love is both bread and wine;
This line reminds me of communion (the service of Christian worship at which bread and wine are consumed as memorials of Christ's death.)
Before eating the cracker (bread) and grape juice (wine) the pastor says "this is for the nourishment of my body"
This line makes me think love is a nourishment or in other words love is necessary in a persons life.
It is better to die than it is to grow up and find out that you are colored.
This is so sad.. White people had made some black people hate their skin color to the point where they would rather die than be alive and deal with racism.
I feel your glad
This indicates a sense of empathy.
I had nothing, so I had to go to work.
This reminds me of majority of the black culture.. we have to work so hard for what we want.
My father worked for Mr. Pullman and white people’s tips; but he died two days after his insurance expired.
This reminds me of the podcast we listened to when they talked about how black people are treated when it comes to hospitals and insurance.
ONCE I was good like the Virgin Mary and the Minister’s wife.
Does this mean innocent?
Permit me to introduce to you the wife of my youth.
At the very end of the story, Mr. Ryder chooses Liza Jane over Mrs. Dixon, but this isn't really a choice between two women.
He had come to Groveland a young man, and obtaining employment in the office of a railroad company as messenger had in time worked himself up to the position of stationery clerk, having charge of the distribution of the office supplies for the whole company.
Chesnutt is describing the way Mr. Ryder worked his way up from the South to the North, from messenger to businessman, from nobody to pillar of society.
His ball would serve by its exclusiveness to counteract leveling tendencies, and his marriage with Mrs. Dixon would help to further the upward process of absorption he had been wishing and waiting for
I feel like this one line reinforces how Mr. Ryder isn't necessarily motivated solely by love, or perhaps even mostly by love.
What he really wants is to continue to solidify his social position, and Mrs. Dixon can help him do that.
I have no race prejudice,” he would say, “but we people of mixed blood are ground between the upper and the nether millstone. Our fate lies between absorption by the white race and extinction in the black. The one doesn’t want us yet, but may take us in time. The other would welcome us, but it would be for us a backward step. ‘With malice towards none, with charity for all,’ we must do the best we can for ourselves and those who are to follow us. Self-preservation is the first l
Mr. Ryder hopes to marry a widow, Mrs. Molly Dixon, who is even better educated and lighter skinned than he, believing that their union will not only connect him with a woman he loves but will also permit him to continue in his desire to become accepted by white society. This is, in fact, the goal of the "Blue Vein Society"
Mr. Ryder might aptly be called the dean of the Blue Veins.
The dean of white people?
Our arms have strained, our backs have burned,Bent bare beneath a ruthless sun.
This is how hard slaves worked in the fields.
This land is ours by right of birth,This land is ours by right of toil;
This reminds me of that song "this land is your land, this land is my land... from the California to the New York island."
Look farther back! Three centuries!To where a naked, shivering score,Snatched from their haunts across the seas,Stood, wild-eyed, on Virginia's shore.
Slaves were kidnapped from their home lands and had no clothes to clothe their bare bodies
He looked on his world With all its living things, And God said: I'm lonely still.
The fact that God’s creation was incomplete without human being is beautifully explained by saying that the loneliness of the creator did not go away until God decide to make a man.
His pondering is symbolic of the fact that human life was granted with much thought.
And God said: That's good!
The sense of achievement and satisfaction that God seeks in his creation is projected when he exclaims “That’s Good!”
Then the green grass sprouted, And the little red flowers blossomed, The pine tree pointed his fingers to the sky, And the oak spread out his arms, The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground, And the rivers ran down to the sea; And God smiled again, And the rainbow appeared, And curled itself around his shoulder.
I love the imagery in this poem. I can honestly imagine this as I read it.
Till he thought: I'll make me a man!
Adam..
“Brothers in spirit, brothers in deed are we”?
I think he meant this spiritually. Christians often call others their "brother in Christ" or "sister in Christ"
Chain him to that oak!
Are they lynching him?
In me the muttered curse of dying men,
This definitely relates to today's society... black men have a curse on them. Our men are being killed every too often but this is not being voiced as loud as it should be.
