouse of Black Ex- pression ("Archival Literature of Gesture") was brought to the Western Hemisphere, on the tongues, and in the minds and bodies of African slaves, the cosmological tree came along with it. Much was changed and much was lost, but the essentials remained in Black cormnunities up to this very day. Thus in researching, teaching or explicating Black Poetry, one must keep these important cultural items in mind. 1o8 Here, the point cannot be �over-stressed because while the Black poet English, he often Afro-American. 11 reeds 11 and 11 11 reads 11 and "writes'' in rites 1' in African or the deviative He is often--though not exclusively--concerned with sound and movement, like the members of his own community. For his community remains vigorously oral and uninhibited, even in the ear shot of missile launches, transistor radios, and helicopters that search ghetto rooftops for snipers. A good example of the 11 read 11 / 11 reed 11 duality is Robert Hayden, critically ranked as one of the best American poets. His live readings (despite his strict adherence to written craftsmanship) are overwhelming and electric. Hayden is doubtlessly an intellec- tual, and a partial product of the modern school of poetry, but his oral impact on intellectual and working-class audiences--the development of empathy--is sustained and genuine. In Hayden's presentations there is much of the spirit, force and sonority of the Black orators and poets of the past 200 years--especially of Douglass, Dunbar, Garvey, King and Ossie Davis. Hany of the poets unconsci ou sl y "rite" this spontaneity of expression into the ir works. Black poets, then, are generally better performers than their white counterparts--as far as Black audiences are concerned anyway--and this fact has more than a little to do with their persistent appeal to their community's "highly developed sense of sound. 11 Indispensable to an understandinc of t his area of Black Poetry is Stephen Henderson's 11 The Forms of Things Unknown" (Understanding the New Black Poetry, 1972) and Jean Wagner's discussions of Langston Hughes in Black Poets of the United States (1973). Professor Henderson's essay (in which he discusses theme, structure and saturation in Black poetry) has minor flaws stemming from an apparent unawareness of the full blast of contemporary Black Poetry and some premature critical assessments. Nevertheless, it is one of the best essays written on Black American Poetry in recent years and in the anthology section he includes a handfull of 11 new11 and unheard of poets as well as some folk poetry. Since initial attempts at producing poetry were oral, it is understandable that acoustically-charged poetry looses much of its power and spontaneity when it is written down or read silently. the dilema of written poetry--anywhere. Such, alas, is The phonology of the folk--no matter how faithfully represented in graphic symbols--can never appear 109 �on paper the way it is bantered about at family gatherings, athletic contests, in school yards, in churches or laundromats. agree, for example, that Dunbar's 11 Phoneticists ear 11 for dialect was practically perfect--meaning that, using the symbols of phonetic transcription, the poet accurately recorded the sounds, the tenses, the idioms. Yet many of the persons whose speech Dunbar tried to capture are unable to read his transcriptions. Even today, in Black Literature classes, students have great difficulty trying to read dialect aloud. But they must learn to read it--and to appreciate its principles and sound pockets--if they are to understand the later dialects and idioms of Hughes, Brown, Walker, Rogers, Hayden, Barake, Tolson, Cortez, Fields and Pfister and others. It is obvious by now that the study of Black Poetry traverses a field of ambiguities, frustrations, excitements, quaint surprises, intellectual brilliance and trauma, contradictions, linguistic genius, and grammatical experimentation and demands great amounts of time for research, reading and analyses. America was well into the 19th Century before Blacks could legally learn to read and write in all states. That we are today reading the works of men and women, who, a few generations ago, were forbidden by law to read and write, cannot be over-emphasized. Such a fact calls to mind many contradictions, two of them being of immediate importance. One, is that the Black Ameri- can is writing--and in many cases he is writing extremely well. The other is that while he occupies a viritual hell on earth (slavery, etc.) he has been able to master the highest symbol of correctness and intelligence in this land: The English language, including many of its derivatives and nuances, and the social amenities that accompany the use of it. Certainly the psychological implications of these contra- dictions are many and complex; and a study of Black Poetry provides many insights into this entire area. We know that in the final analysis, "important" society--even with regards to ethnic minorities--puts major emphasis on how one "presents" himself. Hence, from the employment interview to the office-hour session with the teacher, one is always cautioned to be on his linguistic P's and Q's. Yet, and psycho-linguists are beginning to bring this out in current studies, there exists in most of Black America a culturally 110 �distinct way of thinking things out, of forming abstractions, of showing approval or denial, or "putting one down" (reeding and riting). While an exploration of Black Psychology or Language is not being attempted in this pamphlet, it is important that those studying or teaching Black Literature recognize some essential cultural differences that exist between Blacks and larger America. For to invade the mind of a Black Poet or thinker is to walk through uncertain and troubled waters. The invader may risk, Baldwin notes, tampering "with the insides of a stranger." Yet, the trek is rewarding because the Black poet or novelist leads the reader--Black and white--down a human path and view (disfigured and beautiful) that is unique in American and world literature. This is so because Black Poetry is derivative of the Black Experience--which is unique to Black people. And while whites may record what they see, hear or think, they are still observers. Reacting to a question on the difference between observer and participant, Baldwin noted that An observer has no passion. It (Baldwin's journey) doesn't mean I saw it. It means that I was there. I don't have to observe the life and death of Martin Luther King. I am a witness to it. Follow me? Whether the poet in question is George Moses Horton or Alice Nelson Dunbar, Jupiter Hammon or Francis Harper, Angelina Grimke or Fenton Johnson, Gwendolyn Brooks or Quincy Troupe, Ray Durem or Melvin Tolson, there is always evidence that they have been there--to the fire and have agonized over personal and group joy or dismemberment, like the Blues singer. There is, of course, much daintiness, romantic nostalgia and nature in Black Poetry (which covers the human spectrum). However, it is not in the poling of nature and romance that the important differences can readily be found. Rather Black distinctions appear more blatantly in reflections of Black life and Black struggle. B. Music, Movement, Language: Suggestions for Special Projects One should attempt a serious study of Black Poetry before first saturating oneself in Black Music. Music is the most shared creative experience of Black people--in Africa and America. written art form closest to the musical experience. Poetry is the In their dramatic recitals, the poets reaffirm their view of themselves as songifiers of 111 �the language, as balladeering chroniclers of the tradition. evolved from the tradition of folk song. Blues Jazz developed from Blues. Blues were sung to the accompaniment of guitar, banjo, harmonica, wash tub, etc. With his instruments, the Jazz musician tries to achieve the vocal qualities of the Blues. Hughes, in The Weary Blues, works to establish the appropriate ancestral and literary links between his folk idiom and himself as poet. Johnson (God's Trombones) chose the trombone as a metaphor for evoking the old time Black preacher because it possessed 11 above all others the power to express the wide and varied range of emotions encompassed by the human voice--and with greater amplitude. 