LITERARY ANALYSIS (ENGL112L)

Posted by santw001 on Aug 3, 2022 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Stephen Antwi

Professor Rebekah Coxwell

Introduction to Literature

07/18/2022

Poetry Analysis

In my life, I have read many poems; however, the one that stands out most to me is Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s Bible Defense of Slavery. This is my favorite poem since it conveys a fundamental message that transcends beyond the servitude period – hypocrisy. Harper used this poem to advance the theme of hypocrisy during slavery since the enslavers had turned to the Bible to mask their wrongdoings. Nevertheless, the reality is that the Bible sanctioned servitude (Jankiewicz 50). Therefore, Harper composed her poem to denounce the misuse of the Bible scriptures to defend immoral actions. The Bible Defense of Slavery‘s central message of the need to avoid using the Bible to validate slavery and its good structure and moral lesson makes it a favorite poem.

The factor that makes Harper’s Bible Defense of Slavery better than other poems I have read is its profound message. The poet opens this poem by presenting a vivid description of the enslaved people. She uses the word “sackcloth” to create a mental picture in the reader’s mind of how the enslaved people were dressed. These enslaved people could sit on the ground mourning as they listened to a reverend support slavery (Harper). However, the reverend’s words brought misery and terror instead of solace in their lives since they defended slavery. In the fourth stanza, the speaker asserts that the reverend should be a source of light guiding the aged and youths but brings slavery to the shrine (Harper). This statement revealed how Christianity was being used to promote slavery instead of fighting it.

My immediate response to Harper’s poem is that it depicted the reality in society. When I first read the title of this poem, I was perplexed about how the Bible could defend slavery. However, upon reading the entire poem, it dawned on me that Harper was reprimanding the people using the Bible to protect their immoral deeds. In today’s society, some people commit heinous acts and try to defend their actions by citing some scriptures. Therefore, the poem conveyed a vital message that applied to not only the enslavers but also to contemporary society members.

The underlying theme in Harper’s poem is the danger of sanctifying depravity. The narrator in the fifth stanza mentioned Sodom to tell the readers that using God’s word to defend against evil could be calamitous. The narrator claimed “since Sodom’s fearful cry” to remind the readers about what happened in Sodom after the people disobeyed God and chose to sin. By mentioning this Biblical story, Harper warned the people who were using the Bible to make a false defense of slavery. It is a sin to lie to God or mislead His people by making false interpretations of the Bible scriptures. So, Harper used her poem to expose evil by using the Bible to defend evil. Also, since Harper was an African American woman, she composed this poem to show that the crafty use of Christianity by supporters of slavery could not make Blacks believe that slavery was defensible.

Harper’s poem Bible Defense of Slavery is structurally sound. In terms of structure, Harper used the ABAB rhyme scheme in all six stanzas to create an aesthetically appealing poem. In addition, her arrangement of ideas enhances the effectiveness of this poem. She arranged it into three parts like an essay – problem, exploration, and conclusion. This arrangement makes it easy for a reader to read and understand the poem. Also, Harper used an assertive tone to ensure her message could be taken seriously. For example, in the lines “Servants of Him that cannot lie, Sit mourning on the ground” (Harper), the speaker used an assertive tone to directly convey the sufferings of the enslaved people. The use of diction in this poem is also exemplary. For example, the poet used the word “reverend” to convey the hypocrisy in Christianity because the reverend was expected to tell the congregants truth. However, the reverend referred to was manipulating God’s word to suit his desires. Likewise, Harper used the word “Sodom” to remind the readers of the consequences that society could face for choosing to sin by using the Bible to defend wickedness. In addition, Harper’s inclusion of specific details about how the enslavers employed Christianity to defend servitude in the poem helped her to make her poetry more appealing. For instance, the speaker opined that the masters sacrificed the truth and chose to bring slavery to the shrine to criticize their actions. This is appealing to the readers since it depicts the depravity of the protection of slavery.

It is equally essential to point out that Harper’s poem is morally good because it presents a powerful moral message about the need to refrain from using the Bible to defend evil. By highlighting the wickedness of using the Bible to defend slavery, Harper warned society why it was wrong to misuse the word of God for selfish interests – financial gains (Jankiewicz 49). It should be borne in mind that the enslavers were trying to cite the Bible as a defense to continue exploiting the enslaved people for their benefit. Nevertheless, such acts were reprehensible and could not be pardoned. Thus, Harper warned the enslavers and any other person who could try to conceal evil by using the Bible.

In summation, Harper’s poem Bible Defense of Slavery is an artistic work with a powerful message that even applies to the current generation. The deeper meaning in this poem is what makes me choose the Bible Defense of Slavery as my favorite poem. Also, the poem has a good structure that aesthetically appeals to readers. Likewise, the poem is morally good because it conveys invaluable teaching to society. Accordingly, Harper’s poem would remain relevant to many coming generations because of its profound message.

Works Cited

Harper, Frances. “Bible Defense of Slavery.” 1993.

Jankiewicz, Darius. “Hermeneutics of Slavery: A’Bible-Alone’Faith and the Problem of Human Enslavement.” Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 12 (1), 47-73. ISSN: 1553-9881 (2016).