The memories of cruel sights and deeds,
The memories of what slaves witnessed and went through.
Lessons in degradation,
Black people are always being degraded.
Fed our dear wives and nursed our helpless babes
Black female slaves would cook and serve dinner and nurse their babies.
Of some wild animal caught in the hunter’s trap.
Slaves were kidnapped and sold into a slavery... almost like a wild animal that was lured into a trap.
Look in his eye! No light is there;
I feel like this means that many slaves did not have much to be happy about so the dullness in their eyes were noticeable.
She turned from the sea with a woman’s grace, And the light fell soft on her upturned face, And I thought of the flood–tide of infinite bliss That would flow to my heart from a single kiss.
I like how he expresses his love and how his heart will feel after a kiss.
Most men are not as open about these things and I love that he wasn't afraid to say it.
so bravely I wore the mask.
Is this the mask like the one in "we wear the mask?"
Where I can hear a solemn booming gun And catch the gleaming of a random light, That tells me that the ship I seek is passing, passing.
This is sign that they have endured this before because they had a knowledge of what the process is like.
Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing; I look far out into the pregnant night
It seems as if watching the sky is so calming and relaxing meanwhile you’re on a ship being stollen away.
My voice falls dead a foot from mine own lips, And but its ghost doth reach that vessel, passing, passing.
You try to speak but you can’t be heard. That feeling is scary and frustrating.
When all its fires are spent; Like to an autumn wood By storm winds rudely shent,—
You can endure a lot but still feel pain and things can still be so much on someone like that.
I used at first to hope, But hope is past and, gone;
Hope don’t live here no more! Once you go through so much sometimes you lose sense of what hope is.
All time seems cold and void, And naught but tears remain
There’s still some much pain there, they have not found true relief in there strife.
I would, but sun and smiles Have left my life’s dark day.
This is someone who is free and no longer lives in bondage yet still they can’t seem to find happiness.
It asks not joy again, But only seeks release.
This is the heart of a broken soul, someone who has endured much pain and sorrow. They don’t need an apology or pity but they simply seek to find solace.
Whah did you git dem teef? My, you's a scamp! Whah did dat dimple come f'om in yo' chin?
This part of the stanza signifies growth from baby to a man.
Look at dat bib — you's es du'ty ez me. Look at dat mouf — dat's merlasses, I bet; Come hyeah, Maria, an' wipe off his han's. Bees gwine to ketch you an' eat you up yit, Bein' so sticky an sweet — goodness lan's!
This part of the poem is the beginning of something so innocent and so sweet. I like how this was place right before the poem started to get into its actual point.
Fu' to be cross, er once loses dat smile?
I feel as though this is a way of saying that they hope he never loses his spark/who is he.
Wisht you could stay jes' a chile on my breas'— Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes!
I also feel as though this is a poem written from the parents perspective. Knowing that they have such a beautiful boy yet the life they live and that he will now have to share will be so ugly.
Wisht you could allus know ease an' cleah skies;
I feel like he is saying this because of the color of his skin.
He is trying to say that he will not grow up with ease, but he wish he could.
And ever the judge rides by, rides by, And goes to hunt the deer, And ever another rides his soul In the guise of a mortal fear.
I thought this stanza held a lot of depth. Simply for the fact that those who took part in the lynching oh that innocent soul will be haunted forever.
I bent me down to hear his sigh
It’s as if the tree wilts because of the weight/deadweight of the person.
And why, when I go through the shade you throw, Runs a shudder over me?
I felt as though this part of the stanza like the feeling someone would get as they pass this tree. As if the pain of that person still lingers there.
I shook with his gurgling moan,
As the slave squirmed on the tree, the tree shook with him.
Pray why are you so bare, so bare,
I assume this line was written because he is naked and hanging from the tree.
I shook with his gurgling moan,
I like that this is being told from the tree point of view
the hymns they sing Up to the skies in beauty ring, And bolder grow each hour.
As we already know slaves sang songs to express how they were feeling. They were happy so they sang hymns that echoed into the skies as others sang along.
The plant of freedom upward sprung, And spred its leaves so fresh and young— Its blossoms now are blowing.
