Countee Cullen Raised and educated in a primarily white community in New York City, Countee Cullen differed from Langston Hughes in that he lacked the background to comment from personal experience on the lives of other black people or use popular black idioms in his writing. His poems conveyed life as he saw it, bringing the Harlem Renaissance to new heights because of its ability to show social realities Cullen was criticized for being conventional, for using the British Romantic poets as his models. His most famous lines are the last two from "Yet Do I Marvel" because these few lines express so much about Cullen’s attitude towards race and writing: do I marvel at this curious thing: / “Yet To make a poet black, and bid him sing!” Saturday’s by Countee Cullen Some are teethed on a silver spoon, With the stars strung for a rattle; I cut my teeth as the black raccoon— For implements of battle. Some are swaddled in silk and down, And heralded by a star; They swathed my limbs in a sackcloth gown On a night that was black as tar. For some, godfather and goddame The opulent fairies be; Dame Poverty gave me my name, And Pain godfathered me. For I was born on Saturday— time for planting a seed,” “Bad Was all my father had to say, And, mouth more to feed.” “One cut the strings that gave me life, And handed me to Sorrow, The only kind of middle wife My folks could beg or borrow. >>> Response to Child” “Saturday’s What do the juxtapositions of wealth and poverty and the contrasting imagery in the poem convey growing up in poverty? Why is the antithesis such an important device in understanding the mindset of growing up poor in sight of those growing up wealthy? How do the personified characters godfather and goddame (the opulent fairies), Dame Poverty, Pain, Death – – speak to the struggles of growing up without safety and security?
Countee Cullen Raised and educated in a primarily white community in New York City, Countee Cullen differed from Langston Hughes in that he lacked the background to comment from personal experience on the lives of other black people or use popular black idioms in his writing. His poems conveyed life as he saw it, bringing the Harlem Renaissance to new heights because of its ability to show social realities Cullen was criticized for being conventional, for using the British Romantic poets as his models. His most famous lines are the last two from "Yet Do I Marvel" because these few lines express so much about Cullen’s attitude towards race and writing: “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: / To make a poet black, and bid him sing!” Saturday’s by Countee Cullen Some are teethed on a silver spoon, With the stars strung for a rattle; I cut my teeth as the black raccoon— For implements of battle. Some are swaddled in silk and down, And heralded by a star; They swathed my limbs in a sackcloth gown On a night that was black as tar. For some, godfather and goddame The opulent fairies be; Dame Poverty gave me my name, And Pain godfathered me. For I was born on Saturday— “Bad time for planting a seed,” Was all my father had to say, And, “One mouth more to feed.” cut the strings that gave me life, And handed me to Sorrow, The only kind of middle wife My folks could beg or borrow. >>> Response to “Saturday’s Child” What do the juxtapositions of wealth and poverty and the contrasting imagery in the poem convey growing up in poverty? Why is the antithesis such an important device in understanding the mindset of growing up poor in sight of those growing up wealthy? How do the personified characters – godfather and goddame (the opulent fairies), Dame Poverty, Pain, Death – speak to the struggles of growing up without safety and security?