Information-
Background-
Countee Cullen was born on May 30th, 1903 in Lexington, Kentucky and died on January 9, 1949. He was believed to have been abandoned by his mother, and at this time his paternal grandmother took charge, and took him to Harlem when he was nine. His grandmother died in 1918. At this point, he was taken in by Reverend and Mrs. Fredrick A. Cullen. |
Education-
He was soon enrolled in DeWitt Clinton High School. He excelled in all subjects, and when he graduated in 1922 he had honors in Latin, French, math, and Greek. In 1922 he went to New York University, where he perfected his poetry, and he graduated the following year. After he graduated there he entered Harvard in 1925 to try to get a Master's in English. |
Examples of His Work-
HeritageWhat is Africa to me:
Copper sun or scarlet sea, Jungle star or jungle track, Strong bronze men or regal black, Women from whose loins I sprang, When the birds of Eden sang? One three centuries removed From the scenes his father loved, Spicy grove, cinnamon tree, What is Africa to me? |
Yet Do I MarvelI doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,
And did He stoop to quibble could tell why The little buried mole continues blind, Why flesh that mirrors Him must someday die, Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus To struggle up a never-ending stair. Inscrutable His ways are, and immune To catechism by a mind too strewn With petty cares to slightly understand What awful brains compels His awful hand. Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing! |