What Does The Poem Minstrel Man Represent

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The poems uses of symbolism are used throughout the text to express a universal misconception. The universal misconception articulated in “Minstrel Man” is that outward signs of happiness and joy signify the absence of agony and pain. The first use of symbolism was in the phrase “Because my mouth is wide with laughter and my throat is deep with song, you do not think I suffer after I held my pain so long” in lines 1 through 8. In these lines laughter is used a symbol of appearing happy and therefore no signs of agony are expected. Laughter, when used in the form of a verb, can represent freedom because it gives the impression that one can live freely for the moment without restraint. Another example of symbolism is the use of the phrase