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From the Dark Tower | The Poetry Foundation. By Countee Cullen. (To Charles S. Johnson) We shall not always plant while others reap. The golden increment of bursting fruit, Not always countenance, abject and mute, That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; Not everlastingly while others sleep. Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
- Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen is one of the most representative voices of...
- Countee Cullen
Thoughts in a Zoo. By Countee Cullen. Share. They in their cruel traps, and we in ours, Survey each other’s rage, and pass the hours. Commiserating each the other’s woe, To mitigate his own pain’s fiery glow. Man could but little proffer in exchange. Save that his cages have a larger range.
- Any Human to Another. In Countee Cullen’s poem, ‘Any Human to Another,’ the speaker describes how essential human interaction is. He also reveals how one person suffering affects everyone.
- Atlantic City Waiter. ‘Atlantic City Waiter’ by Countee Cullen is a deeply thoughtful poem. In it, Cullen describes the actions, strength, and pride of an Atlantic City waiter.
- From the Dark Tower. ‘From the Dark Tower’ by Countee Cullen is a thoughtful poem about the Black experience. It suggests that there is a brighter future on the horizon.
- Incident. ‘Incident’ by Countee Cullen describes a terrible incident from the poet’s youth that occurred when he was happily visiting Baltimore. Once riding in old Baltimore,
- Summary
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Detailed Analysis
- Similar Poetry
‘To John Keats, Poet, at Spring Time’ by Countee Cullen is a beautiful poem that acknowledges Keats’ influence on the speaker. The speaker notes that Keats wrote the most impressive and influential springtime poetry during his life. He addresses the poet throughout, describing how special this one spring season is and how he’s no longer able to kee...
‘To John Keats, Poet, at Spring Time’ by Countee Cullen is a six-stanza poem that is separated out into uneven stanzas. The first stanza contains ten lines, the second: seven, the third: seven, the fourth: twelve, the fifth: four, and the sixth: six. The first stanza follows a rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEE. The second and third stanzas rhyme: ABABACC....
Throughout this piece, the poet makes use of several literary devices. These include but are not limited to: 1. Alliteration: occurs when the poet repeatsthe same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “song” and “spite” in lines four and five of the first stanza and “Beneath” and “beats” in line five of the second stanza....
Stanza One
In the first stanza of this poem, the speaker uses a literary device known as an apostrophe. The speaker addresses someone who cannot hear them. In this case, because John Keats is dead. He speaks to Keats throughout the poem, hoping to clearly express his experiences during a particularly beautiful spring. He is initially reticent, saying he gave in to his desire to talk about spring. He had tried to resist, as Keats’ spring-time poetry is the best that has ever been written in the English l...
Stanza Two
The second stanza is shorter. Here, he uses Keats’ name again. He tells the dead poet that he can’t remain quiet. He’s part of the springtime in the same way the lamb is, wrapped up in its progression. He uses the word “tocsin,” or alarm bell, in the second to last line. In this case, the alarm belongs to the spring. “She” is calling everyone’s attention to the following images.
Stanza Three
The speaker notes the beauty of spring’s colors, her “breast with drifts of snow,” and the gulls flying overhead. There are the “lilacs” that “muster” a unique strength and an unmatchable beauty in the way that things once sleeping are now “awake.”
Readers who enjoyed this piece should also consider reading some other John Keats poems. For example: 1. ‘A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever’– is about Endymion, an Aeolian shepherd who lived in Olympia and was loved by Selene, the goddess of the moon. 2. ‘A Song About Myself’– a joyous poem in which a young boy travels, writes poetry, catches fish...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946. American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright. Heritage. What is Africa to me: Copper sun or scarlet sea, Jungle star or jungle track, Strong bronzed men, or regal black. Women from whose loins I sprang. When the birds of Eden sang? One three centuries removed. From the scenes his fathers loved,
Lines to My Father. By Countee Cullen. The many sow, but only the chosen reap; Happy the wretched host if Day be brief, That with the cool oblivion of sleep. A dawnless Night may soothe the smart of grief. If from the soil our sweat enriches sprout. One meagre blossom for our hands to cull,
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By ROBERT A. SMITH. The Poetry of Countee Cullen. C OUNTEE CULLEN enjoyed being the most highly educated and most distinguished of his contemporary Negro poets. The adopted son. of a Methodist minister, he received his elementary and secondary edu-cation in the New York City public schools.