11 Before complete studio orchestras were used to accompany Black singing groups, the singers created instrumental harmony with their voices. They practiced assiduously, constantly searching for new harmonic and tonal possibilities in voice blendings--developing electrifying auditory combinations and extentions, falsettos, etc. One voice represented a bass, another a trumpet, still another a guitar, and so on. Hughes acknowledees this Black need--a deep, deep need--when in 11 Jazzonia 11 he calls the musicians "long-headed jazzers. 11 The poem makes no attempt to separate the instruments from the players. The instruments become extensions of the Jazzmen who are thus "longheaded.11 Hughes' important synthesis, similar to Johnson's, is wholly brilliant and speaks directly to the ritualized amalgamation and continuity of symbol and act--and the interdependence of Black forms of expressions. Generally, it is good to take at least a week (preferably two) to play, view and discuss various (all) kinds of Black Expression-using music as a base and moving intermingling discussions of speech, dance, social gestures, general family life, movies, funerals and church services. nator. In all aspects, music will be the common denomi- Helpful during such an introductory period are the use of slides, popular Black periodicals (Ebony, Jet, Encore, etc.) which should be leisurely examined and discussed, the examination of liner notes on albums, discussions of the most exciting and treasured Black events and things. Below are some questions and ideas students will want to probe along with general introductory material: 1. 2. Define the word "Aesthetic''• Is there a Black Aesthetic? 112 �3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. I f so, how docs one determine it? Establish tentative crit e ria f or the Black Experience. Messages in recorded Spirituals. Messages in recorded Blues. "Conversations" among Jazz instrumentalists (while playing). 11 Hessages 11 in recorded Soul Music. What is Language? Phonology? Dialect? Idiom? Slang? Jargon? Parlance?, etc. Is there a Black Language? If so, identify some of the components in its structure. Discuss such Black Metaphors as 11 dig," 11hawk," "selling wolf tickets," "main squeeze," 11 rap," "get down," 11 for real," "mellow," 11 fox, 11 etc. Define and discuss words like 11 Soul, 11 "Negritude," "Sensibility," etc. The list could go on, ad inf initum. There are so many things to cover-- so much air to clear--during the initial contact of course participants. It is in these early stages, however, that a basis for sound cormnunication, understanding and respect for the material must be established. Hence, most of the rhetorical this period. 11 bull 11 should be dispensed with during It is also at this juncture that course requirements are nonnally given: papers, tests, outside readings, mandatory attendance at readings by visiting poets, etc. Here the study of Black Poetry presents exciting challenges to students and teachers because much of the valid research is unorthodox and unprecedented. Naturally, the time-proven means of acquiring and retaining knowledge should not be abandoned in a Black Poetry course. However, because of the interdependent character nature of Black literature and a gross lack of critical study, today's students and teachers may find themselves pioneers in identifying and analyzing certain types and areas of the poetry. In view of the developing social awareness and technical virtuosity of the new Black song writers, students will want to top this meaningful source as a prospect for term papers, oral reports, group discussions, in-class performances (multi-media reports), close textual analyses or comparisons/contrasts with the literary (written) poetry. In presenting such reports, students will want to consider the possibility of using (in addition to tape recorders or turntables) overhead projectors, motion picture projectors (showing film shot in an appropriate Black cormnunity or setting), slide projectors or film 113 �strip projectors, for illustration and illumination. Numerous experi- mental research possibilities will arise from student-teacher discussions of this particular aspect of Black Expression. may want to sing and/or play an instrument. For example, a student Another student may elect to bring an individual instrument or group to class to animate examples given in the narration. In a recent Black Poetry class, two students traced the development of the Temptations up to their latest song. Here are some things the students were concerned with: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Biographies of members of the group History of the group as a singing unit History of MoTown--a Black recording company in Detroit Song writers for the Temptations Harmonic organization of the group Singing groups that influenced the Temptations Areas, Themes and Styles in lyrics and live concerts (love, protest, patroitism, etc.) Poetry in the written and sung word Development of Black Consciousness in the Temptations What the Temptations mean to Blacks White imitators of the Temptations and other Black groups The students had other concerns; in the classroom they used auditory and visual assistance to illustrate their points. On hand, for classmates to examine, they had all of the Temptations' albums plus information from magazines, newspapers, radio and TV programs and publicity releases from MoTown. Needless to say, it was a most exciting and listenable report. A freshman student in another class conducted an analysis of the lyrics and the singing style of Otis Redding. The student traced Redding back to his birth place (roots) and then came forward to the point of the singer's death. Redding, the student concluded (after viewing the Spiritual-Blues-Gospel tradition), used much Black minstrelsy in his work and was a 11 folk 11 poet. The report had been taped. After it had been heard, fellow students asked questions, made observations, raised objections and so on. In two successive semesters, a student studied Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. The semester-length reports were called zation of Curtis Hayfield" and 11 11 The Politicali- The Politicalization of Marvin Gaye. 11 Fortunately, Mayfield was appearing in the area during the preparation of the first report and the student was able to obtain a brief interview. In each report, however, the work was detailed. 