Poetry Journals of Different Authors

Poetry Journal 1

Nikki Giovanni portrays a strong black woman as a God in “Ego Tripping.” From the first stanza, the speaker claims that she walked to the Fertile Crescent and built the sphinx. The Fertile Crescent is the first area that human civilization started to develop, due to agricultural availability in the Middle East. The speaker also claims to have built a pyramid capable of catching the light from a dying star. The first stanza ends with the line, “I am bad.” The speaker does not literally mean “bad”, but she is using slang from the seventies, where bad is synonymous with awesome or good. The speaker says that she sat on the throne with Allah. This suggests that she was on the same level as Allah or equal with the God. The speaker says that her daughter is Nefertiti, known as the wife of a great pharaoh, responsible for a religious revolution. While giving birth the speaker says that her tears created the Nile, the longest river in the world. The speaker continues to gloat about her superlative abilities, claiming that she set the Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world, ablaze by simply looking in its direction. The speaker also states that she crossed this large desert in only two hours, comparing her own pace to the great speed of a gazelle. She also claimed that Noah, who was responsible for building the Ark and preserving humankind, was her son. Accompanying him on this journey by standing at the helm, the speaker then goes on to say that she has transformed herself from a goddess into Jesus, savior of humankind, worshipped by all men. The speaker continues to describe the riches she spread across the planet, such as gold, oil, jewels and diamonds. To close the poem, she describes herself as flawless, making it obvious that she is a god-like being.  The speaker follows this statement and finishes the poem by quoting a song by The Temptations.

Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in June of 1943 (Concise Major 21st Century Writers). She spent most of her childhood growing up in Lincoln Heights, which was a predominately-black area in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nikki frequently visited her grandparents, who lived in her birthplace of Knoxville. At the age of fourteen, Giovanni moved down to Knoxville to live with her grandparents permanently. She enrolled in college at Fisk University at the age of seventeen. She graduated in 1967 and moved back to her hometown of Cincinnati. Giovanni’s grandmother died shortly after her graduation, which was a strong influence in her poetry writing.  In 1968, Giovanni released her first poetry book, titled, “Black Feeling Black Talk.” Giovanni received a grant and was able to move to New York City to write poetry. While in New York, Giovanni found a job teaching at Queens and Rutgers. After having a child, she decided to focus on softer poetry, targeted toward children. Giovanni is a much-decorated poet, as she has received many awards for her poetry. Some of those awards include the title of, “woman of the year”, which was rewarded to her by multiple magazines, as well as the Ohio Hall of Fame.

The speaker of the poem is a black woman who is proud of who she is, claiming to be a goddess that empowers all people. The speaker gives herself credit for creating the Nile River in addition, the Sahara Desert, along with putting many critical resources on Earth like gold, oil and diamonds.

I thought that this poem was very inspiring, even though I do not quite relate to the struggle that people of the speaker’s descent have gone through. I relate to the influence that poems like this have had on all communities in America, from poor to rich and black to white. I believe that poets like Nikki Giovanni display a strong sense of righteousness and through her writing this feeling is passed on to others who have gone through struggles like hers. So many people I know of have been victims of the same issues that Nikki Giovanni experienced back in the sixties and seventies. Black people did not receive the same rights and freedoms that drew other people to live in the United States. Nikki Giovanni grew up, learned and worked in a time where black people experienced constant, overt discrimination due only to the color of their skin.. I believe that along with her grandmother’s death, the mistreatment of people like her influenced Giovanni to start writing poems like, “Ego Tripping.”

Poetry Journal 2

Abel Meeropol illustrates a horrible and graphic picture through the poem, “Strange Fruit”. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker does not give away what is hanging from the tree; but instead calls it a, “Strange Fruit.”  He puts a picture in the reader’s mind of blood dripping from the leaves down to the root.  He then reveals that the blood on this tree is coming from the body of a black man, who had been hung. The writer then details that there is a southern breeze, implying this occurred in the southern United States, where slavery and racism were highly prevalent. The speaker claims the south to be gallant; many southerners consider themselves gallant for taking “justice” into their own hands by killing and harming black people. He then describes that sight of this body hanging, the description he gives is graphic and horrid. Meeropol describes the sweet scent of Magnolias, predominantly found in the south, immediately followed by the smell of burning flesh. One can only assume the flesh of this person hanging is the cause of this smell. The last stanza simply describes the way that these bodies were left on the tree for days after being hung. The speaker describes the crows picking at the body, the rain soaking it and ultimately the body rots in the sun before it is taken down