As the seed of change kept growing, it finally sprouted from the ground and began to make an impact.
Slavery was reaching a new era, which was an era of freedom.
But through the land the fruitful seed of better times was growing.
As the days of slavery started to decrease better times were nearing.
I think Dunbar relates this to a seed that has just been planted because it's a seed of change.
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,— When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee,
Singing is natural for a bird, but just as birds sing slaves sang to keep their spirits alive.
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting—
Instead of waiting for a prayer to be answered or any help to arrive, he continuously beats his wing against the iron bars. It stops when his wings begin to bleed but restarts again.
It never gives up.
This reminds me of how slaves would continue their struggle for freedom with this same mindset. They won’t stop until they find freedom.
Sympathy
I think Dunbar wrote this poem to talk about how evil racism is; I also think he wanted to express how much hope and faith African Americans had.
Just like the bird, African Americans had an invincible spirit and thrived off of persistence.
I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
In a way I think Dunbar is trying to express how African-Americans have been oppressed and enslaved by white people and the iron bars of racism have prevented them to live a normal life.
I know why the caged bird sings!
I feel like Dunbar used this line along with "I know what the caged bird feels" and "I know why the caged bird beats his wings" to compare African Americans with the caged bird who is deprived of all the natural and fundamental rights.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
In addition to “wearing the mask” to hide their emotions, African Americans would also “sing” to portray the image of joy. They would “sing” despite the “long” and “vile” path of their life.
Singing acted as a mask as well.
We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
African Americans are forced to hide their distress as they struggle under racism and segregation.
Dunbar writes that the mask covers the “cheeks” and “eyes”... these two parts of the face is actually the most commonly express emotion.
So the mask covers any emotion the eyes might express, like sadness or fear and since cheeks often flush with emotions like embarrassment, it also covers African American’s shame and frustration in their segregated communities.
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
This mask that “grins and lies” is hiding the existence of excruciating misery and suffering.
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
I like that Dunbar uses a lot of imagery in this poem such as, “torn and bleeding hearts”; “We smile” and “Beneath our feet.”
It creates a mental picture of the object described.
Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask.
These lines can be used to encourage sad, heartbroken, or downtrodden people.
It could also be used to teach the quality of acceptance and fake happiness.
Then Frankie went home in a hurry She didn't go there for fun Frankie went home to get a-hold Of Johnny's shooting gun He was her man, but he done her wrong
This just show you how far a man can push you to our breaking point.
We annotated a poem that spoke about this but I can't remember who wrote it.
Well this story has no moral And this story has got no end Well the story just goes to show you women That there ain’t no good in men He was her man, but he done her wrong
This really made me laugh lol, because I had said that I liked this because it made me wonder what was gone happen as I kept reading and to find out it was just a message to prove how man are no good was really funny.
It was a good message though.
Frankie and Johnny
I like how it was an actual story, I was intrigued the entire time wonder was Frankie going to do to Johnny for two-timing.
Songs aren't really like this anymore.
They tell us in these eager days that life was joyous to the black slave, careless and happy.
I personally don't get "happiness" and being "carefree" from the songs slaves would sing about.
They may have had fun doing it because it would be at night on their own time with others but they song about needing help. For example "swing low, sweet chariot coming forth to carry me home."
They sung about wanting to go back to the land they were kidnapped from.
I know that these songs are the articulate message of the slave to the world.
I agree, those songs told a story for the slaves
Away back in the thirties the melody of these slave songs stirred the nation, but the songs were soon half forgotten.
Forgotten .. or stolen?
(I said this because of the podcast)
And so by fateful chance the Negro folk–song—the rhythmic cry of the slave—stands to–day not simply as the sole American music, but as the most beautiful expression of human experience born this side the seas. It has been neglected, it has been, and is, half despised, and above all it has been persistently mistaken and misunderstood; but notwithstanding, it still remains as the singular spiritual heritage of the nation and the greatest gift of the Negro people.
This is kind of the response I had for the podcast on music.
Negro spirituals have paved the way for a lot of African American music but it has been neglected because the music we have today sounds nothing like songs that slaves sang.
