Homage To The Empress Of The Blues Analysis

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Homage to the Empress of the Blues The poem “Homage to the Empress of the Blues” by Robert E. Hayden, written in 1962, is a tribute to the blues singer Bessie Smith. This poem requires careful reading and attention. This poem is an honor to Bessie Smith, an African American blues singer who was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. I listened to the blues song on YouTube and the rhythm it made me want to sing along but there was definitely a message behind the song I think about African American slaves. Middle Passage The "Middle Passage" refers to the slave trade that began in the fifteenth century. Hayden use many voices of speaker’s different tone to show the long trip of slave traders bringing slaves across the Atlantic Ocean. This made