Abel Meeropol was born in February of 1903 into a family of Jewish descent (Simkin). He became a teacher in New York City shortly after completing his college degree. Worried about anti-Semitism while writing, Meeropol chose to use the name of Lewis Allan. The poet found a picture of two black individuals being lynched and stated that it left him scarred for a long time. At this time, he decided to write a poem, “Strange Fruit” which was published in the New York Teacher. After witnessing a performance by Billie Holliday and thoroughly enjoying it, he decided to show her the poem. Billie was a big fan of this poem and these two decided to collaborate and make a song. In October of 1986, Abel Meeropol died at the Jewish Nursing Home in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

“Strange Fruit” is told in the third person, but a photo that the poet had seen inspired it. The photograph was depicting a real-life lynching. It could be assumed that the speaker is the poet himself, Abel Meeropol. The speaker is someone who has witnessed a horrid and graphic lynching but not one who has endured that. Without seeing the photo of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, Meeropol would not have been inspired to write this poem.

I believe that this poem was very influential in the ending of slavery and the light that it shed on racism in the south especially. It affected me personally by unravelling the horrific scenes that took place in the south when lynching was prevalent. I have never really thought about how terrible life was for black people in the south before and during the early 1900’s, post-slavery. Slavery was not the only bad thing happening to this ethnic group back then. I personally cannot relate to the victims in the poem, but I can most definitely relate to the speaker as someone who has witnessed racist acts occur myself. I do wish that I could put what I have seen into words as well as Abel Meeropol did when he saw the photo, but sadly I cannot. I have close friends that have been victims of racism today; people have been beaten to the point of being hospitalized. Of course, acts of violence like this that occur today are being taken much more seriously than they were at the time this poem was written, but the fact that the acts are still occurring is very disheartening. In a time like this, when we are this advanced as a society, I find it extremely hard to believe that people still practice such narrow-minded ideas. This poem was the beginning of people in America noticing how horrendous these acts of violence were, and how they needed to stop being tolerated.

Poetry Journal 3

“A Red, Red Rose” is the story of someone confessing his or her love. According to the first stanza, it is like a flower that has just risen out of the ground, which was immediately followed by another simile in which his love is compared to a sweet melody played perfectly. The speaker continues to profess his or her love by comparing it to their looks, after mentioning their beauty. The speaker then states that he will love this person for a long time, using exaggerations such as, “until the sea runs dry” or “until rocks melt in the sun”. In the final stanza, the speaker begins to tell his or her love that they must go. However, promises that they will return, even if they have to walk ten thousand miles. 

Robert Burns was born in January of 1759 in a small town named Alloway of Scotland (Biography.com). Robert was born into a family of farmers. Although farming was a priority in the family, Robert’s parents insisted that he read material from writers like Shakespeare and Milton. Burns was not a fan of farm work, nor did he cooperate because he thought it was bad for his health. When Robert was twenty-five, his father died, leaving him exhausted and poor. This event sparked Burns to open his mind and see beyond the religious and political views of Scotland, and he added a bit of satire to his poetic works. Robert began to engage in multiple relationships with many women, having a few children along the way. His first piece of literature was released in 1786 and was named, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect.  After releasing multiple works, Robert decided to move to Dumfries and become a tax collector. Still writing poetry, Robert released a few more pieces of work, one of which is, “A Red, Red Rose.” In July of 1796, Burns died at the age of 37.The same day, a son of his was born.. His works continued to raise money and provide for his family long after his death.

The speaker of this poem remains unnamed. However, it is obvious that whoever this speaker is, they are in love with a woman. Additionally, that woman is beautiful because he calls her bonnie-lass. Another obvious characteristic of the speaker is that they are Scottish. It could be assumed that the speaker is Robert Burns himself, and that he is professing his love for a woman that is very close to him. Not only can we assume that he is in love with this woman, but that he is madly in love with her. The speaker uses many similes to compare his love and in the end, when he announces his departure, he says that he will be back regardless of the distance he has to travel. All of these things point to how absolute his love is for this woman.

I found the poem a bit amusing. The way the speaker compares his love to a sweet melody is something I have never heard before. The speaker states that he will continue to love her until rocks melt, which is clearly impossible. I could definitely relate to this poem, as I am someone who is currently in love. I cannot say that I relate to the level of love that this man is in, if it is even possible. I cannot safely say that I would walk ten thousand miles for anyone, maybe nine thousand. The thought that this could be a same sex relationship did occur to me while reading “A Red, Red Rose”; I do not want to exclude that possibility. However,back in the 1700’s, I do not think someone would really write about it. This man, Robert Burns, was very satirical so it could be possible that he wrote this with a female speaker in mind. I believe that most of the world could relate to this poem in some way. That is because I think most of the world has been in love or an intimate relationship at some point in their lifetime before the age of twenty-five. I do find it very intriguing that a poem written over two hundred and fifty years ago is relatable. I assume that poems about love would hold their value through time and the words can be recognized and cherished forever. Although that does spark another question, will there ever be a time that poems like this, about love, will not be recognized and treasured?

