English 1020 Al Young essay PDF

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English 1020 Professor Collins 4/4/18 Al Young Poem Analysis Al Young published a few poems and novels throughout the mid-fifties to the early nineties. In two of Young’s poems, “Birthday Poem” and “Aunt”, he tells the audience about his mother’s pregnancy at a young age, and the other describing what his aunt looks like and her positive mindset during a rough time period. The problems of this time period could have strong negative effects on African Americans, but with these two strong women in his life they helped him keep a positive outlook. These two poems contain many similes and metaphors in which bring out the common theme of how these two women were important in his life and how life was for them. In Young’s poem, “Birthday Poem” he describes a gloomy life in Mississippi, “years of meaningless farm work work Work WORK WORK WORK ‘Papa pull you outta school bout March to stay on the place & work the crop’—her own earliest knowledge of human hopelessness & waste” (Young). He goes on and mentions his mother’s pregnancy, “She carried me around nine months inside her fifteen-year-old self before here I sit numbering it all” (Young). When he mentions his mother’s pregnancy, the audience then realizes this poem is especially talking about how life was for his mother when she was pregnant with him. Considering the time period in which he was born, in the late thirties, one can assume life was not easy. African Americans were already not treated fairly and being pregnant did not make it any easier for Young’s mom. One author describes life of a hard working African American to be very labor intensive,

“African Americans had to work in the field just to get by” (Kimble Korner). In the last two stanzas of Young’s poem it says, “How I got from then to now is the mystery that could fill a whole library much less an arbitrary stanza But of course you already know about that from your own random suffering & sudden inexplicable bliss” (Young). These few lines tell the readers, though he suffered, he had many victories in which got him in the place he is in today. He is an award-winning poet and novelist, wealthy, famous, and a “co-founder of ‘The Yardbird reader, and Quilt” (Poets.org). In another poem by Young called, “Aunt” Young expresses how much of a happy woman his aunt is and how her appearance does not dictate her happiness. He starts off by describing how she talks, and very small features on her face, “She talks too loud, her face a blur of wrinkles & sunshine where her hard hair shivers from laughter like a pine tree stiff with oil & hotcombing” (Young). In this stanza, Young mentions her flaws which is that she is too loud and people probably do not know how to perceive her. In a time period like that, African Americans were frowned upon by white men and women especially in the south, but Young’s aunt still feels happy and beautiful no matter what anyone thinks of her. In the second stanza, Young talks about how much his aunt loves fashion even though she is a larger woman. Young’s uses a specific simile, “People just gotta stand back and take it like they do Easter Sunday when the rainbow she travels is dry-cleaned” (Young). Young’s simile achieves the goal “to get across to the audience

that you have to love her for her, because no matter what people think of her, if it is not what she wants them to think, she does not care about it” (Kimble Korner). Young also says, “Her eyes are diamonds of pure dark space” (Young), this metaphor is a great way of expressing her eyes sparkle light even in the darkest times. As Young grew up being influenced by his aunt and her positive mindset, he learned to have a better view of the world. After reading both of Young’s Poems, the audience can see similarities between the mom and the aunt. Young’s mom was a hard-working teenage mother in the late thirties’. Though time was rough for her, she still managed to be happy and raise her son in a loving home environment despite the time period, and African Americans being treated badly. As well as Young’s mom, Young’s aunt was also an important part of his life. Like everyone, Young’s aunt had flaws, but she did not let that stop her from living a happy life. No matter what anyone thought of her, she always kept the mindset that she was beautiful. She looked past her physical appearance and showed people beauty is from the inside. Both Young’s mom and aunt were living in a bad time period, they both had flaws, but they did not let their flaws dictate the way they were going to live their lives. They chose happiness in the darkest times. Al Young’s poems shared a common theme of what the day to day was like for two very important people in his life. His use of simile and metaphor are great ways to really show his readers how his mom and aunt acted during the rough time period they lived in. Both Young’s mom and aunt were admirable to Young because they did not let the thought of anyone else bother them; they showed him that happiness is a choice even during bad times.

Works Cited “Al Young - Al Young Poems - Poem Hunter.” PoemHunter.com, Poem Hunters, www.poemhunter.com/al-young/.

“Al Young.” Kimblekorner - Al Young, 2016, kimblekorner.wikispaces.com/Al+Young.

Sanchez, Sonia. “Al Young.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, 15 Mar. 2017, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/al-young....