114 Emphasis was placed on �what the lyrics said (literally and figuratively), and how they were delivered. The student highlighted both singers religious character and noted that their art reflects their debts to the church and church choral groups. Following is just a sampling of individual and group recording artists and Black orators who can and ought to be examined in connection with Black Poetry: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. Babs Gonzales Clara Uard Hahalia Jackson Hartin Luther King (speeches, sermons) Malcolm X (speeches) Smokey Bill and the Miracles Marvin Gaye Curtis Mayfield Leon Thomas The Impressions The Temptations Nina Simone Roberta Flack The Stylistics The Delphonics John Lee Hooker Lightnin' Hopkins B.B. King Current and Past Black Preachers (sermons) Al Hibbler Johnny Ace Ray Charles Melvin Van Peebles (albums) Albert 11 Blues Boy" King Bobby Womack James Brown Bill Withers Barry White The Four Tops War Billie Holliday Bessie Smith Stevie Wonder Otis Redding Oscar Brown, Jr. Dozens more recording artists and speakers, who work creatively with words, are available for investigation. In such studies, students must be sure that lyrics are authored by Blacks. In many cases, it is helpful to compare/contrast the spoken word and the written word--the poet who rites and the poet who writes, or the poet who reads and a poet who reeds. Toward this end, a list of corresponding poets would probably help. 115 �Associated roughly with the themes and styles of the recording artists above, the following list is not designed to limit or 11 brand 11 poets, but simply to open up vistas and ideas for exploring and reporting on the poetry. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. Numbers correspond to those above. Bob Kaufman, Ray Durem, Ted Joans Margaret Walker, Helene Johnson Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret Danner, Pinkie Gordon Lane Lance Jeffers, James Kilgore Ray Durem, Imamu Baraka, Larry Neal, Raymond Patterson Henry Dumas, Etheridge Knight, Stephany Al Young, Norman Jordan, Jay Wright Gil Scott-Heron, Robert Hayden, Al{ce Walker K. Curtis Lyle, Askia Muhamad Toure, Henry Dumas, Joe McNair James Kilgore, Margaret Walker, James Weldon Johnson, David Henderson Arthur Pfister, Don L. Lee, Karl Carter, Folk Rhymes Jayne Cortez, Lucille Clifton, Judy Simmons, Margaret Walker Alice Walker, Margaret Walker, Mari Evans, Julia Fields, June Jordan Stephany, Carolyn Rogers, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Henry Dumas Gil Scott-Heron, Nikki Giovanni, Kirk Hall Sterling Brown, OWen Dodson, Henry Dumas, Melvin Tolson Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Robert Hayden, Stanley Crouch K. Curtis Lyle, Quincy Troupe, Mari Evans, Fenton Johnson James Weldon Johnson, Owen Dodson, Folk Hymns and Stories Raymond Patterson, Ray Durem, Jayne Cortez Raymond Patterson, Norman Jordan, James Kilgore Bob Kaufman, early Imamu Baraka, Langston Hughes, Naomi Long Madgett Langston Hughes, Gil Scott-Heron, Ron Welburn, Julius Lester Stanley Crouch, Margaret Walker, Dudley Randall, Langston Hughes Arthur Pfister, David Henderson, Tom Weatherly, Tom Dent Julian Bond, Michael Harper, Calvin Hernton, Henry Dumas Lance Jeffers, Karl Carter, Judy Simmons, Nayo (Barbara Malcolm) Nikki Biovanni, Sonia Sanchez, William J. Harris David Henderson, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Zack Gilbert Sun Ra, Henry Dumas, Larry Neal, A.B. Spellman Jayne Cortez, Lucille Clifton, Mari Evans, Gwendolyn Bennett Julia Fields, Gwendolyn Brooks, Carolyn Rogers, Rhonda Davis Carl H. Greene, Ishmael Reed, Val Ferdinand, Raymond Washington Stanley Crouch, Clay Goss, Henry Dumas, Sterling Brown Robert Hayden, Countee Cullen, Dudley Randall, Etheridge Knight It must be reiterated that the pairings are only suggestions and do not attempt to place the poets within a specific tone, thematic preoccupation or style. some great. Obviously, however, there are similarities--some minor, The aggregate history and predicament of all Blacks make for general trends and attitudes while allowing for individual Black 116 �Experiences. Hence, (and any anthology or body of Black writing tell us this) one cannot stray very far from his essential Black human truth--despite his visions, his dreams, or his remanticism of his social status or the African past. The challenge for students and teachers, then, is to come up with other combinations such as the ones above. The range and number of combinations is endless and a successful development of them depends on the degree of interest of students. For example, it is possible for a music student or musician to deal with the harmony or melody of a written poem in contrast/comparison to a recorded or written piece of music--vocal or instrumental. For if the poem is regarded as a musical score or chart, which often must be assumed during in-class readings, then the researcher can come up with a loose notation of the poem which will render it singable or "musical" in the manner that 11 acappella 11 music is achieved. The poem, after all, is tight or loose meter and meter is organized rhythm. J. Rosamond Johnson wrote the music to his brother's (James') poem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing. 11 But a more specific and recent example of the singing of poetry is seen in the work of a group like The Persuasions (Acappella, Street Corner Symphony, etc.) which uses no "instrument other than the human voice. 11 Husic majors and musicians, then, may want to compare the free or controlled verse forms of poets like Al Young, Robert Hayden or Gwendolyn Brooks to an instrumentalist like John Coltrane or Miles Davis. The current period has seen an outpouring of exciting musico-poetic" 11 experiments and new experiments in recorded and live expr.essions. Jazzman Horace Silver now writes and sings lyrics and so does Les McCann. Poets (exploring the oral/written synthesis) are recording more frequently, extending on Hughes' pioneering efforts to merge the musical instrument and the human voice. For the student or general reader who wants to get off the beaten track of simply unraveling linguistic puzzles and contrivances, there are nemerous new approaches and vehicles for excavating the juices of Black Poetry. Patient listeners will discover that many song writers exhibit technical abilities that are on par with the poets. 11 Smokey Bill 11 Robinson (formerly of The Miracles) has been recognized the world over for his sensitive lyrics on the subject of love. But few students have taken the time to view him against the landscape of modern and 117 �contemporary poetry. Robinson possesses metaphorical and imagistic insights that exceed those of many of the poets writing "seriously" on paper. A close listening to any of his songs (in contrast/com- parison with written poetry) will prove this point. Robinson tremendous auditory sensitivity (which complements his writing abilities) makes him a 11 poet 11 in the most authentic sense. Students of dance, drama, philosophy, social studies, popular culture--all can carve out areas of Black Poetry that suit their specialized interests. A popular project among dance majors is to choreograph poetry and present the dance interpretations in classes, at community functions and public schools. Drama majors follow a similar pattern--selecting sequential material to support a theme--and present a program of dramatic readings, often employing built-in audience response. Students do not have to be drama or dance majors to take on such challenges. Indeed persons who 11 feel 11 what they read and want to express and share those feelings through sounds and movements, should consider these projects. All new approaches should be thoroughly discussed with the teacher so there is a clear understanding of what is expected. Group projects-- involving multi-media--are exciting and intellectually rewarding, as all projects ought to be. The dancers must explicate both the dances and poems which are read by a participants in the project or have been pre-recorded. The dramatic reader has to assume the various roles that he dramatizes and be convincing to class members. The musician ought to exhibit a knowledge of fundamentals of his craft and explain the transition between the post-mortem or 11 flat 11 word on paper and the "activated" or animated work in the air. Such considerations broaden both the student reporting and class members who share an enlightening experience rather than waste their time. Other exciting