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PLEASE HELP!!!!!! ENGLISH!!!! describe how the poem uses imagery about freedom, the lack of it, or the desire for it. The poem would be "A black Mans Talks of Reaping"

User Bix
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Hmm, well it looks like the most prevalent theme is how American slaves from the 19th century couldn't "reap what they've harvested".

For imagery, this section caught my eye:

"I planted deep, within my heart the fear

that wind or fowl would take the grain away."

"Wind or fowl" are problems that cannot be controlled/suppressed, so if you farm crops you instill that fear and hope for the best. You could say that this represents a lack of freedom; the author mentions "planting" a fear, which can be interpreted as deeply internalizing a devotion to something that might cause you pain.

Later on, the poem says:

"I scattered seed enough to plant the land

in rows from Canada to Mexico"

This shows the extent of that devotion; the speaker has done so much to protect themselves, to ensure their survival.

Then there's this part:

"but for my reaping only what the hand

can hold at once is all that I can show."

The contrast in imagery in the first and second half of that stanza are huge; the speaker has grown so much grain to sustain himself, but is only able to reap what he can hold in his hand.

This represents a lack of freedom; working so hard only for wealthy slave owners to reap what others have grown for them.

I hope this makes at least some sense lol.

User Serge Kuharev
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