Essay on The Poetry in Harlem Renaissance

As black folk in America began recognizing a sense of place within the American society these types of blues songs developed. Classic blues tended to be more relatable to the general audience because of said shift. Now this form of blues was not just about the trials and tribulations of black people in America, because of slavery and overall negative treatment. The ideas and themes within the songs now dealt with the internal monologues within themselves on a human level. Because they were now in the same place of talking about the dissatisfactions of life, white America could relate to these

Blues is one of the most captivating genres of music. The genre was originated in the late 1800’s as a method used by African American slaves to express the circumstances as well as to put emphasis on their feelings and emotions. In order to create these feelings in this music, blues artists incorporate many of the same techniques used to write poetry. One of the most easily identifiable songs in which it is easy to see the relation between poetic elements and blues music is the song “Empty Bed Blues” by Bessie Smith.

The first poet I chose from the Harlem Renaissance was the American poet, Countee Cullen This 1920s artistic movement produced the first large body of work in the United States written by African Americans. (Brown, 2012) The work, Yet Do I Marvel, took a racial theme, lynching of a black youth for a crime he did not commit. The poem is stark and makes reference to Sisyphus and speaks of how life is a struggle up a never ending stair. It speaks to God as if to wonder why, knowing that God is benevolent he does not stop the unreasoning actions of brutes against, “flesh that mirrors him”, meaning the black race. (Brown, 2012) This line is important as it shows that the black consciousness is coming to recognition of their own worth taken

The Harlem Renaissance was a period that started in the early 1920’s in which the concept of “the Negro” was intended to be changed (History.com). This period witnessed the thrive of African American art. White stereotypes had influenced not only the way African Americans were perceived in society but also their relationship between themselves and others. Participants like Gwendolyn Bennett, Langston Hughes, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and W.E.B. Du Bois were some of many authors of creative pieces that reflected their points of views. Like George Hutchinson writes in his article, The Harlem Renaissance brought many African Americans from South to North which helped the rise of literacy and the creation of organizations dedicated to promoting African American civil rights that resulted in the uplift of the race and the availability of socioeconomic opportunities (1). The distinctive expression through things like poetry and music during the Harlem Renaissance reflected the reality and experiences black people were going through. This essay is going to focus on the relationship between poetry, politics and representation while relying on the poem “We Wear the Mark” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. At the same time, this paper will be supported with works from Langston Hughes, Alain Locke and W.E.B. Dubois.

In Terrance Hayes’s book of poetry, Wind in a Box, one can see that the poems are written like a personal narrative using rhythmic phrasing to help one understand how their identity is formed. The blue poems in particular, are ones that use the word “blue” to contribute to the poems in different aspects. Using the word “blue”, Hayes shows blue as a color usually defined by sadness, blue as in the musical genre which usually sings about troubled times, and blue as in another word for feeling bad or depressed. It is obvious to see the significance the word “blue” plays throughout the Wind in a Box poetry collection. Hayes poems “The Blue Suess” and Booker’s Tomb” from the collection Upright Blues emphasize the themes of race, tradition, and freedom in the most interesting ways.

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

The Harlem Renaissance was a time where creativity flourished throughout the African American community. At the time many African Americans were treated as second class citizens. The Harlem Renaissance acted as artistic and cultural outlet for the African-American community. The Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as “The New Negro Movement” was an unexpected outburst of creative activity among African Americans In the poems Harlem by Langston Hughes, America by Claude McKay, and Incident by Countee Cullen all use frustration and hope as reoccurring themes to help empower the African-American population and realize the injustices they face day to day. The Harlem Renaissance was a period marked by great change and forever altered the

During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.

The Harlem Renaissance was a first for many African Americans Langston Hughes published his first poem ‘’The Negro Speaks of Rivers’’ Jean Toomer Cane was the first book of fiction. These writers sought to examine and celebrate their experiences. When considering essential movements in American poetry, the Harlem Renaissance is one that comes to mind. With popular blues and jazz music of the time, an awareness of black life in America, its assertion of an independent African American identity and a huge part of the movement of writing.

Race plays a big part in this poem. He speaks on Harlem and its culture and this environment but also about mutual interest with people

The Harlem Renaissance was a wonderful allotment of advancement for the black poets and writers of the 1920s and early ‘30s. I see the Harlem Renaissance as a time where people gather together and express their work throughout the world for everyone to see the brilliance and talent the black descendants harness.

Harlem Renaissance was a time of social awareness and enlightenment among African-Americans. After the Civil War, black people became free economically and politically, however, Jim Crow Laws were put in place to limit the movement of blacks’ rights and to enforce segregation. Thousands of African-Americans flocked to the North and settled in Harlem. Shaping a unique African-American culture, this movement was lead by many black artists, musicians, intellectuals, and poets. In the poems during this time period, African-American poets depict their lives, struggles, and their racial pride.

The great philosopher Plato once orated: “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. PBS defines the the Harlem Renaissance a “Cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars.” Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”Authors such as Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and Colleen McElroy explore their cultural heritage through hard-hitting poetry.

No black person can escape the blues, because the blues are an inherent part of the black existence in America. To be black is to be blue. The blues tell us about black people’s attempt to carve out a significant existence in a very trying situation. The purpose of the blues is to give structure to black existence in a context where color means rejection and humiliation. Suffering and its relation to blackness is inseparable from the meaning of the blues. Without pain and suffering, and what that meant for black people in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas, there would have been no blues. The blue mood means sorrow, frustration, despair, and black people’s attempt to take these existential realities upon themselves and not lose their sanity. The blues are not art for art’s sake, music for music’s sake. They are a way of life, a life-style of the black community; and the will for survival. Thus to seek to understand the blues apart from the suffering that created them is to misinterpret them and distort the very creativity that defines them (Cone, 1980).

Poetry is defined as a literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. The genre of poetry extends to many different forms of art today, such as rap, country, or even rock music. With this in mind, The Weary Blues is undoutably poetry, and all jazz poetry should be considered as so. With lines like “The singer stopped playing and went to bed While the Weary Blues echoed through his head. He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.”, The Weary Blues conveys very strong emotions to the reader. Thus sealing it’s spot in being called