class projects can be of benefit to the college or community at large. These endeavors allow students to meet course requirements while adding to campus and community breadth and consciousness. Readers Theater, Poetry Rituals, Dramatic Readings, Counter-Readings, Dance-Poetry Repertory Programs and other state presentations make the poetry come alive--make it breathe with all the accompanying acoustical and optical ancillaries. Such programs can coincide with Black History ll8 �Week observances or special cultural workshops. They provide excellent illustrative vehicles at reading, writing and speech clinics. What is required is the combined effort of persons from different artistic affiliations--sometimes the combined efforts of several campus departments or community components. In most instances, however, the dancers, singers, readers and chorus participants can be found among students who are eager and sometimes experienced but have to be galvanized into a cast. We observed earlier that Black communities have remained highly oral environments. From birth, the average Black child is inculcated with the feel and flair for verbal dexterity, verbal alacrity, verbal gymnastics. Through childhood and adolescence, most Black youngsters are rigorously tested by peers and adults--often in game-situations-on their abilities to handle or songify the 11 language. 11 In play, they pick up the games and the oral epics ("Shine," "Signifying Monkey," 11 Stackolee, 11 stories about the 11 bue;gah man," etc.), learn to "signify" and "put down" each other in verbal war, practice and probe harmonic blends by imitating ministers, speakers, singers and their parents. In short, they acquire Johnson's 11 highly developed sense of sound. 11 It is natural, then, that the poets--even the most literary and formal of them--would consciously or unknowingly ingrain these acoustical power bases (antiphony, spontaneity, diction) in their poetry. Accord- ingly, an important aspect of the study of Black Poetry is taping these sound fields--the echoes, repetitions, moans, cries, shouts, screams, hums, whistles, sighs, heavy breathings, drum beats, horns, bells, ringings. These acoustical power bases--perception and revelation via repetition--lace all ritual forms of expression. In an important series of poems entitled The Making of the Drum, West Indian poet Edward Braithwaite (Hasks) establishes the mythological bases for African and Black American phonology. to this area is called Black Expression. 11 ) 11 (One of my own lectures in a series devoted The Musico-graphic and Mythological Bases for Braithwaite•s anthro-poetic discoveries reveal and explain the sonorous components of the ceremonial orchestra. 11 In The Skin", the goat is killed and its skin "stretched" to make the drum head. Next 11 The Barrel of the Drum" is acquired from the wood 119 �11 ofthe tweneduru tree. 11 11 womb. 11 Through this 11 The "hollow blood" of the tree creates a womb 11 the 11 wounds 11 of the land can be heard; here also is developed the "vowels" ( 11 reed-/lips 11 ) and "consonants ( 11 pebbles 11 ) . 11 tree that 11 11 The Two curved Sticks of the Drummer" come from a blossoms 11 twice a year, whose wood is 11 heat-hard as stone." The "Gourds and Rattles" are made of dried gourds and the leaves of the Calabash tree which "makes and mocks our music. 11 Finally, 11 The Gong-Gong" is the signaling device and the leader of the orchestra. "God is dumb", says the poet, up to the point of the drum's announcement. 11 Dumb 11 also is the drum "until the gong-gong leads it. 11 Together, the pieces of the rhythmic orchestra (the voices) can walk men "through the humble" ancestors. Akan) speaks." It is then that "Odomankoma (sky-god-creator, God, however, speaks through "Atumpan", the talking drum, in a series of paced and spontaneous syllabic streams that build to chants reminiscent of the most uninhibited of human ritual language. In the end, we know that God cannot be called until the entire orchestra is assembled, until the official drummer ('Kyerema se) has struck the talking drum and an appropriate amount of force has been created. The voice of the assembled, of the folk, is (after all) the voice of God. Braithwaite builds a mythological case for the origin of organized rhythm and human sound; but the similarities between God's drummer (African) and Johnson's God's Trombones (Afro-American) are clearly there. Nor do the similarities end with topical references. All along the phonic line--from Blues singer to preacher, from Jazz musician to Gospel choir, from poet to the social calling on the great 11 poeres." 11 rap 1 ' session--there is a There is a reliance on forces whose ultimate wisdom and vision are invoked through intense ritual and whose powers provide therapy and direction for the community. In this ecstatically-charged atmosphere, the thrust of ritual expression is toward the dramatization of an attitude, idea or event. Hand-carried rhythmic instruments (tambourines, etc.), foot-stomping and hand-clapping, sighing and moaning, hollering and whispering, dancing and singing, shaking and shimmering, over-laying rhythm with rhythm, clashing of rhythms--everything moves to heighten the drama and reaffirm basic faith. In some gatherings, many of the components appear, at a glance, to be missing; but as the ritual language develops, the song is joined 120 �by moving bodies: The instruments and recepticles--"sensitive vessels," as Marvin Gaye calls them--in the journey toward understanding and "coping." The key to tapping this ritualistic base in much written Black Poetry is recognition of what Johnson calls "incremental leading line and iteration" (also called antiphony or call and response): Oh, de Ribber of Jordan is deep and wide (call) One mo' ribber to cross. (response) I don't know how to get on de other side, (call) One mo' ribber to cross. (response) This early Spiritual (like much early Black oral poetry) is built on the common African song form--utilizing leading lines and response. The 11 leader 11 would sing (or 11 call 11 ) the first or ''incremental" line and the chorus or community would respond or 11 iterate. 11 The "iteration" can be set in a pattern or allowed to intermingle with the reader or leader. In the church, the field, at parties, meetings, or almost any gathering, Blacks issued forth their "sustaining" song. Though modi- fied by time and events, the practice of songifying an event is still observed today. In time the single line increased to two, three, four, five lines or more. With the increase of the lead came an increase of the response to two or three lines (Margaret Walker, James Edwin Campbell) allowing for greater spontaneity within the frame of repitition. Spiritual merged with other verse forms (stanzas). The The Blues, a structural and secular cousin of the Spiritual, also merged with other forms of verse. Many poets make great use of Blues as a literary form (Hughes, Dumas, Joans, Baraka, Hayden, etc.) Spiritual-Blues-Ballad merger. In much Black Poetry there is a This pattern is consistent with Black and oral expression since all three forms were first sung or recited before the advent of written poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks, known as a skilled writer of sonnets, invented the sonnet-ballad for a freer, more ritual and animating verse. The student will want to examine these two forms in order to understand Miss Brooks' important achievement in this area of poetry. We see the merger of all these forms in much of the early and current poetry. In preparing for modern and recent poetry, however, the reader ought to saturate himself with the Spirituals, Work Songs, Blues, Sermons, Oral Epics, Rhymes and Ditties. 