Imitation # 3 (1970s): Nikki Giovanni, My Poem

“i have been robbed
it looked like they knew
that i was to be hit
they took my tv
my two rings
my piece of african print
and my two guns
if they take my life
it won't stop
the revolution”

The complete poem is about how, if Nikki Giovanni ever got killed, and could never write another poem, it would not stop the Black revolution. The small stanza I selected focuses on how people are trying to intimidate her to by robbing her.

The lines in the poem are short, with no punctuation. This makes the poem read fast, as each line runs into the other. This creates a different affect for each reader, because each reader can choose which words to emphasize, and where to put in pauses.

There are no end rhymes in this poem, but there is alliteration at the start of some of the lines. Lines one, two, eight and nine repeat the “i” sound. Lines three, four, and ten repeat the “th” sound. And lastly, lines five and six repeat the “m” sound. This repetition of sounds helps create a rhythm. With the rhythm created, it helps empathizes the words that fallow the alliterated sound.

This poem is a narrative poem, that tells the story of Nikki Giovanni’s struggle of expressing herself. She uses a strong tone, to get her point across. Not many people want to think of their own deaths, but she confronts that idea, and then says in a simple way, “Even if I die, you cannot stop this revolution from happening.”

Overall this poem uses strong alliteration to get the poem into a rhythm, and with the lack of punctuation, it lets the reader emphasize different parts of the poem.

I personally was very affected by this poem, and I wrote a response to it last winter. This is the poem:

“I Be Writtin’”

They say I won’t be writtin’ anything good.
They say I’m too black to be in the day.
I should lower my head, ‘cause I’m too hood.
But I still want to feel the sun’s hot rays.
They’ve seen where I live, tryin’ to scare me.
They came by in night, set fire to my car.
I don’t know why they can’t, won’t, let me be?
One night, they came at me in a bar.
They see me and tell me to bow my head.
I just grin at them because I will not.
I hear them speakin’ that they want me dead,
lynch me on string, just to see me rot.
           I’m free ‘cause I ain’t their slave no longer.
           “Nigger,” they hiss, but I ain’t no gonner.
          

  

Creation #1: "I Let Him Go"

"I Let Him Go"

It's night.
The TV flashes over him
And he lays his head in my lap--
He needs these moments
These times no one will see,
A place he can finally rest.
Where he's not afraid.

I don't know his fears,
But I see how they bear down on him.
And he's tired.
From the moving
The hustling
The constant motion of living.

I attempt to stop his movements.
But I have to
Let him go.
I, Gotta let him go.

And when he leaves
There's no guarantee he'll ever come back.
So I count my blessings
Asking the Lord if I can borrow
Just one more.
Oh, lord, just one more
To keep him safe
To get him back to me.

Imitation #2 1960s: Percy Sledge, Take Time to Know Her

"Take Time To Know Her" by Percy Sledge

I found a womanI felt a true in loveShe was every thingI'd ever been dreaming of
But she was bad, I didn't know itHer pretty smile never did show itAll I knew is what I could seeAnd I knew I wanted her for me
This song is about a man bringing a woman home to meet his mother, with the intention to marry her. His mother, and later, priest told him not to rush into getting married. He did not take this advise and his partner turned out to be a cheater. 

In the first stanza, there are no obvious end rhymes. Instead, the first two lines both start with an “I” and “F” sound. This repletion helps create rhythm. Also, in the second line of the first stanza an “A” in placed in front of “true” to give the line an extra beat. The reason for this extra beat is to make the rhythm of the first and second line to be the same, since they have a six foot meter. Even when there is not an obvious end rhyme in the first stanza, a rhythm is created through repetition of sounds and beats.

The second stanza has a simple end rhyme of AABB. The second stanza also borrows from the first stanza in it's style, as it repeats the first two sounds of the last two lines. The last two lines in the second stanza both begin with “All I”. This creates a rhythm when the reader (or singer) has to repeat the same sound over.

The tone of the poem is an educational one. The listener is exposed to the singer’s mistake of falling into love too fast, and marrying someone he does not know. It is also has a cautioning tone, as it warns the listeners not to do the same as the singer has.

Critique # 1:The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain Article Critique

Langston Hughes begins his article with the struggle of Black artists in America. He highlights this with a story about an aspiring Black poet, who said to Langston Hughes “I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet”. I agree with Langston Hughes argument that this Black poet wanted to a White poet, rather than being himself and being proud of his heritage. I do not agree with Langston Hughes argument that being an American means that you want to be or act White.
            Langston Hughes writes “…the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible.” I understand that during Langston Hughes’s time period, and even today, the dominate aesthetic in America is to be White. My disagreement with his statement is, I believe being an American means you can be any color, race, religion, or creed and this individuality is added to you being an American; that you should not have to act or attempt to look White to qualify as an American.
            Langston Hughes could argue back that the Blacks in America did not want to be Americans. That the Blacks were forced to build America with no compensation and little credit given to them by history. To this I would answer, someone who is born in America is American due to the fourteenth amendment, and even if they do not want to be in America, they are a part of America and affect her with their actions. So, yes, Black artists may fight a white aesthetic, but they are still American regardless of their race.

Imitation # 1 (Piror 1960s): Frances E. W. Harper, "Learning to Read"

"Learning to Read" By Frances E. W. Harper

Very soon the Yankee teachers
Came down and set up school;
But, oh! how the Rebs did hate it,--
It was agin' their rule.

Our masters always tried o hide
Book learning from our eyes;
Knowledge didn't agree with slavery--
'Twould make us all to wise.

In the first eight lines of Frances E. W. Harper’s poem, “Learning to Read”, it discusses Northern teachers coming to the South and teaching Blacks to read. The Southern slave owners did not like this education of Blacks, because they feared that Black people would become too smart.

The two stanzas in the poem consist of end rhymes. The first stanza consists of four lines with a rhyme pattern of ABCB. The second stanza has the end rhymes of DDED. The first stanza has almost an off sound, because the reader half expects an A rhyme to fallow the B rhyme. This unique break in the rhyme scheme is again observed in the second stanza. The third line in the second stanza breaks the rhyme pattern, with an E rhyme instead of continuing the D end rhyme. Even though the two stanza’s have different end rhymes, they follow the pattern of the third end rhyme, differing from the other three lines.

This changing end rhyme helps move the narrative poem forward, by creating a rhythm. The tone to the narrative poem is somber, but yet truthful, as it explains a part of history. The rhythm helps the reader become propelled forward into the next line, and while this is happening, a story is being told to the reader. Because of this poems unique end rhyming, that helps create a distinct rhythm, I enjoyed this poem.