Acknowledged for his multifaceted, creative poetry, Melvin B. Tolson was considered to be one of America’s leading Black poets. As a poet, Tolson was influenced by both modernism and the language and experiences of African Americans. Tolson was deeply influenced by his studies of the Harlem Renaissance. Tolson was a debate coach at the historically black Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, there he led a team of college students that pioneered interracial college debates against white institutions in the segregated South. Under Tolson’s direction, Wiley’s speech and debate team upheld a ten-year winning streak between 1929 to 1939. As some may know, this was depicted in the 2007 biopic The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington as Tolson and produced by Oprah Winfrey. After his successful coaching and teaching career at Wiley College, Tolson then accepted a position at Langston University. That same year, Tolson was appointed the Poet Laureate of Liberia, which inspired his second book of poetry. Tolson attracted increased attention with one of his most notable works Libretto for the Republic of Liberia, a poem which commemorates the African nation’s centennial. 

Aside from Tolson working within the modernist tradition to explore African-American issues, his concern with poetic form and his enduring optimism is what set him apart from many of his contemporaries. Though he wrote after the Harlem Renaissance, Tolson adhered to its ideals and he was hopeful for a better economic and political future for African-Americans. Critics say that Tolson has developed “a vision of Africa past, present, and future” with “prodigious eclecticism” and “force of language and rhythm”. This sentiment speaks volume to the great influenced he had on twentieth-century poetry and why his work remains relevant. 

Tolson’s poem, “Dark Symphony”, is arguably one of his best works and many can feel a connection to it. The poem offers more to readers than just discussion about being a modernist poem or a poem about racial inequality. In the poem, Tolson is celebrating the accomplishments of the African race throughout history and continuing into the modern era in a melodic way. Each section in the poem is broken up in the same way that symphonic music is displayed, beginning with Allegro Moderato which translates to “quick but not overly fast” and ending with part 6, Tempo di Marcia which means “a marching tempo”. In order to thoroughly understand the poem, it is important to know the musical terms of the poem. Specifically, it is important to understand the implication in this poem being that each title gives readers a set pace and mindset for each part of the symphony. 

Another aspect that is significant is the way in which the poem is structured and its length. The poem is actually longer because it expresses a lot of history and the way that it is written is both formal and informal in way that is musically accurate. Furthermore, in the poem Tolson questions white Americans and how he believes white culture continuously tries to forget that slavery happened at all. Beginning at part 4 of the poem Tolson articulates his concept of a “New Negro”, in part 4 is says, “The New Negro strides upon the continent/ In the seven-league boots…/ The New Negro…”. From those lines, I gathered that Tolson is describing someone who should be admired or looked at as the equal. Tolson then continues by describing the accomplishments of the New Negro and the Old Negro. The poem ends with the New Negro and how they will shape the world in the future.  When reading this poem, it is important to break down each part and look at each section of the Symphony in order to fully grasp Tolson concept. 

Wallace Stevens was an American modernist poet, he was a “late bloomer” amongst other poet of the modernism era. Stevens was born and raised in Pennsylvania, he attended the New York Law School, and spent the majority of his life working at an insurance company as an executive. Stevens began his poetry career with one of his most notable works, Harmonium, which was published in 1923. Stevens was also a philosopher of aesthetics which critics believe heavily influenced his unique writing style. He mastered the art of inputting unusual yet extraordinary vocabulary in creating his poems. Though, Stevens is known as a “difficult poet” because his work encompasses extreme thematic and mechanical complexity in his work. Additionally, he is known as a provocative and abstract thinker, and this reputation continued even after his death. After Stevens left his career as a lawyer, he began to tap into his writing. He rose to fame for his most notable work, Collected Poems. Stevens the won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1955, along with the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award. Before this, Stevens traveled to Casa Marina Hotel located in the Key West, Florida. There his thirst for writing increased and that when he came to publish Ideas of the Order book. He also met Robert Frost during his time in Key West in the year of 1935. Moreover, Stevens admitted other poets such as Carlos Williams, Hart Crane, and Carlos Williams. Stevens’s work explores interactions with reality and what a man can make of reality. An article from The New Yorker states that during the time in which Stevens began to write, he would compose poems on piece of paper as he walked to his office then his secretary would type them. It is rumored that some of these poems were used in “Harmonium”, his first book comprised of 85 poems.

