Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen’s work “From the Dark Tower,” is an example of Harlem Renaissance poetry. This poem, like many others from this period, talk of the hardships and emotions from before the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1865. Slavery was seen as a very large source of inspiration for Harlem Renaissance writers and poets, as many saw slavery as a common ancestral hardship. Poets, like Cullen and Hughes, used slavery, and connected ideas, as themes in many of their works. This particular poem, Cullen states that slavery of African-Americans had been forgiven by them, but had not been forgotten. This theme is represented through the use of powerful diction, farm-related imagery, and the form of an Italian sonnet.
Firstly, Cullen used powerful diction to accentuate his theme in “From the Dark Tower.” The diction is poignant and brings to life the objects and situations in the sonnet through his skilled descriptions. This diction also gave a sad air to the piece, as one should have about slavery; this depressed mood is shown when Cullen compares slavery and black repression to certain flowers that cannot bloom in the light: “And there are buds that cannot bloom at all / In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall” (Cullen ll. 11-12). These two lines show …show more content…
Firstly, he uses diction to create vivid description and a sad air in the poem; secondly, he uses imagery that is associated to a farm or plantation to show the meaning and themes of the poem in about the slavery of the past. Finally, Cullen’s poem takes the form of an Italian sonnet to stress the problem of slavery and the solution of waiting and biding time for freedom. From his use of these three literary tools, he makes his work a powerful representation of ideas from the Harlem
Firstly, Cullen used powerful diction to accentuate his theme in “From the Dark Tower.” The diction is poignant and brings to life the objects and situations in the sonnet through his skilled descriptions. This diction also gave a sad air to the piece, as one should have about slavery; this depressed mood is shown when Cullen compares slavery and black repression to certain flowers that cannot bloom in the light: “And there are buds that cannot bloom at all / In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall” (Cullen ll. 11-12). These two lines show …show more content…
Firstly, he uses diction to create vivid description and a sad air in the poem; secondly, he uses imagery that is associated to a farm or plantation to show the meaning and themes of the poem in about the slavery of the past. Finally, Cullen’s poem takes the form of an Italian sonnet to stress the problem of slavery and the solution of waiting and biding time for freedom. From his use of these three literary tools, he makes his work a powerful representation of ideas from the Harlem