Poems Analysis: Unit Test on Harlem Renaissance Poetry

This assignment analyzes poems from the Harlem Renaissance, focusing on works by Langston Hughes and Paul Dunbar. The analysis addresses the mood and rhythm in Hughes' "Life is Fine," exploring the protagonist's contemplation of suicide and eventual embrace of life, with specific attention to the poem's structure and use of free verse. The assignment also examines the contrast between stanzas in "The Weary Blues," highlighting how the singer's experiences and musical styles contribute to the poem's theme. Furthermore, the assignment explores the theme of freedom, or lack thereof, in several poems, including "We Wear the Mask" and "Sympathy," focusing on how imagery depicts mental and emotional captivity faced by African Americans post-Civil War. The analysis emphasizes the poets' use of imagery and their shifts in writing styles to convey the psychological impacts of societal constraints and the yearning for self-expression.

RUNNING HEAD: POEMS
Title: Poems analysis
Name of Student:
Name of University:

1POEMS
Response to Question 1:
Separated in 9 stanzas in a free verse tone, Life is fine is a poem by Langston Hughes who has
portrayed a devastated man who is contemplating suicide to put an end of all his miseries but
eventually was able to see the beauty of life and stepped back from his decision. The poem in
nine stanzas showcases the bent of mind of the protagonists that gradually turned him feeling
positive about life. The setting of the whole poem is done in the abode of nature in its any form
and the metaphor of the protagonist being drowning. However, the author also inserts the
comical irony in the poem to suggest that a person can go to the extent of thinking to commit
suicide but resorts back only for the fear of pain. In the succeeding stanza when he decided to
show his back to suicide was also because of his endearment with the bonds that he has with his
life and near ones. The almost paraphrased and recurrent stanzas hit deliberately to the fact that
is exhibited in the final stanza that “life is fine” and every sip of it is to be savored to the fullest.
Response to Question 2:
The first stanza of the poem comprised of the first three lines begins with the description of
music as something “drowsy” as well as “syncopated.” The idea of a rhythm being intentionally
misplaced relates to the aural landscape where a man is “rocking back and forth”, creating an
almost haunting image.
In another Stanza, that is comprised of line 12-14 of the poem,
the images shown in the line are well worn bordering on decrepit. The tone that the singers play
now is raggy. More than the contrast the two stanza can be seen through a cause and effect
relationship. It is as if, through the misplacement and disjuncture of place that the Negro singer
faces in the first three lines, the last two lines are almost the catharses through the music. Thus,

2POEMS
gaining back the composure through music from the haunting sense in the first stanza to a calm
senses, he is now able to channelize his anger.
Response to Question 3:
The post world war poets have shifted their focus on writing poetry deliberately to the depiction
of freedom in order to hit to the fact that there is in true sense a complete lack of freedom. In the
contents, in the writing styles or even in the nomenclatures, post world war poets have taken a
complete shift in order to depict the mental trauma and the psychological captivity. Dunbar’s
poem, We Wear the mask is a piece describing the agony and mental tortures faced by the
African Americans post civil War. The constant struggle to cope up with the changes and the
harassments they are facing along with the compulsion of putting a face of bravery and
satisfaction, have, for years tore apart the people residing there who were robbed off the freedom
of even showing their emotions. Dunbar’s sympathy is also a poignant depiction the captivity
through the metaphor of bird. The old scars of the bird in cage represent the black man of
contemporary times who were leashed because of their race. The weary blues also represents the
mental bondage of the Negro singer who finds himself misplaced. However, the end of the poem
shows the cathartic reconciliation where the protagonist is able to find a room for his ow within
himself to channelize his disgust.

3POEMS
Bibliography:
Hughes, Lanston, 1949 Life is fine
Dunbar, Paul, 1896 We wear the Mask
Dunbar, Paul, 1890 Sympathy.