The closest thing to negro-spirituals in this day and age is gospel music, and I can see why because slaves went to church.
They that walked in darkness sang songs in the olden days—Sorrow Songs—for they were weary at heart.
This reminds me of the podcast we listened to when they talked about how slaves would sing with so much pain in their voice.
I will be black as blackness can—
He is proud to be black, and if there was a way he could be any blacker he would love it.
The blacker the mantle, the mightier the man!
This reminds me of the saying "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice."
I am the Smoke King, I am black. I am the Smoke King, I am black!
Saying it back to back is almost like a chant to me.
He is establishing the identification of being a Smoke King and being Black
I am black!
I think that this “I am black!” is being cried out. However, in line 11, it is stated by as a fact.
I am the Smoke King
I think he calls his self the "Smoke King" because Smoke is a dark color so I think he made the connection to his self and he is calling his self a "Black King" Which is why the next line is "I am black!"
I am whirling home to God;
I think this portrays how African Americans kept their faith and staying close to God.
Shedding the blood of bloodless crimes—
I think this shows the many difficulties African Americans faced throughout American history.
Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labour and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.
This entire paragraph is so powerful.
Life at Hampton was a constant revelation to me; was constantly taking me into a new world. The matter of having meals at regular hours, of eating on a tablecloth, using a napkin, the use of the bath-tub and of the tooth-brush, as well as the use of sheets upon the bed, were all new to me.
Wow. This is really sad that this is his first time having something nice
although I had no idea where it was, or how many miles away, or how I was going to reach it; I remembered only that I was on fire constantly with one ambition, and that was to go to Hampton.
This sorta of reminded me of my first time of at college.
In later years, I confess that I do not envy the white boy as I once did. I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. Looked at from this standpoint, I almost reach the conclusion that often the Negro boy's birth and connection
I agree, success is often determined by what position you land into when it should be by what you been through to get where you are now.
The Negro boy has obstacles, discouragements, and temptations to battle with that are little known to those not situated as he is. When a white boy undertakes a task, it is taken for granted that he will succeed. On the other hand, people are usually surprised if the Negro boy does not fail. In a word, the Negro youth starts out with the presumption against him.
This is so true especially today.
A lot of black boys and men are set up to fail and if they actually don't fall into the trap then they are shocked.
The world should not pass judgment upon the Negro, and especially the Negro youth, too quickly Page 36 or too harshly.
I agree, you never know what they are capable of.
I have passed several examinations since then, but I have always felt that this was the best one I ever passed.
Here Washington refers to a task set for him by the head teacher at Hampton Institute, sweeping the recitation room.
He knew the task was extremely important which is why he made an effort to do the job to the best of his ability and to impress the head teacher.
From the time that I can remember having any thoughts about anything, I recall that I had an intense longing to learn to read.
Another of Washington's leading themes is the importance of education.
His early longing to read foreshadows the efforts that dominated most of his life.
I have long since ceased to cherish any spirit of bitterness against the Southern white people on account of the enslavement of my race.
I feel like this is an example of how Racial harmony is one of Washington's most leading themes in his autobiography.
Of my ancestry I know almost nothing.
Booker T. Washington is honest as he acknowledges his absolute lack of information about his ancestors.
Even the title of his first chapter, "A Slave Among Slaves," indicates a lack of being anonymous.
Ever since I have been old enough to think for myself, I have entertained the idea that, notwithstanding the cruel wrongs inflicted upon us, the black man got nearly as much out of slavery as the white man did. The hurtful influences of the institution were not by any means confined to the Negro. This was fully illustrated by the life upon our own plantation. The whole machinery of slavery was so constructed as to cause labour, as a rule, to be looked upon as a badge of degradation, of inferiority. Hence labour was something that both races on the slave plantation sought to escape. The slave system on our place, in a large measure, took the spirit of self-reliance and self-help out of the white people.
In this quote I feel like Washington carried out the guilt of the former slaveholder by implying that both blacks and whites were victims of the system of slavery, rather than placing blame on the group that it should have been placed on.
