Yet Do I Marvel by Countee Cullen

Yet Do I Marvel

The poem Yet Do I Marvel is written by Countee Cullen seemingly addressed to God . It connects human situations like the discrimination of black people , and punishments anchored in Greek mythologies to the existence of God

I doubt not God is good , well-meaning , kind ' is an allusion to popular Christian belief that God is good , and the greatest , which was also acknowledged by the poet . However , in the progress of his poem , he showed his loose attachment to Christian faith . Even if he was apparently praising God

for the explanations He made with the blindness of the mole and death of man , or to the punishments received by Tantalus and Sisyphus , his poem rose to another interpretation . God should never explain what he does for the simplest reason that He is the God . He should have made this clear to himself . What awful brain compels His awful hand ' is another evidence of his inclination to blasphemy . The use of the awful brought down the level of God to a status that He could be questioned and criticized by the poet . Buried in the lines of the poem is the appreciation of the poet for the power of God to create all of the stated events

Yet do I marvel at this curious thing : To make a poet black , and bid him sing ' showcases the biggest question from the poet himself . He wanted to ask why he was made a poet , and at the same time , black , if he was destined to say something to the world . During the time the poem was written , it was very difficult for poets , who are black , like Cullen , to voice what they have in their hearts and minds . This is a reflection of the state in his mind that if he was given the choice , he should have been white , and not black

Reference

Cullen , C . 2006 . Yet Do I Marvel . In Concise Anthology of American Literature . G McMichael JS Leonard . 6th ed . New Jersey : Pearson Prentice Hall . 1735

YET DO I MARVEL

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