Summary Of I Am A Black Woman

Nuances of the Senses: A Deeper Perception into Imagery In the two poems “I Am a Black Woman” by Mari Evans and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, the authors use the strong poetic device of imagery to bring their words to life. In two very distinct styles and meaning, Evans vividly depicts the struggles of “black” women, while Roethke uses his diction to show the emotional skirmish and dance between a boy and his father. Evans begins “I Am a Black Woman” by appealing to the auditory sense in order to express a beautiful song both literally and figuratively: I am a Black woman the music of my song some sweet arpeggio of tears is written in a minor key (1-4).
The reader can hear the
sadness in the sweet tune with the description of the tears and “minor key” (4). The song seems to tell of the turmoil and internal conflict of being an African American woman that goes unnoticed to society. She further states that she “can be heard humming in the night” (6). The reader can hear her humming and at the same time, can envision the absolute silence she’s portraying of being alone. Evans repeats that line twice in order to stress its importance; although she may be alone, she’s still a strong, independent woman. Humming signifies tranquility and peacefulness during rough times and as a black woman she had to remain calm and hold the family together. Evans makes a visual connection by telling “I lost Nat’s swinging body in a rain of tears” (13). The reader can imagine a lifeless body hanging from a tree, the people crying tremendously, mourning the loss of Nat Turner. His death is influential to her because she mentions him by name and gives the detail of his body swinging, indicating that his passing is still fresh and has lasting affects. She eloquently puts into words her own son’s passing and highlights the military base of Da Nang and the battle of Pork Chop Hill to signify the many black men who were fighting in a war to receive equality, but they did not gain any rights or peace (14-17). The tactile and olfactory association is stated in her portrayal of a woman whose son was gassed down in the Vietnam War and her yearning to touch him once again: Now my nostrils know the gas and these trigger tire / d fingers seek the softness in my warrior’s beard (18-20).
The reader can smell the poisonous gas and the death that hangs in the air and relate to the feeling of wanting to hold a passed loved one with Evans lucid description.
She pays homage to these specific historical events because not only did they change the world, but they also shaped and revolutionized the black community. Evans then compares a black woman to a “cypress” tree. She gives the imagery that, like an old tree, black women are “assailed impervious, indestructible” (29-31). Assailed meaning she has been attacked vigorously, whether with words or weapons and still stands strong. Impervious because she is incapable of being injured or impaired despite what is endured and indestructible because a black woman can never be broken down no matter what obstacles she faces. “My Papa’s Waltz” starts off with the smell of “the whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). The father, in his alcoholic exhilaration picks up his son and begins a wild romp around the room. Right away the nose is the first sense that is reached with the sour smell of whiskey reeking from the father and the young boy tries to ignore the odor, but is made dizzy. He “hung on like death” and the reader can feel his fear as him and his father madly scramble around the
kitchen. As the pair continues dancing around the kitchen, pans are falling off the shelf and clanging to the kitchen floor (5-6). One can see the boy’s footwork trying to keep up with his father’s movements, but it is causing chaos to ensue. The mother’s observance of the scene tells the real story. She does not come to the aid of her son, but instead stands there with her “countenance” dominated by a frown that cannot be erased (7-8). The visual and auditory imagery brings to light questions for the reader. Her motherly duty should stop the dance for the boy’s sake, but maybe she knows that she will feel the father “beat time” on her head as well (13). The third stanza brings physical pain upon the boy and emotional hurt for the reader with the narrative of how the father injures him in their waltz: The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle (9-12).
The boy speaks directly to his father telling him that their dance causes him to scrape his buckle. Another question arises when the reader sees that the father’s hand was already wounded. Was it from work or another dance with someone else? The question goes unanswered. In the final stanza, the boy says his father “ beat time” on his head “with a palm caked hard by dirt” indicating he physical abuse and his father was dirty after a hard day’s work. However, in the last couple of lines Roethke paints a different picture: “Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). The poet helps the reader to understand that the father may have been unintentionally hurting those he loved and those who loved him. The last line leaves the reader with the image of that love, as the boy holds tightly to his father at the end of their waltz. The authors Evans and Roethke brilliantly display imagery with various diction and techniques that appeals to the readers. Imagery is crucial to poetry because it allows the reader to be transported into that precise time, location, and event that the poet is trying to convey. The imagery conveyed can make the reader truly live out and experience the poem using their five senses.

Works Cited
Evans, Mari. “I Am a Black Woman.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012. 642. Print.
Roethke,Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012. 642. Print.