Three children - John, my older brother, Amanda, my sister, and myself - had a pallet on the dirt floor, or, to be more correct, we slept in and on a bundle of filthy rags laid upon the dirt floor.
I know this had to be an extremely uncomfortable sleep
In the days of slavery not very much attention was given to family history and family records - that is, black family records.
I actually can relate to this, before this year my family did not care about having a family reunion so that we all can know each other.
I WAS born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time. As nearly as I have been able to learn, I was born near a cross-roads post-office called Hale's Ford, and the year was 1858 or 1859. I do not know the month or the day. The earliest impressions I can now recall are of the plantation and the slave quarters -- the latter being the part of the plantation where the slaves had their cabins.
It’s sad that so many slaves experienced this.
"Stop!" shouted Frado, "strike me, and I'll never work a mite more for you;" and throwing down what she had gathered, stood like one who feels the stirring of free and independent thoughts.
I'm so glad she stood up for herself!!
If it is a comfort to her, let her enjoy the privilege of being good. I see no objection."
I agree with him. Mrs. Bellmont is always looking for a way to sabotage Frado.
Give the girl a break.
As he passed his mother, he remarked, "If that was the way Frado was to be treated, he hoped she would never wake again!"
I really like how much he cared for Frado
He bounded from his chair, searched every room till he found the child; her mouth wedged apart, her face swollen, and full of pain.
This is so sad
At first she wept aloud, which Mrs. Bellmont noticed by applying a raw-hide, always at hand in the kitchen. It was a symptom of discontent and complaining which must be "nipped in the bud," she said.
So she would hit her when she cried?
"Wouldn't the Bellmonts take her?" asked Seth. "Bellmonts?" shouted Mag. "His wife is a right she-devil! and if—" "Hadn't they better be all together?" interrupted Seth, reminding her of a like epithet used in reference to her little ones. Without seeming to notice him, she continued, "She can't keep a girl in the house over a week; and Mr. Bellmont wants to hire a boy to work for him, but he can't find one that will live in the house with her; she's so ugly, they can't." "Well, we've got to make a move soon," answered Seth; "if you go with me, we shall go right off. Had you rather spare the other one?" asked Seth, after a short pause. "One's as bad as t'other," replied Mag. "Frado is such a wild, frolicky thing, and means to do jest as she's a mind to; she won't go if she don't want to. I don't want to tell her she is to be given away." "I will," said Seth. "Come here, Frado?" The child seemed to have some dim foreshadowing of evil, and declined. "Come here," he continued; "I want to tell you something." She came reluctantly. He took her hand and said: "We're going to move, by-'m-bye; will you go?" "No!" screamed she; and giving a sudden jerk which destroyed Seth's equilibrium, left him sprawling on the floor, while she escaped through the open door. "She's a hard one," said Seth, brushing his patched coat sleeve. "I'd risk her at Bellmont's."
I honestly do not like this entire conversation
"It's no use," said Seth one day; "we must give the children away, and try to get work in some other place." "Who'll take the black devils?" snarled Mag.
So she wanted to leave her children to find work..
Also was she calling them "black devils" because she didn't really want them and they wasn't the same color as her?
Seth accompanied her, giving her a weekly allowance which furnished most of the food necessary for the four inmates.
I think this was a nice gesture, helping her take care of her kids since her husband died.
She was now expelled from companionship with white people; this last step—her union with a black—was the climax of repulsion.
So was she dismissed from fellowship with white people because she married a black man?
A feeling of cold desolation came over her, as she turned from the grave of one who had been truly faithful to her.
So Jim died.
Time levied an additional charge upon him, in the form of two pretty mulattos,
They had two mulatto children
"Take me, Mag. I can give you a better home than this, and not let you suffer so."
How could he give her a better life if she was a white women and he was a black man?
"You's had trial of white folks any how. They run off and left ye, and now none of 'em come near ye to see if you's dead or alive. I's black outside, I know, but I's got a white heart inside. Which you rather have, a black heart in a white skin, or a white heart in a black one?"
Was he trying to say that although he’s black on the outside his heart has no color.