121 �c. Reeding and Riting Black Poetry in the Classroom Many of the English verse forms (hymns as well as literary poetry) lend themselves to the call-and-response pattern so common in the oral corranunities. So it is as easy to do a participatory reading of, say, Phillis Wheatley 1 s work as that of Dunbar's or Walker's. poem, 11 11 Hiss Wheatley's 0n the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield 1770," Horton's Slavery," and Clark's 11 What Is a Slave?" can all be set to leader-chorus (antiphonal) movement in the classroom. The three poems, like every poem studied, should be read aloud--both by the students and teachers alone and then in class. Though stilted by the meter and language of the Neoclassical period, Miss Wheatley's poem still makes for exciting oral reading and analysis. It is an elegy which exalts the departed and celebrates the "Impartial Savior." The heroic couplet that it employs bears a rhythmic resemblance to the Spiritual "Oh, Wasn't Dat a Wide Ribber" in that there is a lead line and a chorus line: HAIL, happy saint, on thine immortal throne, (leader-reader) Possessed of glory, life and bliss unknown; (chorus-classroom) To make the reading more exciting, the response lines can alternate-between say the half-way mark and the end of each stanza. Another approach to this and similar poems is to have the chorus and leader change places. Variations of the call-and-response pattern can be found in Horton and Clark poems. Horton is known for his meditational or penitential verse and the influences of the ballad and English hymn can be seen in his poem. "Slavery'' can be sung in acappella or read in unison--as can most of the poetry of the era. Or, the chorus-- classroom or community--can arbitrarily "iterate" the third and sixth lines. One extremely effective approach is the use of an "announcer" who, in the Horton poem, could loudly shout the word "Slavery!" at the beginning of each stanza. Certainly a study of poetic conventions, devices and forms must always accompany exploration of the poems' auditory powers. This way one comes to terms with the social, tach- nical and intellectual aspects of the poets' works. Clark's 11 For example, in What Is a Slave?" the constancy of the question admonishes us to ascertain an answer. 11 A slave is--what?" Probably written to prick the con- sciences of whites, the poem chronicles the inhumane treatment of slaves and, by inference, the inhumanity of slave-holders. 122 There is an exciting �antiphony and syncopation in the way the poem exploits the dash in each stanza (especially in the first lines). The reiteration of trwhat? 11 swells to questioning indictment which pounds the ear of the listener and, like the enslaved in Dunbar's "Sympathy", allows the "caged" to fling his plea to the highest forces. "what?" anticipates the 11 I am" of DuBois, the will" of Miss Walker and the plea or 11 11 The repetition of How long" and 11 aiwa ~ " of Henry Dumas. 11 when This same cry 11 is heard in Miss Wheatley's poem when she advises Africans to accept the "Impartial Savior": 11 Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you; Indeed, the iteration--the reinforcement--is climactic for Miss Wheatley, who has exclaimed "Take him•••" at least three times before she reaches builds to the above line. This listing or cataloging of questions or data toward an emotionalintellectual build-up is a major ingredient in Black Poetry. It is, of course, a throw-back to the ancient tradition of oral narration and enumeration. This is why the universal oral poetic form, the ballad, is indi genous to all aboriginal peoples. It appears throughout the period of Wheatley, Horton and Clark and certainly it is a mainstay in the development of folk and literary forms right up through Dunbar. While the forms are literarily European, however, the themes--especially in the cases of Horton and Clark--take up social concerns or attitudes which underlie Black Poetry up to the present day. The question 11 What Is a Slave?:, for example, anticipates the syndromes developed in Nobody Knows Hy Name (Baldwin) and Invisible Man (Ellison): biguities of the Black life and struggle. the am- Herein are indications of the deep-seated turmoil in the Black psyche. Horton's wish to "hasten to the grave" foreshadows and complements the Spiritual motifs: Before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave, or Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, and I lie in de grave an' stretch out my arms. This so-called "infinite longing for peace" becomes a major theme in Black 123 �Poetry--indeed, in much Black Expression. mood that death may not be 11 Dr. Thurman observed of this life 1 s worst offering." elegy is of course lofty--as elegies usually are. Miss Wheatley's Yet, a heaven of a sort awaits Rev. Whitefield--just as heaven awaits the traveler at the end of The Weary Blues. For Miss Wheatley, 11 life divine re-animates ••• dust." So we have said, the call-and-response pattern, and residual components of the song , persists in both dialect and literary poetry. Excellent examples of these traits are found in Dunbar's 11 A Negro Love Song" and "Sympathy," in Campbell's "De Cunjah Man" and DuBois' "The Song of the Smoke. 11 While Dunbar and Campbell write two different kinds of dialect poetry, the former examines southern plantation speech and the latter West Indian or Gullah dialect, both employ the reiterative refrain. Dunbar's chorus enjoins the hip-swinging, smooth-talking narrator to Jump back, honey, jump back , while Campbell's congregation warns: De Cunjah man, de cunjah man, 0 chillen run, de cunjah man! The first reader or leader (juju man, prophet, witch doctor, priest, preacher, priestess, etc.) enthralls listeners with amorous inf ormation while the responsive congregation reinforces and maintains continuous orchestration. 11 Sympathy 11 and "The Song of the Smoke 11 are in what is called literary Eng lish but their orchestral development and ritualistic f unctions are the same as the two dialect poems. 11 De Cunjah Man 11 enum- erates the abnormal anatomy and supernatural powers of a worker of spells. A Negro Love Song" recaptures and animates the effect of a man walking 11 his 11 lady 11 home at night. Both poems attempt to deal, phonetically and culturally, with common Black Experiences. Both have elements of super- naturalism (an ingredient of Folk Poetry) and provide the social and therapeutic prescriptions for wounds caused by fear of the unknown and the need f or love. The grouphood dances, shouts, sings, screams out its anxieties; looses its tensions in sweat and drama. (which, like Dunbar's has the word 11 DuBois' poem song 11 in the title) maintains the elequence and propriety of academic English. Like "Sympathy," it (and the dialect poems), enumerates toward the development of substantial 124 �data and momemtum. imagined. The 11 smoke king" and the 11 caged bird" are real and Wit and double entendre are used in both poems. cunjah man is the folk psychologist, 11 While the caged bird 11 and "smoke king" are the guilts and consciences of white America. Both are victims of racism, economic exploitation--but, ironically, are never fully~ by their oppressors. DuBois' central figure is common enough in American history--the undaunted Black Common man who (like Fenton Johnson I s ''Tired•• man) has helped build the empire but does not get to share it; dogged strength alone keeps him from being torn asunder." the Black plight analagous to that of the caged bird. 11 whose Dunbar makes Americans habit- ually cage things and people, the poet says, but never understands that the cries of the caged are often pleas to be free. can understand why the caged bird sings. 