https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/138c12b531802838f0b59976c0f21bf9.pdf 6fc5e8b9666401595695b0833cad65a3 PDF Text Text CHAPTER • CONCLUSION: I VII AFTERTHOUGHTS As - - promised in our Preface we haved ; J i tried to avoid f" I • fore • ;t\ · ,- \ ·d I I'\(,/ -:.tb..fil~tt111_;-tn,l!!tllfllll!NJilill11Jlllif,:!Ur research andA.1'i8i~ e@:ttAJ u ei o:r.e into However, manicured paradigms and neat frames. #0 Dru~~oices does:-. advance theories and theses-we LL t< o 14111 /J.-~ many @4l•i!M.....liril-i-aU•lli-.Jl--•..-••A...and a) .flow • • - - • 0nti ~e/ ~ ~J. (JYI.J.~ ~ origina3A--for w~termed4_1J1 a critical nis GOrj" Indeed, tneir own have taken;tstands, a as individuals ••rthe poets . . . . . ,Wii(liilila;ia. . i~c:3tu91 and ga,oups, since to, •1 is to assume a stance: to PNJ:S-ec-t. {)., \ti~,~~ t.:e t ~ ta~ u ~Li c I!!!'!'.!' of pocbtj ±,!&}£111~ I 11• ➔ lim i-o kk out one I s systerrf of beliefs, per- en1geg; .1 ceptions, relationships and values within the poetry and poetics. Such stands JI · di poets I• alwa ::, /fri icalNor , tor Afro-Ameri~al} poets they have represented -.iil:Jll1ut, ;{I.. · · · ~ factors ~ attend ·_y-1 · ~ ¢ ~ •~he ap p arent there was simple--bu~ave 11 "proving ~ s y ~ was conducted ~~..Qi#~alas, · in 3 PX'.c.:WFGI llllllliC --task of employ literacy skills; by 11 li berk.1 11 slave masters states mad~teracy while many a crime punishible by imprisonment, beating, and,in some case~1~ath. ~ere w~onfusion and . energies in the e a rlier misdire ction · ~f ~lues an d . were ~ " Al_\ 1 poetft~ ,mir ~f\.encoura ged/YW? ~ (; - �2 conc l usion 1L I • to retain I g C 2 11§ · I I lt:ass)..- orA-the he _..• Christianization of slaves 11 African flavor(let alone ...,.,..Mi@~~'l!Jf a gh:atly duality"--or wall between the African and himself--which cluttered indeed sending most ca.lled Black intellectuals into psychic chaos. This tendency,A !:,V held 1 -111 lid& w. E.B.;?-i;:J 11inn al Afro-American the~ poets' self- and world-views, a M=6 -::ft• poetry inA, a "veil 1 A of~ limbo al -~'-J'he beginning of the twentieth Horton, ough there were exceptions(~hitfield, Whitman, century. a .,;.,;1.._pt-opt-t- ~(k.(>,rOQnd~'( --~ Frances Harper), ~tne fan understand the isolatio~sm and alienation of a Phillis Wheatley or a Jupiter Hammon who refused freedom for himself }tt.ta!!,1:1 he advocated it for young B}3. c k s. One need only read David Walker to discover the Negro"free dom" in 77u, ~&vndoJ,/e1. of among escaped slaves, out ing, • of uho llf111 11 steteli.a This folk strain in the poetry(separated by Wagner from the "spirithas ualist" vein) xsmr1thn•••• survived as a conscience, more or less, of Afro-American letters, philosophy and art. And even though critics like Wagner, ~ f a l s e distinctions l::etween / all but a -n'.CA--u and the literary(or spiritualist) realmJ, of the roots and origins ..._/\"intellec~oets delved into the folk, ~·•d·•=•~=-•• '"l!l!I-• !"l ,a · · PR ~ J· @Pw • Th.is ~ t h J ~ UR .-,il&i@?!-O&Qf f ac t 1.S · no tas 1 ' :&!,-,J1A'{lt,d 3U~ ·, lillTSiisaP 1-., ct 'i • in poe t S like Countee Cullen, Claude McKay or Jean Toomer, as it iB in,say, Baul Laurence Dunbar, James ~ildo W' Johnson,,#,-~rling Brown and Langston .c'.11"!,,...... ~ l ,,,r~~J Hughes--but it is there. ai~!tllljjjp:iliPlll.•M•~~ however, the ambivalent J~~~~~lli!! ~;Ml} Christian <!foe' ,!1"£,..,_wnit, .P I people is as evident in the exclusively folk poets as in th~se stseped in book theology. - �3 conclusion Examination of ,J.p .t,J 0/lartificial boundaries ..._ f'}?-~~oral, gestural) poetry and literary(intellectual,book)poetry ~ n o t been irrff~iis with enoughjllD intensity by critics and writers. Just because Europe or larger Americ~ have evelved beyond connnunal art forms does not mean that Afro-America has to Or does it? f:ll~w suit!A : ~~• as we staJe in th~~nning ofChapter VI, $- I e:it -~cial-communal • I l has yet to be Jiewed l b ~. . . \lo-4- fca,~. nr) Black 8l"l lii&SSO. -➔:sr¼n£~ieti&i~ei}_,i,.