Poetry Journal 4

Walt Whitman wrote “O Captain! My Captain!” in response to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The poem begins with a sailor speaking to his Captain on their return home after a victorious tour. The speaker hears the people cheering and seems to be excited as the ship approaches shore, only to turn around and find that his captain is dead on the floor of the ship. The speaker begs that the captain awake and hear the excitement around him. The speaker bends down to get a closer look and attempts to lift the captain up. At this point, he realizes that the captain is not coming back. The poem ends with the speaker saying that the crowds will roar and celebrate with excitement as he mourns his captain’s death on the ship floor.

Walt Whitman was born in May of 1819 in Long Island, New York (Biography.com). Walt did not grow up in a wealthy family.  n fact, the Whitman’s had lost most of their riches prior to Walt’s birth. In an attempt to overcome these financial issues, Walt and his family moved to Brooklyn. Unfortunately, this was not a successful move and the family remained under. At the age of eleven, his father took Walt out of school to start earning an income for the family. At the age of seventeen, Walt began teaching in the New York City area for a few short years. Walt started a newspaper in 1838 and eight years later became an editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Walt was quite the stubborn editor, for he did not take into consideration his supervisor’s beliefs, nor those of his readers. This led to very short stays at each of the newspapers that he worked for in New York. After losing all credibility in the New York newspaper scene, Walt moved to New Orleans. The same continued in New Orleans and he did not last long in his career here, but this was the first glance Walt had at slavery in the south. Walt decided to move back to Brooklyn where he started a successful newspaper called, “The Brooklyn Freeman.” Walt grew increasingly angry at the idea of slavery and the issues it could cause for America. These events are what drove Walt to start writing poetry, although at the time he had no idea how powerful his words would be. Walt stopped writing poetry for some time to work on other things in his life, but during the Civil War, Walt’s brother was injured. Walt traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia in search of his brother. When found, Walt’s brother and other injured veterans became an opportunity for Walt, as he met with them and discussed their experiences. Walt visited over eighty thousand veterans after the Civil War, which revived his poetry writing. In March of 1892, Walt Whitman passed away, but not before becoming one of the most influential poets in American history.

One of the sailors on the ship is the speaker of, “O Captain! My Captain!” The sailor’s role was to first express excitement in victory when sailing home. However, shortly after realizing that his captain is dead, his role is to stress the importance of death. The poem begins very cheerful and happy, then immediately turns dark. Going directly from one extreme to the other is a good way to stress the importance of each event, the good and the bad. When analyzing the poem a bit more and reviewing the life of Walt Whitman, it becomes obvious that the captain represents Abraham Lincoln and the ship represents the country, America. The sailor is mourning the death of his captain.

I believe that the poem does a great job of showing symbolism between the ship and the country, but more importantly the captain and Abraham Lincoln. “O Captain! My Captain!” is one of the first poems that I have been able to see beyond the words and look for the symbolism while reading it the first time. I think that this experience will really affect the way that I approach reading poetry in the future. This poem is very relatable to me in two ways, the first being that I work for a Union that is responsible for providing sailors to all shipping companies in America. The fact that this poem takes place on the water and the speaker is one of the sailors is something very relatable. The second is the way that this sailor mourns for the death of his captain. I have mourned the death of someone close to me before as well, I can relate to the fact that the sailor doubts the death initially. I know many that have gone through experiences like this one; I can imagine that many Americans felt very similar to the sailor when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, along with people that are closer to me mourning the death of a friend or relative. Many across America mourned President Lincoln’s assassination, but no one mourned as heavily as Walt Whitman, which is evidenced by this poem. 

Works Cited

• Biography.com, editor. "Robert Burns Biography." Biography, A&E Television Networks, 18 Mar. 2016, www.biography.com/writer/robert-burns. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.
• Biography.com Editors, editor. "Walt Whitman Biography." Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Apr. 2016, www.biography.com/writer/walt-whitman. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.
• Concise Major 21st Century Writers, editor. "Giovanni, Nikki 1943 - ." Encyclopedia, Cengage, www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/education-biographies/nikki-giovanni. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.
• Simkin, John. "Abel Meeropol." Spatacus-Educational, Sept. 1997, spartacus-educational.com/USAmeeropolA.htm. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.