I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
As soon as i heard these lines it reminded me of leon bridges river. I think this piece is stating that the history and struggles of african americans is deeply rooted in america just like the rivers that flow through it. The history will forever run through the veins of african americans in this country. Their blood is a part of this country and it was always be stained.
When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.
segregation is still strong in america but the writer is looking past it. He knows he brings them shame but he is still proud and nourishes himself with the food his shameful brothers and sisters give him. They dont know truly beautiful one is himself because he sees no shsme in his beauty.
What happens to a dream deferred?
I took this as there was so much culture and history in Harlem thinking back to the Harlem renaissance or just how many people migrated there after the civil war. There was so much promise and dreams to come from Harlem then it somewhat got left behind. Now what will come of it's culture and people? will it be left behind to be forgotten or will it prosper
Unreal City Under the brown fog of a winter noon
I definitely agree with Isuarez2 that this brown fog is a metaphor for death covering the city. The death that is laying over the city has taken so many that it may not even feel like the same city anymore. The streets are more empty and are not as lively as they once may have been. Almost reminds me of the pandemic when everyone was in their homes. I was still working in the city and it felt as there there way no more life here.
That corpse you planted last year in your garden, “Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? “Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?
I took this as a way to draw life from death. will anything bloom from this grave or will winter cold stop it from prospering. although it may seem like not much can flourish in this land of sorrow but what will come from what seems to be a likely theme here, death. It almost feels like this is where the dead is supposed to prosper but then again when you think of wastelands all bets are off.
April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow,
Everytime Ive read this poem ths first line has always spoken to me. When people generally think of the spring time they think of new life and new beginings. But were not in "our world' were thinking of the waste land. The winter is when we can forget the memories for a breif couple of months as well as pain those memories brought us. In the spring time those flowers and leaves grow back just like the memories that were burried under the snow. Someone who is grieving and hurting is not going to feel that comfort from the blooming flowers , if anything it will only make that pain grow stronger. Maybe even remind them of the lives lost that wont be growing with the seaons.
Whether or no the phrases followed by the followers are musical must be left to the reader’s decision
In all honesty, I sometimes don't use a musical tone or cadence when i read poetry even though i know it was intended by the writer. This is why i sometimes find that poetry is not my strongest suit in the literary world. I do think it is important that writers still use it because it always adds to the piece.
To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
Though this is valid reasoning behind poetry i feel as though many writers are continuously using word that do contribute to the overall piece but do not necessarily add to the aesthetic of the poem. visualization is also very important. How the poem looks visually but also the word may sometimes be too pretentious for the type of poem. Of course it isn't wrong because it is the writers poem and THEIR visualization but to an outsider it may be as though the writer is trying a little too hard.
Most various Man, cut down to spring no more; Before his prime, even in his infancy Cut down, and all the clamour that was he, Silenced; and all the riveted pride he wore, A rusted iron column whose tall core The rains have tunnelled like an aspen tree.
I took this as all he stood for and accomplished in his life dies with him. Now all his accomplishments will dwindle away like rusted iron because the only one who held them close was him and he's no longer.
I might be driven to sell your love for peace, Or trade the memory of this night for food. It well may be. I do not think I would.
Love is not necessary to survive. Love is a special part of life but not needed to survive. Of course we all should experience love to have a pleasant time here on earth but if it is between love and survival, I am the same way, I'd rather have survival. Maybe this is coming from one who has never experienced a healthy form of love but many people forget that loving is not our only purpose here on earth. Some don't even get to experience they love they should in their lifetime.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
This line really stuck with me because it reminds me of a quote i always heard growing up. You may be alone on your path because other people arent willing to do the work ot get where they want to be. Yet it makes all the difference because it molds you into the person youre striving to be. arriving to the destination is not the important part, the journey to get there is.
Die early and avoid the fate. Or if predestined to die late, Make up your mind to die in state.
I took this stanza a final decision. Things happen to us in life and we make decisions all the time but death is on that we think least about. We never know when our time is going to be so if youre not going to live your life then why even live? Its a pretty bold thing to throw out but he really is just trying to encourage readers in nmy opinion to live their lives while they can. Making decisions is a part of life
If I could put a notion in his head: “Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I’d ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offense.
WHat is the point of fences when there is nothing to keep out? why does this wall or fence give them comfort when they dont desire to intrude on each other? It seems he wants to say something about them not needing it but doesnt want to give the wrong impression and somehow mess up the bond they already have. But if that were to somehow get in between the relationship they do have, how strong was their neighborly friendship to begin with?
With trembling care, knowing that most things break; And only when assured that on firm earth It stood, as the uncertain lives of men
As he is reflecting back onto what once was, he is thinking about how fragile life can be. its as fragile as a piece if of glass that can break at any given moment. As unsure as life can be, earth is the only thing that is firm and solidified. Knowing that the only thing that is sure in this life is that the world will always continue on.
But I don’t mind it a bit—only the paper
It is almost as if they chose the room that would make her feel 'happiest" given that the color yellow is suppose to represent peace and happiness. If you look at mental institutions they usually use colors to provoke a certain feeling of peace and tranquillity but in some cases its almost taunting their patients such as the woman in this story. Almost as if looking at a color is going to make everything okay when in reality the issues are much much deeper that this surface level 'bandaid'
If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.
This is a clear sense of sexist behavior that was demonstrated in this time and to some degree today. When someone of importance and power, especially a man, had a diagnosis on a woman, what were woman to do? How could women stand up for themselves when they are not even seen as equals to their husband or any man in general. Hysteria is also known as a 'woman's' disease to basically demonize and control them. Not only is this just her husband, but her brother as well.
The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people
I this this a very powerful section of Du Bois Piece because in many ways this is what we are witnessing today. Yes slavery had ended many many years before my time, but when in all reality has Black America been free? To this day, they have not been given the same tools are white america to get ahead in life. They were told that America is a place of freedom and opportunity, but when they finally became a freeman and women in this so called liberated country, they were to say the least disappointed to find that such a thing didn't exist for their people.
He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face.
It is crazy to see now how much the black community had to really show the world. Looking back on how much has been influenced by the black community from music, to lingo, to the way we dress. That doesn't go to say that it is any way easier for Black America to see opportunity, but now it seems as though America is now shadowing the Black community to see what more they have to offer us. Whether it comes from the music industry to fashion trends.
After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,—a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world.
This is not only a division between whites and blacks, it is place that society that has put the black community in. It is an unfortunate place but it also allows the black community to have this double conscience, to see what the real America is like. They live in America but do not have the 'freedom' it entails and promises to its citizens. They have to live in this backseat that society has placed them in. All in all they see America in its true form, a country with many flaws.
Lion
lions are considered to be the king of the jungle