After reading the poems by Toomer I noticed alot of repetition in the regards of the female character. One poem seemed to stand apart from this repetition was the poem "Reapers."
I enjoyed reading this due to its illiteration on the "s" sound and how expressive it felt when reading it. I noticed alot of reference to "black," which struck me as his comparison to the African race of course.
I noticed that even though the field rat was present during the work of the mower the workers did not stop. This to me showed the type of almost trance like conditions that must have occurred during this time. The workers do not stop for anything.
The term reapers also seem to me to have a double meaning. When I first read the title I thought that it was going to resemble the death of someone. When I read the first line I noticed they meant farm equipment. When I started concluding the poem it struck me that they were talking about death again. I thought this use of the term was very enhancing to the poem.
3 comments:
I also noticed a lot of repetition in Toomer's work. I think besides the repetition of his description of the woman Toomer's themes a lot repeat a lot. There is a common theme of religion and nature. I thought Toomer was very descriptive in his writing with his ideas about women and nature which was interesting. I didn't get the double meaning out of reaper until I read your post and I feel as if your post helped me understand this poem a little better.
I hadn't noticed the double significance of the title. I loved the way this poem read also. That "s" aliteration truly sets the tone and creates the atmosphere as you read it.
I too think that Reapers is one of the more interested of Toomer's poems that we have read. The subject matter is a bit different than the other things in Cane, but the symbolism and imagery is very familiar for Toomer: the cycles of nature, and the reflection of life in nature and agriculture. He often uses symbols in nature to express the subject matter he's writing about.
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