ipl-logo

Frederick Douglass Robert Hayden Analysis

1605 Words7 Pages

Regarding Douglass: The Truth of Frederick Douglass through the Words of Robert Hayden The poem, titled, Frederick Douglass, written by American poet, Robert Hayden, contains the very contents of whom it was named for, a literary composition written from the perspective and observations of Robert Hayden, about the character, and life experiences, of former American slave, Frederick Douglass. This poem, holds an outlook on the life of Frederick Douglass, in such a manner that accounts for the very being that Douglass was, in his formula of processing his experiences, and the expression of his own beliefs through his actions. Hayden pursues a personal objective of a plea towards freedom through showcasing the truth of Douglass’s life, while ultimately …show more content…

This element is reflected in this quote, “Douglass "became the first colored man who could command an audience that extended beyond local boundaries or racial ties" (McDowell, “In the First Place”), and in this declaration where emphasis is placed on his bearing of intellect and literary accomplishments, “Specifically in the case of Douglass's narrative, abolitionists pointed to the quality of its writing to demonstrate…the intellect of an author who could not be regarded as "chattel" possession but who must be recognized as a rational human being and one capable of highly intelligent thought” (Valenti, “Frederick Douglass”). In Hayden’s poem, it is not only exposed of how Douglass endures his journey emotionally, but also humanly, as understood in this excerpt, “this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful and terrible thing, needful to man as air, usable as earth” (Hayden, “Frederick Douglass”), attributing to the thought of what would be deemed socially, and considerably acceptable to place upon the human condition, creating a focus on the aspect of how Douglass processed his circumstances. This aspect is covered with these words, “His use of …show more content…

He writes a line that explains this, “but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing” (Hayden, “Frederick Douglass”). This line of Hayden’s work proceeds from his belief that Douglass will be remembered for more uncommonly recognized reasons, than those that may readily come into consideration of the individuals whom have inquired to understand the mind of Douglass, but that he will be remembered through the lives of those wishing to establish, and to pursue the same dream that magnified in his heart; Freedom. Written by the author of a work titled, “The Instrumental and Constitutive Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass”, it is clear of whom it is this ideal begets similitude with; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Here the author motions the comparison of Frederick Douglass’s introduction to “The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World’s Columbian Exposition: The Afro-American’s Contribution to Columbian Literature”, authored by Ida B. Wells, to Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. It is thus expressed how Frederick’s ideal, poses a reiteration with Dr. King’s letter, concluding that belief of the author in this excerpt, “Furthermore, because Frederick Douglass’s “Introduction” to The Reason Why functions synecdochically for the entire

Open Document