~. r \Ai) Lt.~ Blacks place fJ,,\1,/,X j Rllf\ empt-~~is reading trends and habits. iarlft:f!\Nz1k8F1iliJU.I h I on the dramatic presentation of a poem. /J,~i}nesB,_jpr Mdtane1!$m a/ltd tha.1,t'.sM1d-iP~ XMI" · -~the i 4 eta: l!iltFlpi'elilibJ\.l"~ngs and the sb!l!@u development of a national~au ience for poetry via s u c h # ~ tv "$-h-0 fJ{; ~ '\ as Ellis Haialip' s~ Soul,.te •;(Hit g Ill All of the foregoing statements tie in•••lq!ili) with ~ opening ~ ' 5 : g H I1h6 about stands and positions taken by poets. For, if •;J..&± SI a s:baror t·s;t Ji&l?:iiua o f ~ poe · the silent r e ~ o,.,f,.,~t_,"h e~~•1 111 ■' lb °"the ft trans- e to the page ~ ~ l i t ~ f you will, of the thought or im ; a :mr:ib f I ~:IM!I~ then oep~ainly ► I~~ ma aiR even f:lt:tybhc;- 1 ,'k,:z..:.;_ r,f I ab:::.e..t · ~riginating idea~ instincts. -...S One has only to hear an "intellectual" poet like Robert Hayden read his own works to understand thisj'principle . Our point,then, is that much of the apparent straight-laced :::::::&:; :e~;;.:;;;~~~ ~ 1' • /4 not delivered ~ ~~~ ii.1 a ; t l e~A of church =@II' survices, abolitionist rallies c · -singing, danceS or~cial ~ , One shoul~-w...!1111.1 liste{? tbr example, to a poor reader presentwzt dialedt poems of Dunbar, Davis or Corruthers. A �4 conclusions instances(Wheatley, Hammon , Ann Plato, the Creole Poets) k~ett, · to the social whirlwind, poets seem to /\be "-immune "cur~z most Afro-American poets have beenJ..u that whirlwind. Hence, patterns okJA::JJr;J;tion in = ~ d a a blessing (to parape;;;-i•••J and,rsrtriiwJt,.._"Mffl Black poets •;r-anguage,,,_~ fo~ styles and tonJ. From the ditties)t;.e bhe blues,"bv the~iritua).s ~ ~~ ~ ~ ...a ~ --.tQ tba dozens ,ee :eifts serm.9~ .. t Me jo_k~s, the . . poets "':7fan end~ / poelll eJ(){.SOI? dWJ €d P1nda1,l txJe ina. (le! Fo).NI ). -tt\'() less stre~ of /(orms and fusion~ segregated pattern ~ • that same gave these poets their ominous theme~~ their grave tones and temperaments which, coupled with their crisp insight into America's c ~ a d i ~ s and paradoxes, allowed them to project, prophesy ';9lrefine'\.'ff!la 11 duality' 1 into one of the most powerful . J 1 : : ~ o o l s available to any group of writers. Hence th;'~Apo:trlha_s_~is and themes as weihl ►&I I l a <:. (111!& I ; =j;=-, wn private(cultural) sob ef symbols ~~mad~==:c:tcm!llttlmlll=..t the larger ~ j~""a' world-• Most Black poets have written poems about lynching, for example,~ most.- ~uro-American poets have not. T h e m e s ~ "1ri the Christian e•teJ•Rh job dilscrimina tion, i;he twe-fac_pness of m J 1 I a God, psychic ~ l e n c e in a white worl~ r -R .cas;:i;,:lion, ~<-4 the ....:t_~siii... ~ ' . ¼ •~ Landscape of G,rror and f e a r ~ - social inequities, A:::J sa I OiibC 1:9 I.MJ)ln one way or another) work themselves into ~ i c a n poetry. Certainly there are hundre ds of others, easily~• asrl. - - I l l ~ ~ ,pe rus.,.., I any anthologyl;;:;::r.;m:;;aa=;;;;••iiil=:Efiible of contents. ) �5 conclusion ~u9h .~ r-~ , '1To eray i:hnt c.ertain forms and 1lllll9t theme~,~~ ~rica~~-v;,. . ,. dominaf-- Afro -American poetnr Ii z ~ o n s I •and divergent approaches characte-rizJ- th&.Se po ·t-s 1· ~ ' : O f : suoh 1 -::r-or1bH.and them • of prime importanc to note, also, t' · tside T,of .. domina~~ng cluster~., th~~ ha!gun~.(~ss othe~ interests REarcupations • .fd~a0K family · ForAJJ:511!1il~ unite ha~e been in tact for hundreds of years-- ,\ • a. ....,..,,""" __ ' even if such ~ •·-8'i..ii.a.ii.aiiiiei►lld:Sl•aeR obscured b':,r a socio-media. oe•••--••i~lir..1 with al;:L~ accompanJing p a t h o l o g i c a l ~ , I. •"~ ~ " (:,, I Usten~to z51syoung Blackf(I analylt A,..,C4, ~ ~ sis of wh ·· ,grasp ~ u n s t a t e d or implied cultural .