Hughes Democracy will not accommodate, this yearn overbought compromise and fear. L have as much right As the other fellow hast Stanton my two feet And own the land. L tire so of hearing people say, Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day. L do not need my freedom when I’m dead. ‘ cannot live on tomorrows bread. Freedom’s a strong standalone a great need. L live here, too. L want freedoms as you. In this poem you can see the double consciousness being expressed In the yearning of the Idea of Freedom. As an American and as a Black man on the outside looking in, the line “l live here, too. Want freedom just as you” implores that there is no difference between himself and any other American. He yearns for the acceptance to come. Counter Culled was a leader in the Harlem Renaissance.
He published four volumes of poetry during his time, as well as short stories, a novel, and writings for theatre. Had a troubled childhood, full of abandonment. His writings celebrated black beauty and deplored racism and its effects CITATION Couch 1033 (Counter Culled, 2014)From a Dark Tree We shall not always plant while others repeater golden increment of bursting fruit,Not always countenance, abject and mute,That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;Not everlastingly while others sleepwalk we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,Not always bend to some more subtle brute;We ere not made to eternally weep.
The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,White stars is no less lovely being dark,And there are buds that cannot bloom at Allan light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds. From a The double consciousness that is being expressed in this poem is shown in the expression of the beauty and sadness in the nature around him. This is especially poignant in the line “White stars is no less lovely being dark”, essentially saying that black skin is as beautiful as white kin and should be accepted as such.
The underlying theme in the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance is an essential yearning to be accepted into mainstream society, not as inferiors, but as equals. The acknowledgement of the beauty of the African American and the acceptance as Patriotic equals is a line that appears to run through these poems. Raised and Repressed I raise my arms and give a shout A penitent man, I am blessed I stand on a soil of freedom Gained by forefathers unrepressed And to my knees I fall Surrendering my dignity To another’s beck and call.
