Probably the most unappreciated African American poet person of his time, Countee Cullen is a very rebellious dire themed copy writer who is all about securing the rights and dignity of black persons and uses that very love to fuel his poetry. In the poem “Incident, Cullen uses a blend of rhetorical products which this individual incorporates in his ironic rhythmic syntax to help emphasize to readers the effect of racism acquired on children living in the early -mid 1900’s, a big time of racism.
Written in 1925, Cullen employed this composition as a way for him to vent his feelings and aggravation and advise the uninformed all at the same time. The poem covers a young Dark-colored boy who is excited that he is browsing Baltimore and even though there this individual comes across another young youngster that is his same grow older and size but he is white and then the youthful boy is usually surprised with a powerful and crude racial slur. The poem is definitely not as mind as Cullen makes it appears, it is actually a great ironic poem.
The first touch of paradox is found early on in the composition “Now I actually eight and incredibly small/And he was no whit bigger (5-6). A reader would think that the hurtful bullying will come from somebody bigger compared to the kid in the poem when in all fact it was via someone his own size, and that’s just what Cullen is attempting to show, that racism originate from all ages and happened between all spectrums of age range, a teen and an adult, a grownup and a child, anyone. The Spencer 2
irony will not stop presently there, you see one other glance from it in the last stanza, “And he was no whit bigger(6). In the poem humor is spelled W. L. I. Big t but , the right spelling of wit is usually W. My spouse and i. T and this is no punctuational error, this is really a small pun Cullen uses to help highlight his racial theme. Really as if Cullen takes the “E away from white and if it’s put back it’s “No white-bigger. Cullen used this play on words showing the mental deception that was used by simply white people used to produce themselves seem to be intellectually remarkable. Not only is definitely the content on this poem exceptional, but so is the framework. In the initial stanza the syllables of each line different 8 and 6, then simply for the rest of the poem alternates 8 and 7. This amazing syllable structure gives the poem a stroking under tone of joy, which in turn when it mixed with this article and theme of racism brings about more of the poem’s irony which can be one of the main style focuses of the poem.
Cullen’s inspirations of his life and passions are definitely apparent in this poem. First off the positioning of the composition was set in Baltimore, MD and even though much of Cullen’s early biographical information is usually shady and unclear, Baltimore has said to be one of Cullen’s possible birth places which is hinted inside the poem, “Once riding in aged Baltimore(1). An additional key interconnection is that Cullen lived in a time period exactly where racism and segregation was obviously a very popular thought so an incident like the one in the poem developing to Cullen is a very good possibility.
Cullen’s unique writing stlye and complex format that is displayed in his composition Incident is what made him one of the best copy writers of his time, and although the subject of the composition is still a touchy subject for some Incident is a poem that has been and will be a poem well worth reading for hundreds of years.
Works Mentioned
Cullen, Countee. Magill’s Survey of yankee Literature: Pasadena: Salem Press, 2007, print, V. two
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