\ trithe new land --. preferences;.,TruJAfrioan?JiP OmiPie~have live~e :.lllfterieMl H ~ t - er•• : ' mare amidst ~alk of an American Dream; and, ~(,k- · ,v..,he d a r k ~ poets 1 songs are full of unpleasantries and recollections o f t ~ ,-;-.. • nightmarel• • ,.. • I •• ' .,. .... :_.)t"~ • ·t• - -~· .... . " . ' has never been ltODa But the en~ioBlack p o e t ~ • • • be.self-pity, chauvinism., @~ '1,tn_ -ci,{-M . ,,; . • mrr· . ideologµe~etoric or complain~• Thus Margaret Walker, ,a 4 c..-- '%~ amids:!:~0. :r,~~~e" and mt (ii,. fe~~e .subjects ~~~•-ti f SW»-• • • • white literati, is able to celebrate . Black lifeil' Fam My People). f19 Robert Hayden i,■ ••is,•• transcend.S-wie a rtificial barriers between himself and nature and enter;the flower~ (Night-Blooming Cereus )~ ~~~anry Dumas Ebony Play Ivory G:=, S'5 ab;;~ in Play and Pinkie Gordon La ne in Wind Thoughts. Other examples of such diversity and sensitivity abound: Owen Doason (Powerful Long Ladder), Langston Hu ghes (The Dream Keeper), Alice Walker(Once), Raymond Patterson(26 •ays of Looking at A Black~ ) , Joyc e Carol Thomas(Blessing):., and'~ the c r oss-spread of a l most any anthology. o£ 41'.:g AH10Mia: 111 w=~-·-- �. i conclusion w.e kA-vt ~he 1; poet~ takes a stand not inherent in),,_ ~ )-;t::J:;::Q 1!/,~:::. musicianxrs -tio,w when he commits his thoughts to paper. And 1 I ~ J,(1¥ft,,.r in times of r ap<.d. socia~chan,ge,or u ~ @»~ ~ - ~ e s up e110 efk...,.~~ 2iil11.~rilMip~_--.. ef~~:;/i. court, at '""1ich times his o-..n feelings -and sensibilitie:-::::tl!!'uetralized in:.,:;vor of 'ii! 7 a the 11 popul ar latex brand." JJe jerious critic,5~1cultural stabilizeJ; need; to exam.in~- 11 o n e - ~ 11 approac~lMA ro· 1n■ 1 ~;t'o~~irjl;S•iiii.W=iJli!!Jtf>O etry/ c ri ti ci sm, especi al-f:#~er the last 10 years. eS: 1ilu We mention this 1l!ll!i!l1 of the 11 11 important s i d ~ t h h ~ ; , , . , , ~ d ' J ~ ~ r y o ~ scene because its presence hasAeither crippled o~ destroye ma a budd. ~y -t"' ~ -·' ~ -rt. ~-1..n · - -,_case~, it_ ha~'1: talent. ' a rich n_.. 4iiiil'significant voice. Howeve r, ~ ~ • • • • • " " " critical ~~wru :c111s 11 ./!uJ)yJJ14 opened" ,a, 11;3:ilJ ,1qmpletely and honestly. PIT? \PM ' -~~.J.,~ ~ & - ... ___ ,, 4.f!!!iiiOva,YJitlilSmSilt&n It.id e --=:. @nly ~ougbr 1:&li\~ft-~1111~~.t'" 11 ,. ,.--.;. e Afro-American poetry~- continue t o b reatn~the breath of the ancestors. 1 ~ ( l'inally, as. winds of change shi ft.1,AMl-qbi speed up or slow down,~t:i,p designs Areader~ and poets must -as k about ultimate~•• •io•u and inherent I' ~ t r a d i t i onal missions. As tre drum stand s a:,t_~;{A~~uJ.~=frican a nd Afro~ ,, C(r,t,/di.~/ American culture, so the poet ~ t a n d at the center of ,t,fe drum.J.,~ , ~ p o e t i c principle':Jand the language associ ated w i t h ~ } c:fsound and music. Music is the most shared expe rience--the most I\.. music~s 1 £ t a l commoGity--among Afro-Americans. 'And poetry is~win•lli ~ Khe metaphysical and t he metaphorical s tem f ro m an d r~turn to the drum: life, love, birth and death labo r e d ou t i n m as ured rumble ~) 1 A 1/.o ~ an22-ous cacophony. Between t h e l i ne s a r e t he rattle of ch orus e s QtA.lU,14 / t h c:1 e sfiriek of trunbourine ~ f r ame d. by rivers that 1.nb ll no~ .i..·un away • And the drumvoices urgi ng us to cross them, cross them. � 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. 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_07_34 Title A name given to the resource Draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter VII. Conclusion: Afterthoughts 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B.