"I can do but two things," said she, "beg my living, or get it from you."
You know the first thing that came to my mind when I read this was how in our culture this is really all that you see. We are either in the streets begging or getting it from a white man by working for them. We rarely see our culture going out and getting it on our own by opening our own businesses.
Don't steal in like a thief."
This this where the phrase “like a thief in the night” came from?
She surrendered to him a priceless gem, which he proudly garnered as a trophy, with those of other victims, and left her to her fate.
She lost her virginity to him and once the man claimed his “trophy,” he “left her to her fate.”
Mag has fallen for a man who only used her. As seen in these few quotes I annotated.
She knew the voice of her charmer, so ravishing, sounded far above her. It seemed like an angel's, alluring her upward and onward.
This goes to show that what I previous said has some truth to it because in this sentence is shows the power of the young man's words, by comparing his voice to an angel.
LONELY MAG SMITH! See her as she walks with downcast eyes and heavy heart. It was not always thus. She HAD a loving, trusting heart. Early deprived of parental guardianship, far removed from relatives, she was left to guide her tiny boat over life's surges alone and inexperienced. As she merged into womanhood, unprotected, uncherished, uncared for, there fell on her ear the music of love, awakening an intensity of emotion long dormant.
I think the author is trying to say that because Mag is on her own with no one to look out for her, she is quick to fall in love. When someone shows a romantic interest in her, she falls for their sweet talk.
"I've shown the treasures of my house, My costly jewels rare, But with the glory of her eyes No rubies can compare.
I get the feeling that she is trying to references that her body or her presence as a whole is rare.
Oh! how shall I speak of my proud country’s shame? Of the stains on her glory, how give them their name? How say that her banner in mockery waves— Her “star-spangled banner”—o’er millions of slaves?
I feel like she is trying to say how can you say that the country is "star-spangled" if their are millions of slaves suffering.
Thy cry of agony shall reachAnd find the throne of God.
This cry expresses the desire to be free from her captors.
Her bleeding hands abroad;Her cry of agony shall reach
She speaks of this nation in a battered state, crying out in agony with bleeding hands.
Ethiopia
I think she wrote this poem to vividly describe Ethiopia surrendering to the power of God and being saved,
Seen free-born men, uncharged with crime, Consigned unto a slaver's pen,— Or thrust into a prison cell, With thieves and murderers to dwell— While that same flag whose stripes and stars Had been their guide through freedom's wars
Everyone is born innocent, however they were born into slavery, charged with crime and thrown into prison cells.
In a way I see this as a reference to today's day and age.
I think black males are born innocent but are automatically labeled as a criminal.
But mark, how they have been deceived By slavery's accursed plan. They never thought, when thus they shed Their heart's best blood, in freedom's cause That their own sons would live in dread, Under unjust, oppressive laws:
I feel like he is trying to say that our ancestors fought for us only to be deceived because we are still not officially being treated the way we should be.
Was it for this, they shed their blood, On hill and plain, on field and flood? Was it for this, that wealth and life Were staked upon that desperate strife, Which drenched this land for seven long years With blood of men, and women's tears?
This is a common question that is often asked whenever crime happens. Is this what MLK marched for? Is this what slaves got beat for?
America, it is to thee, Thou boasted land of liberty,— It is to thee I raise my song, Thou land of blood, and crime, and wrong.
I feel like he is trying to address that although this is known to the land of the free, it is also the land of blood, crime and wrong.
Loving the right, detesting wrong, And seeking the eternal good
He is trying to say that African Americans need to love the right things, search for the wrong things around us and seek out how to fix them.
She is a mother, and her heart Is breaking in despair.
The love of a mother is unconditional and I know her heart was broken because she watched her child be sold into slavery.
He is not hers, although she bore For him a mother’s pains; He is not hers, although her blood Is coursing through his veins!
Sad, yet powerful. Although the mother birthed him he is not hers. He now belongs to his slave master. Wow!
She is a mother pale with fear, Her boy clings to her side, And in her kyrtle vainly tries His trembling form to hide.
With this description, I can truly picture a black slave woman crying out for her son not to be taken away from her and sold into slavery.