11 11 Only the oppressed These poems are deeply psy- chological and reveal those scars of racial strife and chaos that are not always seen by the naked eye; those scars behind Dunbar's "mask. 11 The reiterative 11 1 am" reinforces both the past and present frustrations of the "smoke king"; but it also proclaims the presence of the Black man. Yet color is not inherently good nor evil, DuBois says: I white my blackmen, I becon my white, What's the hue of a hide to a man in his might! However, the poet sides with the Black man whose cause he must work for, whose condition he must improve, whose struggle he must glorify: Hail to the smoke king, Hail to the black! The phrase 11 I am. 11 11 Sympathy. 11 11 I know" in "Sympathy" performs the same function as DuBois' "I know" appears at the beginning and end of each stanza in Its purpose is to create curiosity and build confidence in the assertion of knowing which is developed throughout the poem and resolved in the final lines. This poem is best performed when the chorus reads the first and last lines of each stanza. present the poem dramatically and convincingly. The leader ought to Thematically, this poem presents a recurring concern in Dunbar and other Black poets: that of dealing poetically with racial injustice without reducing one's work to tirade and torrential protest. see 11 We Wear the Mask," 11 For other examples of this in Dunbar, Ships that Pass in the Night," and "Ere Sleep Comes Dovm to Soothe the Weary Eyes. 11 �One is always aware that the Black poet achieves great songification with or without dialect. The incremental line leading in 11 A Negro Love Song" appears, in variation, in "The Song of the Smoke. 11 Increment occurs with the fourth lines in each stanza of the love poem. The "smoke king" starts to unfurl from the beginning and, like a cloud of smoke, ascends higher and higher (incrementally). Thus the "I am" gives the reader the effect of being moved constantly upwards. 126 �Certainly these poems provide much initial fuel for discussion and poetical 11 surgery. De Cunjah Man" should provike a student round robin examination of family superstitions, folk medicine and psychology {home remedies), West Indian and Gullah dialects, and the development of imagery in poetry (e.g., the "buggah man", the Black psyche (dualism, 11 11 cunjah man," etc.). Explorations of the twoness 11 , split-consciousness, paranoia, etc.) and Black stamina or endurance should accompany "Sympathy" and "The Song of the Smoke." Certainly, discussions of Black love and social life will follow a reading of "A Negro Love Song." "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is the poem in which Langston Hughes examined Blackness globally. The voices in Hughes' poetry are often those from the vast historical/geneological web of Black antiquity. And the tired man in Fenton Johnson's "Tired" speaks with a tongue as experienced as the man who has "known rivers." Conscious of having built "up somebody else's civilization," as were many of the poets of the Harlem Renaissance, Johnson proposes some generally repulsive alternatives to his wife: alcoholics and "Throw the children into the river." they will become Hughes and Johnson announce Black contributions to the world but neither poet resolves anything. Neither poet proposes specific remedies for the inequities. The resolutions, then, must come in the dramatic reading and the internalizing of the poems. Since both poems represent the Black poet's coming-of-age in the mastery of modern poetic technique, students will want to familiarize themselves with the general poetic mood of the period. Hughes achieves musical quality and "responsive 11 power by repeating "I've" or "I" and by internalizing the rhythm and rhyme. and person. The Black aspect and the river are merged in imagery, symbolism The river motif, which runs like a spine through the Spirituals 127 �and general Black folk expression, is a favorite of Black poets. In reading Hughes' poem, the chorus can announce the past-present posture of the Black man by resoundly exclaiming "I've known rivers" whenever the phrase appears. The reading ought to be slow and deliberate suggesting the long history and endurance of African peoples. Another effective approach to reading this poem is for the chorus {class) to chant softly and repeatedly: My soul has gone deep like the rivers. When the appropriate mood or momentum has been established, the leader can then deliver the poem. The racial pride and exaltation of Hughes' poem can be compared/contrasted to "Tired" which uses cynicism and irony • .American "Civilization" is given those qualities normally associated with "primitive" cultures. Cullen exhibits a similar use of irony in "Heritage" when he notes that his "conversion" to Christianity makes him ''play a double part." I The contemporary Black poet John Echols is more blatantly sardonic in his phrase "Western Syphillization." A favorite theme of Black poets is the absence of "civilization'' in America. (Yet Johnson was to influence later Black poets in terms of style and theme. His influence on Margaret Walker, for example, can be seen in the prosaic stanzas which indent all but the first lines.) Still, the repeating of the word "tired" and "civilization" reinforces the basic assertion in the poem: that "building up somebody else's" country has robbed the builder of spirit; that stereotypes of Blacks {alcoholism, desertion of children, etc.) result from broken hopes, lack of opportunities and racial discrimination: ••• It is better to die than to grow up and find that you are colored. Yet, while Hughes' "soul has grown deep like rivers," Johnson advises: Pluck the stars out of the heavens. The stars mark our destiny. The stars marked my destiny. 128 �Here is a vague suggestion of predestination or ultimate control over one's life and future. For like Cullen's "curious thing" in "Yet Do I Marvel," the "stars 11 are there for the Black poet--yet it is not clear as to whether they work for or against him. Nevertheless the poet remains "tired 11 of a "civilization" which, according to Waring Cuney, rapes the streets of "palm trees" and :provides Black women with dishwater that "gives back no images." American :poets, Hayden has observed, have historically been critical of their society. However, it was the Black writer who carried the voice of artistic protest to its highest and most utilitarian stations. Hence, while Johnson's despair and rejection of "civilization" may have been "new" for Black poetry, such mood or attitude was not totally foreign to Black writing of the period. Certainly, if ironically, the two foregoing poems tell us much about "civilization." Hughes recounts the part he (as Black man) has played in the development of several societies. Johnson, conscious of not having received his "40 acres and a mule," drops out of a "civilization" he has helped to build. In any case, both narrators are weary from long travels and many trials and tribulations. Yet, the relentless pessimism in "Tired" is up- 1 ifted by the fact of the poem' s writing and the tentative hope in the "stars." Hughes implies that since he has been around so long, and his "soul has grown deep like rivers," he will be here a lot longer. Thematically and stylistically, "Tired" is a variation on the Blues motif, while Hughes' poem is reminiscent of the Spiritual. and the folk sermon. Many poems of the period flow from these particular styles and ideas discussed here. And readers will undoubtedly want to come to terms with Hughes' use of the word "soul." We have observed that Black Poetry makes use of folk symbols and mannerisms, exploits archetypal. symbols such as rivers and trees for religious or social 129 �use, and employs incremental leading line and iteration--which conceals other phonological and ritualistic devices that are tapped