Love Conveyed through Bigotry and Poetic Ultraviolence On the surface, Langston Hughes’ “A Song for a Dark Girl” and Anthony Hecht’s “The Book of Yolek” merely illustrate racism’s inhumanity by poetic verse. Both poets construct these themes meticulously, in Hughes’ poem, through the brief, though unrefined detail that comes from the scene of a hanging, and in Hecht’s piece, through an empty quality present throughout the poem as he describes the extermination of a Jewish child. A result of their poetic crafting, Hecht and Hughes force their audiences to stomach the violence, hatred, and passion involved in acts of racism as they had experienced it themselves. Moreover, while racism appears to be the central theme in both pieces, ironically,
…show more content…
Particularly, “The Book of Yolek,” is admirable for Hecht’s ability to engage his audience with symbolic imagery. As he accomplishes this feat, he appeals to all the senses, specifically, beginning his poem with a scene that portrays of all the stimuli of life. Likewise, through the speaker, the reader can smell the “The dowsed coals” (“Yolek” 1), they can hear the “hiss” (1) of the cooled flames, and they can see the hills glow in the “deep bronze glories of declining day” (1). Moreover, Hughes’ poem fulfills a similar composition—albeit more so nuanced than Hecht’s work—where the speaker limns most of the poems imagery through the details that are absent. Hughes’ writes, “Way Down South in Dixie/ (Break the heart of me)/ They hung my black young lover/ To a cross roads tree” (“Girl” 1-4). While the most elucidating detail is the hanging and perhaps a crooked lynching tree, those two aspects only skim the surface of this poem’s imagery. In fact, readers will find the imagery in “A Song for A Dark Girl” falls into two groups: explicit and implicit. Implicitly, the speaker provides the bare minimum of detail to convey a gruesome scene in the poem. This technique is as impactful as the details in Hecht’s piece, where Hughes’ unique …show more content…
Firstly, in Hecht’s poem, he begins with a reference to the Gospel of John, writing “Wir Haben ein Gesetz, Und nach dem Gesetz soll er sterben” which, in German, roughly translates to “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die.” At first, it seems that Hecht is referring to Jews in his poem; after all, the source material he cites is arguably anti-Semitic. However, one must delve deeper into “The Book of Yolek” to understand the true intent behind Hecht’s insertion of the epigraph. Since Hecht is obviously not anti-Semitic, it seems his use of the epigraph is to condemn Nazis for their wrongdoing. The statement is an affront to the people that programmed those words into the Holocaust. Moreover, now that the war has passed since the poem’s publishing, it seems logical that when Hecht writes “by the law,” he refers to the current law that he believes must punish Nazis for their misdeeds. Unlike Hughes, Hecht presents greater pragmatism in his depiction of love through bigotry; when it comes to love, Hecht certainly perceives the justice that must come. Conversely, Hughes is not as sure as Hecht concerning love’s relationship with hatred and racism, or so it seems. For instance, readers see this uncertainty in Hughes’ use of allusions. Specifically, readers cannot immediately distinguish whether Hughes believes that love and bigotry should coexist in the same world. The speaker of the poem, a young black
Particularly, “The Book of Yolek,” is admirable for Hecht’s ability to engage his audience with symbolic imagery. As he accomplishes this feat, he appeals to all the senses, specifically, beginning his poem with a scene that portrays of all the stimuli of life. Likewise, through the speaker, the reader can smell the “The dowsed coals” (“Yolek” 1), they can hear the “hiss” (1) of the cooled flames, and they can see the hills glow in the “deep bronze glories of declining day” (1). Moreover, Hughes’ poem fulfills a similar composition—albeit more so nuanced than Hecht’s work—where the speaker limns most of the poems imagery through the details that are absent. Hughes’ writes, “Way Down South in Dixie/ (Break the heart of me)/ They hung my black young lover/ To a cross roads tree” (“Girl” 1-4). While the most elucidating detail is the hanging and perhaps a crooked lynching tree, those two aspects only skim the surface of this poem’s imagery. In fact, readers will find the imagery in “A Song for A Dark Girl” falls into two groups: explicit and implicit. Implicitly, the speaker provides the bare minimum of detail to convey a gruesome scene in the poem. This technique is as impactful as the details in Hecht’s piece, where Hughes’ unique …show more content…
Firstly, in Hecht’s poem, he begins with a reference to the Gospel of John, writing “Wir Haben ein Gesetz, Und nach dem Gesetz soll er sterben” which, in German, roughly translates to “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die.” At first, it seems that Hecht is referring to Jews in his poem; after all, the source material he cites is arguably anti-Semitic. However, one must delve deeper into “The Book of Yolek” to understand the true intent behind Hecht’s insertion of the epigraph. Since Hecht is obviously not anti-Semitic, it seems his use of the epigraph is to condemn Nazis for their wrongdoing. The statement is an affront to the people that programmed those words into the Holocaust. Moreover, now that the war has passed since the poem’s publishing, it seems logical that when Hecht writes “by the law,” he refers to the current law that he believes must punish Nazis for their misdeeds. Unlike Hughes, Hecht presents greater pragmatism in his depiction of love through bigotry; when it comes to love, Hecht certainly perceives the justice that must come. Conversely, Hughes is not as sure as Hecht concerning love’s relationship with hatred and racism, or so it seems. For instance, readers see this uncertainty in Hughes’ use of allusions. Specifically, readers cannot immediately distinguish whether Hughes believes that love and bigotry should coexist in the same world. The speaker of the poem, a young black