Heard you that shriek? It rose So wildly on the air, It seem’d as if a burden’d heart Was breaking in despair.
It's sad but I like this stanza because it's like she wants to know if the slave master can hear the cry of a slave who is being separated from her child.
Do you blame me that I loved him,
When she asked this question and "Can you blame me?" I feel like she was addressing the females readers because it's like we know how males can be with their words and how they make us fall in love.
And what is wrong in woman’s life In man’s cannot be right.
In this line I think she was trying to say that in society males disrespectful behavior and actions are often accepted, but if a female try to do what a male does she is harshly dragged and called all types of names.
Main reason why this poem is titled "Double Standards."
However, in God's eyes what's wrong is wrong therefore what's wrong in a woman's life is wrong in a man's life.
If it's wrong it's not right for either gender.
Would you blame me if to-morrow The coroner should say, A wretched girl, outcast, forlorn, Has thrown her life away? Yes, blame me for my downward course, But oh! remember well, Within your homes you press the hand That led me down to hell.
This is really powerful, I feel like she was trying to say men blame females for doing things when very much often it's them who push us to our breaking point and when we act on our emotions it is then our fault.
Crime has no sex
I feel like this line meant that crime is happening to men and women, they is no gender on crime; truly a sad thing.
I now recollected that I had seen him manifest uneasiness, when people were on that side of the house, and I had at the time been puzzled to conjecture a motive for his actions. Such prudence may seem extraordinary in a boy of twelve years, but slaves, being surrounded by mysteries, deceptions, and dangers, early learn to be Page 235 suspicious and watchful, and prematurely cautious and cunning.
During Harriet's goodbye to Benny in this chapter I take it as her son being somewhat of a trickster just as she was for being in hiding for 7 years. I think that it shows how this 12 year old boy had great wisdom.
However, I also think that because he was surrounded by mysteries, deceptions, and dangers, he was going to learn at at a early stage how to be "suspicious and watchful, and prematurely cautious and cunning."
THE LOOPHOLE OF RETREAT.
This chapter shows how Jacobs would rather be in an comfortless place just so that she could finally hear her children's voices.
As she describes her hiding place as cramped and she longed light, I immediately pictured slave ships and how slaves were chained to each other in small dark spaces.
However, to her this space was better because she was not beaten, worked to death, or chained up; and for that she was grateful.
"Dr. Flint, I don't know where my mother is. I guess she's in New York; and when you go there again, I wish you'd ask her to come home, for I want to see her; but if you put her in jail, or tell her you'll cut her head off, I'll tell her to go right back."
I like that he stood up for his mother! He just wants to see her again.
At last I heard the merry laughing of children, and presently two sweet little faces were looking up at me, as though they knew I was there, and were conscious of the joy they imparted. How I longed to tell them I was there!
This literally hurts my heart!!
She listened in silence. I told her I would bear any thing and do any thing, if in time I had hopes of obtaining her forgiveness. I begged of her to pity me, for my dead mother's sake. And she did pity me. She did not say, "I forgive you;" but she looked at me lovingly, with her eyes full of tears. She laid her old hand gently on my head, and murmured, "Poor child! Poor child!"
I like that she came clean to her grandmother about what was happening to her, I feel bad that couldn't do it sooner but I also understand why she couldn't.
THE TRIALS OF GIRLHOOD.
This chapter is a great example of how it was a terrible thing to be a slave girl. After reading this chapter we learned that Jacobs grew up experiencing violations of her mind and body from a older man.
I hate the fact that she went through this and she felt ashamed to tell her grandmother about what was happening.
Pity me, and pardon me, O virtuous reader! You never knew what it is to be a slave; to be entirely unprotected by law or custom; to have the laws reduce you to the condition of a chattel, entirely subject to the will of another.
I think this is a representation of what slavery was like for Jacobs as she states that other women have no right to criticize her for her horrifying secrets bout her sexual history unless they have been similarly victimized.
When they told me my new-born babe was a girl, my heart was heavier than it had ever been before. Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own.
