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Analysis Of Yet Do I Marvel By Countee Cullen

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One of the most interesting aspects of life is its relationship to God. It is said about God that He is all loving, all knowing, all powerful, and more. One of the amazing realizations about God is that He created not just humans, but also everything else that exist. Anyone who sits down and thinks deeply about this knowledge of God could come to think that since God possesses such great attributes, then anything He creates will be forever perfect in every way. Though within a day one could find much evidence that the world is filled with imperfections. Over many centuries, a great deal has been written about humanities struggle against natural suffering and moral suffering. In his poem “Yet Do I Marvel”, Countee Cullen writes about his own experience in this imperfect world. The last line of his poem says, “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing!” Cullen lived in the city of Harlem, New York during the Harlem Renaissance era where brilliant black poets, musicians, and artists were booming. Even through these wonderful …show more content…

Referring to God’s nature Cullen writes, “God is good, well-meaning, kind…” but in line two he begins to question why God allows certain events to take place. Throughout the two quatrains, Cullen gives four examples of the two types of suffering in the world. In the first quatrain, he asks about natural suffering. A mole is born with eyesight so bad that one could call it blind. A human born in the image of God, as said in the book genesis of the Bible, has to eventually die. “Why would God allow one of His creatures to begin life in this bad condition?” one might ask, or “Why would an eternal God make us humans mortal?” So what we see in lines 3 and 4 is a question about life and another question about death. These two things will happen whether we want them to or

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