A Brown Girl Dead by Countee Cullen (For Extra Credit)

Countee Cullen (1903-1946) was an African American poet during the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to his well known poetry skills, he was also, according to the Poetry Foundation, President of the Harlem Chapter of the NAACP. His poem "A Brown Girl Dead" is one which I've chosen to dissect because of its terse, yet overly complex nature when related to the spirit of African-Americans during his time.

A Brown Girl Dead
By Countee Cullen

With two white roses on her breasts,

   White candles at head and feet,   

Dark Madonna of the grave she rests;

   Lord Death has found her sweet.

Her mother pawned her wedding ring   

   To lay her out in white;

She’d be so proud she’d dance and sing   

   To see herself tonight.

First off, whenever I've read poetry written by African-American or Hispanic-American poets, I can't help but notice the contrast between white/light and black/dark that they often make. Cullen is no exception in this particular poem. The pairing of the words "white" and "roses" in Line 1 registers in our minds this aesthetic beauty to the color white (the color of African-American oppressors) as being pure. This association is further enhanced with "White candles" in Line 2, which is contrasted by Cullen's depiction of the female subject (that we assume is African-American per the title) as a "Dark Madonna" in Line 4. Another major component in this poem is the narrative description by Cullen in Lines 5-6. "Her mother pawned her wedding ring/To lay her out in white;" just goes to show the difficult circumstances placed on the black culture during this time of oppression and suffering. I think that directly ties into the theme in that Family and Love extend beyond the social and economic confines no matter what the circumstance. At the end of the day, this girl's mom was going to support her no matter what, which is a testament to the love and fortitude she has. This links into the trends of the Harlem Renaissance in that the persevering African-American spirit of which Cullen was apart of never dies, even when things seem bleak.