via responsive readings, etc. Such techniques are neither the sole ingredients nor the exclusive property of Black Poetry. materials. But most mack Poetry makes use of the folk Owen Dodson's "Lament" and Margaret Walker's "Since 1619 11 are testimonies to the modern mack poet's ability to place his folk forms and materials inside Western poetic techniques and idioms. Both poets have built in their own organized rhythms which allow for acoustical and inflectional nuances in the oral presentation of the poems. The words "Wake" and "How" are used to develop momentum {increment) and stage {dramatize) the intellectual discussions of the poems' respective problems or predicaments. To use the phrase "How long 11 in the presence of macks is to signal a special subject matter or a recurring theme: How long for the train? hunger last? How long for justice? How long will the dogs bark? How long is the river? and so on. How long for freedom? How long will the The title of Miss Walker's poem tells us that the wait has so far lasted "Since 1619." So we are pre- pared for the relentless hammering of "How," "When," etc., just as we are engulfed in the persistent "what?" in "What Is a Slave" and the demanding "I am" in "The Song of the Smoke." poem. "Since 1619 11 becomes a mack communal Slavery officially began in 1619 and every Black--regardless of his station--has been affected by slavery. Likewise, because Blacks did not enslave themselves nor perpetuate a dehumanizing system of judging human worth on skin color, whites are also locked into the poem. Surely, Miss Walker's debts to the Spirituals, Blues and the sermons can be seen in the organization of the rhythms and the basic, folksy appeal to the intestinally carried hopes and longings. The personal "I" ( vis-a-vis Blues) becomes a 130 �collective assault on the group problem. As stated earlier, "Wake" in "Lament" also satisfies an essential demand of residual oral expression-repetition that is cumulative in conveying information and emotion. the repetition, the image emerges--the epiphany occurs. In The power-idea concept demands that vigorous repetition, and allied acoustics and graphics, continue to the point of "understanding." In church, on stage, in the reci- tation, the priest-prophet must be acknowleged and regenerated by the responsive congregation which allows him to be the interlocutor between the Supreme Being and the flock. chant. This process takes place in "Lament" which is a eulogistic "Wake up" pushes a button that sets off associative values. "Wake up" to Blacks is to say many things. To say The phrase is used to invoke latent aggression, to shock a group into immediate political awareness or call·· "sinners" and "back sliders" to the church. I One cannot be the same or act th~ same after reading "Lament" just as one is not the same after having heard a rousing sermon or a brilliant Blues concert. We are carried by Dodson, as we are carried by Wright in "Between the World and Me," through the graphic accounts of the lynching. Wright is the tarred and feathered man--dead and recounting his own killing at the hands of a white mob. asks. "Lament" asks and Neither victim will ever rise again, however, but the cosmos is made a participant in each death. The sun stares "in yellow" surprise for Wright and Dodson gives up "mud," "grass," and "the cotton stem" before he flings his plea to the heavens: dead can wake up. "Save me!" The dead boy cannot wake up but the living "How long" and How many" and "what?" does it take before the people will wake up--before, Tolson asks, justice will become "unblinded. 11 ? The Black man's closeness to death, developed out of the circumstances of slavery, continues to inform his view of life and time in the United States. 131 �"Lament" catalogs the most repulsive aspects of dying and death to remind us that death is inevitable for all men, but too often premature and (many times) violent for Blacks. Dunbar builds "Sympathy" to a crecendo at which the higher forces are summoned to aid in the liberation effort. Dodson performs the same rite in "Lament" which ends in a request for the proverbial "sign": Tell me the acrostic, the cross, the crown or the fire ••• O, wake up, wake! Possibly, the poet says, the gods too are sleep or numb to the ill-treatment of Blacks. DuBois had already asked in Litany at Atlanta" if God too were "white"--"a pale, bolldless, heartless thing?" Black poets in the Western Hemisphere often ask if God is listening to the pleas of the oppressed or recording specific criminal offenses against Blacks. ,. The theme of God shrinking from his responsibilities to man and vice versa can be seen in most poetry that is critical of Christianity. Baraka announce~ in the contemporary period, however, that the Black man was "creating new gods." Indeed, Robert Hayden, in "Zeus Over Redeye, 11 implies that Western culture is spiritually and religiously bankrupt. This idea, an old one with Black poets in America, can also be found in Jayne Cortez's "Festival and Funerals" and Mari Evans' "I Am a Black Woman." However, the ritualistic components of Black Expression are more recessive in Hayden's poem than in Miss Evans', Miss Cortez's or Henry Dumas' "Ngoma." Nevertheless, all four of the poems depict major modes and preoccupations of contemporary Black Poetry. In his use of African words and development of the chant form, Dumas is merging the old forms with new ideas and interests in African and African-American Expression. Like Hughes nearly a half a century before her, Miss Cortez invokes a global Black spirit in "Festivals and Funerals." Typographically and orally, the latter poem approximates a "score" or musical organization of sights and sounds. 132 "I Am a Black Woman" continues the �historical. vein in Black Poetry (Hughes) and imbibes a "new" technical. defiance in a mastery of the free verse form. The poem al.so follows from tradition of announcing ("I am," etc.) as in "smoke king" and of reiteration through enumeration as in early song and poetry. The "humming in the night" recalls the vastness of the soul that has grown to encompass rivers. A humming of fragments of "Hobody Knows the Trouble I See" after the secong "humming" in the poem will vivify and stabilize the poem's underlying impact. The practice of imagining or actually singing or playing an appropriate song often helps actualize the experience and tap the hidden psychosocial. implications and acoustical. power bases. Miss Evans presents the history and the struggle in a way that is different from earlier writings--though she is still in the tradition. For the "Black Woman," the struggle has often meant a diminution of Black mal.