This sentence right here is an example of how African American women were treated v. African American male slaves.
As we have been reading, a lot of our readings have been written by men who have placed great emphasis on bodily pain and physical endurance.
As a female slave with a very different story to tell, she emphasizes that whether or not they are beaten, starved, or made to work in the fields, all female slaves suffer horrible mental tortures such as sexual harassment and the loss of their children.
READER, be assured this narrative is no fiction. I am aware that some of my adventures may seem incredible; but they are, nevertheless, strictly true. I have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by Slavery; on the contrary, my descriptions fall far short of the facts.
Right here I like that Jacobs opens her autobiography with these boldly stated instructions to reassure readers that what she is saying is not fabricated or inaccurate. She orders her readers to “be assured,” establishing a confident sense of self as she is about to make her life story public. Therefore, she lets her audience know that whatever their interpretation is of her story, she will remain firmly in control of it.
Upon these terms, after working hard all day for her mistress, she began her midnight bakings,
I think this is a great example of how female slaves were treated compared to some of the other female slaves we read about.
They never shall languish again, Nor discord their union shall break,
I feel like he was trying to say that these soldiers shall never grow weak again, nor should their brotherhood break.
Each soon will arrive at his own native home, And struggle in warfare no more.
I like the fact that he said these soldiers are arriving at their own native home which will be heaven and in heaven everything is peaceful so these soldiers shouldn't have to struggle in war anymore.
The black cloud of faction retreats, The poor is no longer depressed, See those once discarded resuming their seats, The lost strangers soon will find rest.
I really liked his choice of words right here. I feel like instead of simply saying the soldiers died, he says it like...
"the black cloud of fighting retires and the poor is no longer depressed, those soldiers who once fought now take their seats and will now find rest."
And earth will soon turn into Heaven.
I think this line means that eventually everyone will die and our new "earth" will be heaven.
Oh, Heaven! and is there no relief This side the silent grave— To soothe the pain—to quell the grief And anguish of a slave?
This line almost seems like he was trying to say is the only way to get a sense of freedom or relief from slavery by death.
Oh, Liberty! thou golden prize, So often sought by blood— We crave thy sacred sun to rise, The gift of nature’s God!
I feel like George was trying to say that freedom is the golden prize and even though the desire of freedom often comes with losing blood whether is from death or being tortured, it's worth it because slaves craved freedom and the right to see the sun rise because it is the gift of God's nature.
Come Liberty, thou cheerful sound, Roll through my ravished ears! Come, let my grief in joys be drowned, And drive away my fears.
I feel like George was trying to say he could hear freedom coming and when it does come he will drown his self in joy and his fears will be gone.
How long have I in bondage lain, And languished to be free!
On this line I feel like George was trying to say because he has been in bondage (slavery) for so long, he is becoming weak as he longs for his freedom.
I also think that Phillis wrote this poem because she knew what it was like to imagine.
We all know she was a slave, and we all know the treatment black enslaved women endured.
So I feel like in order to escape her harsh reality, she had to use her imagination; which is why she wrote a poem on how beautiful and elegant it is to use your imagination.
It was Martin Luther King Jr who said "the mind is a terrible thing to waste."
So in a sense, her imagination freed her from her reality.
Of course some of the words used in the poem can throw us off so I went ahead and looked up the word "pomp" used in the second line of stanza two and it means elegance; so I feel like she is trying to say that imagination is bright forms of beauty and elegance.
In which I never thought of it that way.
On Imagination
I feel like Phillis Wheatley wrote this poem about imagination to express it in a larger sense.
She wanted to express the power of imagination and it’s potential.
I like to think of the first stanza as a mini intro, giving imagination some sort of entrance and personalizing it as a "queen."
Excellency
Because she wrote this poem about George Washington, I really wonder if she got to meet him and what she would have said to him. I also wonder if he ever got to read this poem and what he thought about it.
The Goddess comes, she moves divinely fair,Olive and laurel binds Her golden hair:Wherever shines this native of the skies,Unnumber'd charms and recent graces rise.
Is she talking about herself? This is as beautiful description.
A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine.
Is she talking about the white house?