A Black Man Talks of Reaping
BY ARNA BONTEMPS
I have sown beside all waters in my day.
I planted deep, within my heart the fear
that wind or fowl would take the grain away.
I planted safe against this stark, lean year.
I scattered seed enough to plant the land
in rows from Canada to Mexico
but for my reaping only what the hand
can hold at once is all that I can show.
Yet what I sowed and what the orchard yields
my brother's sons are gathering stalk and root;
small wonder then my children glean in fields
they have not sown, and feed on bitter fruit
This poem describes the trials and the things the African American people went through. Arna Bontemps compares their trials to farming. He is trying to say that African Americans do all the work, but white people are the ones who get credit for it and get all the rewards. He makes a point that even the future generations might still have to face discrimination between the races. This poem is saying that safety never got the African Americans anywhere and now they have to stand up for themselves in more dangerous ways.
BY ARNA BONTEMPS
I have sown beside all waters in my day.
I planted deep, within my heart the fear
that wind or fowl would take the grain away.
I planted safe against this stark, lean year.
I scattered seed enough to plant the land
in rows from Canada to Mexico
but for my reaping only what the hand
can hold at once is all that I can show.
Yet what I sowed and what the orchard yields
my brother's sons are gathering stalk and root;
small wonder then my children glean in fields
they have not sown, and feed on bitter fruit
This poem describes the trials and the things the African American people went through. Arna Bontemps compares their trials to farming. He is trying to say that African Americans do all the work, but white people are the ones who get credit for it and get all the rewards. He makes a point that even the future generations might still have to face discrimination between the races. This poem is saying that safety never got the African Americans anywhere and now they have to stand up for themselves in more dangerous ways.