-power. the source of all life. Yet, she is earth-mq:ther, Dumas re-affirms this in "Ngoma" by making the head of the I drum anal.agous to the belly of the pregnant woman. The "spirits of our fathers" speak "louder" from belly and drum--both life-giving forces. The child-voice in the mother is a reincarnation of the ancestors and a preservation of rhythm while the newly-dried goat skin (drum-head) celebrates all life--past and present. Using Swahili and Arabic terms coupled with biblical. words like ''thy" and "thine," the poem merges belly and drum in a ritualistic evocation of the spirits of the past. A responsive reading, with the congregation (classroom) repeating "aiwa" (yes:) and "louder", to an increasing tempo and rising momentum proves rewarding and electrifying with "Ngoma" and other similar poems. We have said that the drum, or the rhythmic instrument, is at the center of Black Expression. Hence, an array of rhythmic instruments (along with hand-clapping and foot-stomping) would be very helpful in delivering and getting maximum benefit and hidden meaning from the poem. The participants will want to 133 �Feel the skin-sound singing and know that the god-sound trembles in her belly ••• Both "Ngoma" and "I Am a Black Woman" show stylistic experiments and improvements upon time-tested Black themes and forms. "Festivals and Funerals" (a deeply psychological title, yet consistent with the ambiguities of the Black Experience) builds on the early Black African song form in use of the expanding stanze and iteration: Who killed Lumumba Who killed Malcolm and festivals & funerals festivals & funerals Miss Cortez streams references in the way that many modern and contemporary poets I do; but her associations are Black, sometimes asserted on the page and other times implied. This pattern gives the reader the effect of listening to himself and the poet at the same time. Certainly one has problems enough in trying to decipher anyone's ideas from a written work. The Black poet's work presents particular problems, however, because of his complex background, his specific brand of English, his myriad visions and his enumerable associations. Miss Cortez, Dumas, and Miss Evans, for example, dispense with punctuation and develop musical charts with complicated chordal structures and brilliant changes. the force in "Festivals & Funerals." The "word" then becomes It is a "word" that murmurs "through veins of gold" and against navels of beaten flesh walking the streets of Harlem on the rusty rims of a needly the word coming through like axes a million year lesson on solitude we are alone 134 �Alone, again, like Dodson who combs the universe for answers and for help. The comic-tragedy of everyday Black life is indeed a combustion of festivals and funerals: where the dope needle competes with the lates.t dance or police kill Blacks or Blacks kill each other. The power of Miss Cortez's chant ("the word," spirit-force) is arrayed against Larry Neal's "panorama of violence," against the chaos and nightmare webbed with bloodshed, assassinations, revolutions, mental and physical suicides. The poems have to be read over and over again--discussed, read again, sung, chanted, used as two-way mirrors to look into the Black psyche and to see the world through Black eyes. This is true of all the poems, from the new Blues efforts to the distilled intellectual genius of Hayden who warns Western man against atomic missile stock-piling. Such efforts, Hayden says, create an Enclave where new mythologies of power come to birth-where coral.led energy and power breed like prized man-eating animals. As an important modern poet, Hayden works within the critically articulated confines of modern poetic techniques. usually in theme and style. Yet he invariably emerges as a Black poet-- "Zeus Over Redeye" represents a Black poet making a significant statement on modern men who are at home in terra guarded like a sacred phallic grove. Man is "at home" among instruments of destruction. These instruments, Hayden notes, are named after western classical. and mythological figures: Nike, Zeus, Apollo, Hercules who, in personnifying war implements, lose their original purposes and accorded respect. Recessive oral components are seen in lines like question and question you, and burning all around us burning all around us. 135 �Yet, the fact that the "very light here seems flammable" speaks to more than missile sights and atomic bombs. For Hayden, 11 danger's 11 skin is "hypersensitive." But it only not only the visitors to missile arsenals who feel the around." 11 burning all Hayden, who aptly titles his book Words in the Mourning Time, reveals a crisp understanding of America's socio-political landscape in "Zeus Over Redeye. 11 He knows that the threat of destruction lurks in places other than missile arsenals. The death threat and wish lurks in all "hyper" activity--in all places where man is filled to his brim with assassinations, political conspiracies, racism, class exploitation, war, hunger and poverty. Thus mankind is "burning all around" with social ferment, suicidal tendencies, larceny, violence and myriad atrocities. In "Words in the Mourning Time 11 Hayden asked Killing people to save, to free them? With napalm light routes to the future? And in such an atmosphere--of festivals & f'unerals--Tolson finds that "infamy" is the Siamese twin of fame. For Hayden, pressed against a 11 flammable" sunlight ••• shadows give us no relieving shade. Hayden's criticism of America's war preparation is precise but laced with the prospects and fears of social explosions where "Lord Riot" reigns. So the Black poet criss-crosses a complicated psychological and physical terrain. his observations turn out to be mirages. Sometimes After all, Baldwin asserts, the Black man bought the capitalist-protestant ethic along with everybody else. The Black 11 poet, then, often anticipates violence but holds out for that ray of humanity in man. 11 Black poets reflect the assertions and ambivalences of Black people who prefer raising children and working to marching either in protest or troop lines. Many Blacks, however, unwillingly end up doing the latter two things. Historically, �this pattern of what Blacks preferred versus immediate need or demand has helped the African-American psyche and general outlook. His Africanisms are indisputably there, but the day-to-day demands often make him too "tired" to explore them. Dogged endurance carries him on in a struggle that allows room to stagger but non to halt. As artist, the Black poet distills all this desire and frenzy into usable fabrics of joy, anger, disgust, love, hatred, frustration, terror, violence and prophecy. The scope of the Black poet's complexity can be only vaguely glimpsed if one imagines that the poet often intends to dance, sing, preach, perform a play, extricate his people from oppression--all at the same time--in a poem, on paper. Some devices, techniques and attitudes one should look for in Black Poetry are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28 . Much repetition of words and sounds (polyrhythms) Symbolic and Imagistic development via sound (i.e., sound representing something) Syncopated or irregular rhythms Black Cultural Metaphors Poems or stanzas that resemble musical charts or scores Incremental Line and Iteration (call-and-response pattern) Enumeration, Cataloging, Listing Acronyms and Neologisms Folk Psychology and Medicine Superstition Irony, Cynicism in the use of "sacred" Western terms or concepts Blues as Poetic Form Spirituals as Poetic Form Ballad as Poetic Form Gaudiness of Language, Hyperpobolic Language White as a Symbol of Evil Black as a symbol of Goodness and Truth Ambivialence toward or Distrust of Christianity Reference ot Musical Instruments and Forms Use of Song titles Prophesying of Doom Rejection of Materialism Respect for but Distrust of Modern Technology Disavowal of Impersonal Relationships Employment of Sensuality Examination of Ecstasy Generally a more Gut-level Reaction to life Synonyms for Black: Ebony, Dusk, Purple, Evening, Night,~, etc. 137 �r t : \ I \ . \ 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. Praise of the CulturaJ. Folk Hero: John Henry, Stagolee, Killer Joe, etc. Lynchings, Assassinations, Police Brutality, Imprisonment Invocation of African Deities or Ancient Legends Use of African words and GeographicaJ. sites Honoring of Mother Honoring of Black Working-Class Man Honoring of Slain or Dead PoliticaJ. Activist, Musicians or War Heroes Recording of Black History and Jm:portant Achievements Comparisons/Contrasts of Urban and Rural Life Satire of Politics, Religion, SociaJ. Relations and Pretentions Much Reference to Dance and Black Social Movements and Gestures 138 � 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. 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