Countee Cullen's Poem Yet Do I Marvel

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Countee Cullen poem, “Yet Do I Marvel” has left me utterly speechless. Without googling information about this poem or poet, I am convinced that Cullen’s work was present and groundbreaking during the Harlem Renaissance. This sonnet begins with a humble reference to his creator and ending with a paradoxical creation that the divine being has gifted the world. The poem alludes to Cullen’s unmistakably bold conclusion after constant allusions to mythology and symbols to the barriers of man. By beginning the poem, “I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,” the poet seeks not to disrespect his creator, but rather to question the rationale behind his creations. Line two and three first inquires the cruelty of God in the statement, “And did He stoop to quibble could tell why the little buried mole continues blind.” The previously mentioned lines uses the example of a blind buried mole as an example of …show more content…

The paradox prevalent throughout the poem of a loving God and his actions are now switched to the black poet. In the year 2017, most black poets would not say that being black and being a poet is exclusive, but slavery was not too far removed from Cullen’s time. The creative nature the arts consumes could potentially be thought of idle work and idle work meant punishments for those in bondage. The last line seems to also be almost victorious, as if being a poet who is black and speaking is not unpleasant but rather interesting. The modest beginning of “Yet Do I Marvel” by Countee Cullen develops the overall paradox of a kind God operating wicked in the eyes of man. The last lines of the poem solidify the complex nature of the Creator by giving yet another paradox, but this time to poets of his time of the Harlem

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