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.
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.
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