Countee Cullen

            Reading “Heritage” and “Yet I do Marvel” by Countee Cullen was very interesting. Each of these poems seemed to speak in their own way about this Harlem Renaissance poet. The first poem I read was “Yet I do Marvel”. This poem seems to be about the author’s perspective of God, and how no human could ever understand the complex nature of the creator. I interpreted the second poem, “Heritage”, as Cullen’s expression of his own disconnect from his heritage as an African.  

            Though I enjoyed each of these poems they both left me with many questions about Cullen and his meaning in these works. From what I read in the biography of Cullen he was raised with an affluent Harlem minister. This leads me to believe that the god Cullen discusses in “Yet I do Marvel” is the Christian God. Because of this I was thrown by Cullen’s reference of two figures from Greek Mythology, Tantalus and Sisyphus. Is Cullen making some sort of statement by combining paganistic beliefs with Christianity in his poetry?

            “Heritage” also left me with many questions. The dedication at the beginning of this poem is to Harold Jackman. Out of curiosity I researched Harold Jackman and I found a few websites that speculated that Cullen and Jackman might have been lovers. This changed my perspective of the poem slightly. I began to look at it as Cullen’s feelings of alienation in his own life rather than just his separation from his African Heritage. In this perspective the poem in some ways reminded me of The Wasteland. It seems to me that both of the authors feel disconnected from the world around them. In the fourth stanza of “Heritage” Cullen says, “So I lie, who find no peace/ Night or day, no slight release/ From the unremittant beat/ Made by cruel padded feet/ Walking through my body’s street.” This passage gave me the same sense of alienation and loneliness that I felt during several sections of The Wasteland.

To be honest I am not entirely sure if anything I think I’ve understood about “Heritage” is accurate. I also found that Cullen married twice, so it is possible that he was not homosexual, and I completely misinterpreted the poem. I suppose I will find out in class tomorrow! :)