Count Cullen was born in New York city and was one of the most important voices of the Harlem Renaissance.

From the Dark Tower by Countee Cullen is an ominous yet hopeful poem. The first line of the poem, “We shall not always plant while others reap”, is the opposite of the infamous but well known saying, “You shall reap what you sow”. It can be assumed that the narrator is not speaking about any bad deeds or ill feelings but rather something else. Countee Cullen held African American sentiment close to his heart. Growing and prospering during the Harlem Renaissance in New York, he was exposed to and experienced the black condition in a manner many have not. With this in mind, the word “plant” could be taken literally or figuratively which would change the overall meaning of the poem. Figuratively “plant” could be in reference to African Americans embracing their culture and “giving” said culture to the American people. In other words, African American men and women of this time created art, poetry, songs, dances that paid homage to their African roots and ancestors while simultaneously teaching the World who they are and what they have been through and are going through. If we take this version of plant, then the rest of the sentence would suggest that someone or someones not of the African American culture took what they created and reaped the benefits. Literally, “plant” would reference the growing and caring for plants and food. This would be an allusion to slavery, tied in with the rest of the sentence. Slaves did not profit from the work that they did to plant crops. Their masters reaped all of the benefits while they were left with nothing.

Line four of the poem states, “That lesser men should hold their bothers cheap”. This line alone suggests someone being held captive by someone who is less powerful or less than themselves. This particular line could allude back to slavery also. African men and women were bought and sold cheaply, as if they were objects. And the white men that bought them, were in a sense, less than. Not only did they need someone else to do their work for them, but their moral and ethical obligations towards were null and void. These two facts would intern make them less than the people that they bought.

Line eight, the last line of the first stanza states, “We were not made eternally to weep”. This line in itself is one of the most powerful lines within this particular poem and it speaks volumes. As relating to slavery, slaves held onto the faith that soon they would be free. Soon the system that hurt and abused them would fall and they would suffer no more. Although that was not necessarily the case (Jim Crow, the Civil Right Movement, today), African Americans still always held hope. This poem transcends past just simply wishing for freedom from being it slave, it also delves into the fact the African American men and women are constantly abused. And its not like we, as an African American people, benefit from it. No, we suffer and we lose, constantly, over and over again. But we always keep the faith. We always have faith that one day things will change. One day we will be fully and completely free and not have to worry. We’ll again be the kings and queens that we once were.