Moreover, Ezra Pound is another poet that advanced the modern movement in English and American literature. He attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York where he earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Pound studied literature and languages in college and during 1908 Pound moved to Europe, where he wrote and published many successful books of poetry. Pound authored well over seventy books and promoted many other famous poets such as T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, and Ernest Hemingway. Pound also was a well-established journalist. He held pro-Fascist broadcasts in Italy during World War II and was arrested and jailed until 1958. Much of Pound’s success was gained overseas, he produced three books, “Personae, “Exultations”, and “The Spirit of Romance”. In addition to the books, he also wrote several critiques and reviews for publications agencies such as the Egoist, Poetry, and New Age. Pound also assisted with writing “Imagism”, which created a movement for a new literary direction in poetry. Essentially, Imagism was a push towards a direct course with language, with would shed the sentiment that had practically shaped Romantic and Victorian poetry. Precision and economy was something that was of high valued for Pound and the other advocates of the movement, which included F.S. Flint, William Carlos Williams, Amy Lowell, Richard Aldington, and Hilda Doolittle. With its focus on the “thing” as the “thing,” Imagism reflected the changes happening in other art forms, most notably the Cubists and painting. Pound introduced the world to rising poets such as Robert Frost, D.H. Lawrence, and he also was T.S. Eliot’s editor. In fact, Pound edited Eliot’s “The Waste Land”, which is considered to be on the greatest works created during the modernist era. Ultimately, Pound is considered to most responsible for defining and stimulating a modernist aesthetic in poetry. 

In Rita Dove’s, The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century American Poetry, she introduces her readers to the most noteworthy and captivating poems of the past hundred years. In the introduction, Dove enlightens her readers with the history of the authors that are featured. After reading the introduction, I was excited to learn that I would be reading and interpreting poems by arguably the greatest poets of the time period. The introduction is important because it provides readers with not only insight into the history of the literary movement but also why Dove decided to include works that she did. 

Within the pages that my group and I were assigned, first introduced Robert Frost. Despite the constant neglect and criticism Frost received, he reputation remains as being one of the most celebrated poets of his time. Specifically, many saw Frost as being different from other writers and also questioned his writing style. As Dove states in the introduction, “One could explain away the phenomenon of Robert Frost with the adage “He who dies with the most toys wins”, but that would be unfair and, in fact, optimize the dismissive attitude characterizing the Frost-bashing of the 1970s and 1980s.”, I didn’t know what exactly “Frost-bashing “was and wondered about the extent of the adversity he faced during the time. Despite the misfortune, Frost is known as being of the most respected poets of the twentieth century. 

Moreover, the next featured poet is Wallace Stevens who essentially was one of the writers to develop modernism during the literary movement. As I was reading the introduction, I noted the part where Dove emphasize that readers must first understand the Victorian Era in order to even begin to why modernism was so important. I then did research about it and found that modernism developed due to writers wanted to differentiate themselves from Victorian Era which primarily focused on political reform and religion. Wallace became known as “the poet of the mind” because of the way in which his poems sought to be cerebral or analytical. As I continued to read I learned that during the end of the nineteenth century, the Victorian Era began to be questioned by theorist or as Dove states “begun to show cracks”. This is when the revelations of Darwinism, as known as the theory of evolution derived. From my understanding or interpretation, I began to develop that modernism essentially influenced the idea that the truth can be anything and that nothing necessarily has one meaning. This realization is of course what ignited the new literary movement. I began to think the theoretical approaches such as New Criticism coined by John Crowe Ransom which actually focuses on the importance of close reading and also discourages the use of outside sources or evidence in order to interpret the work. I was thrilled to have made a connection of this prior knowledge I had prior to reading the introduction. The fact that this same literary device was developed during the early twentieth century is what led me to make the connection. Other poets that were mentioned such as Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and E.E. Cummings also add to the discussion of the literary movement and how it progressed during the time period. 

As I read the I noticed how a timeline was somewhat formed, I was not certain but personally, as I read, I saw as things feel into place as the literary movement progressed. Ultimately, the introduction made me excited to continue to read the remainder of the book and learning about the history or the time period in which the featured writer wrote allowed me to obtain a greater understanding of what’s to come and prepare myself for it.