2.  “New Negro”  “Poet” – not a “black poet”  Raised by grandmother – Louisville, Kentucky  Frederick A. Cullen and his wife of Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem  NYU and Harvard  African Americans can write poetry as well as whites can…  Warned Hughes against becoming a “racial” or “negro” poet

3.  1. What similes does Cullen use in the first and second stanzas? Why did he use those similes?  2. What image of human isolation and self-sufficiency does the speaker introduce in the third stanza, and what is his view of it?  3. What point does the speaker make about joy in the fourth stanza? How does the speaker contrast this point to the effect of sorrow?  4. What comparisons are introduced in the last stanza? Why might Cullen have selected those particular comparisons?  5. In this poem, Cullen personifies the emotions of joy and sorrow. What might be the purpose of this personification? Is it effective? Explain.  6. Racism is not specifically mentioned in the poem. What attitude about racism can be inferred from the poem?