Her Lips Are Copper Wire Analysis

Toomer experienced many conflicts, internally and externally, which he processed in his writings, poetry became another channel for his thoughts. Kenneth Rexroth, a painter and poet labeled as a radical through association, hailed Toomer as the most important African American poet. Toomer’s poems were written almost like a dance, often beginning and closing with a similar stanza. His poetry gives a surreal feeling in each line, but they often describe some brutally honest events that many people will experience in their lifetime. In example, Toomer’s poem, “Her Lips Are Copper Wire” describes a rebellion against being silenced, “then with your tongue remove the tape/and press your lips to mine/till they are incandescent” followed by a tale of bright passion (PoemHunter V5). Poetry is an extraordinary form of self expression, one can follow the limitations of certain poem styles such as limerics, or let the words flow freely without common writing restrictions such as punctuation and grammar. In his poem “The Lost Dancer,” Toomer describes the

Many people of the Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts movements, along with later movements, described Toomer’s work in Cane as an inspiration in their own works. “When the writers of the early Harlem Renaissance read Cane, they were pleasantly surprised. Jean Toomer mostly associated with progressive white writers of the late 1910s and 1920s. After writing Cane, he was proclaimed by the black writers as the most promising black writer of that time” (Whisenton 5). His work in Cane was applauded for its recognition of African American culture and struggles, along with its representation of sexual issues that are still overly present. Although Toomer did not directly involve himself in these African American movements, his works inspired the strong people of these movements and impacted many