Spirituality in the Writings of Jean Toomer, Essay Example

Toomer follows a theme of conscience and compelling perseverance if one wants to become master or king of the earth or universe and suggests one cannot exist without the other for one is the driving force behind the other. There is a distinct spiritual sense behind this poem because consciousness comes through meditation and knowing one’s self and perseverance through compellation comes through staying focused with one’s ideas and goals. Most of Toomer’s writing were never completely understood or accepted by the people of the era because of his elusive style of writing. I will discuss many of his writings and give meaning to what it is perceived he hoped to portray to the readers about the existence of society at that time.

In The Lost Dancer Toomer expresses the fee will of a person and how a person survives beyond the depths of all possibilities but neither bonds with any permanent posture for he finds no magic need to bind in such a relation. His freedom is found within the realm of knowing and accepting that he is a free spirited of untainted love.

Unsuspecting portrays the innocence of the unsuspecting mind and how it curtails its views to fit within the test of society. The unsuspecting has no true value or sense of idealism for their ideas are shaped by thoughts of others.

In People the poem depicts how the human mind sees what it wants to see rather than reality. For reality to certain people are only figments of their imagination and do not touch on the realistic point of views of society but they prefer to live in a closed society where their thoughts only exist. Further the poem suggests that if the meek can be so easily led would they ever be able to see the real truth?

Tell Me suggests finding peace and spirituality within the innocence of nature at its best. When a person experiences true peace and tranquility everything in the world will look beautiful for the mountains will appear soft and the trees will blow blissfully in the wind and further beauty is in the eyes of the beholder which will not be questioned.

Reapers speaks of a more agonizing tone from the author where stones are black and silence is deafening. There is much symbolism by the belly of the rat being cut by the blades in the field for there is much dissonance and lack of continuity in the world that the author speaks of. There is a lack of spiritual guiding force in the readers and authors eyes.

A Portrait in Georgia expresses the commonality of sugar cane burning in the south of Georgia cane fields. Further the poem speaks of the scars on the lips as old scars that can be perceivably healed after torment and pain. With spiritual sense in a person’s life harm and hurt can be healed yet leaving behind certain scars that will always be remembered.

Song of the Son speaks of letting your body and soul go completely and unfurnished into the hands of another through the beauty of nature and the soil and the waters to be presented with an unhanded expectation beyond your wildest imagination. This peace can only be achieved through letting go and giving the divine power to a higher power. The author referencing the past slaves to show how they went through periods of deprivation but remained strong to their beliefs and value systems to carry them through these times of turmoil and deprivation.

Conversion speaks of how a new God is introduced into the fallacy of drinking and feasting but through this fallacy rises cries and grins for the Lord Hosanna in the Highest.

Her Lips are Copper Wire speaks of times when his word could be doubted by her yet her lips are pressed up tight against him in loyalty. There appears to be something stopping the communication between the two for only a temporary moment.” (Toomer, 2009).  His answer to this is for her to take her soft lips an remove the tape from the wires and let it lead straight to him. This is a representation of two lovers desire to be together. Through faith and love they persevere obstacles that are in their way.

Through these various series of poems presented the author represents a focuses on two particular themes one of love and one of disarray. With particular reference to both of these expressions of theme the author shows the reader how times of turmoil can be overcome by belief in a higher power or a spiritual world. His focus is on presenting reality as it is in its truest form and finding a manageable way to cope with reality from a spiritual sense which encompasses a loving and positive attitude. Everything the author touches with his words turn to gold or present itself as an inspirational mark towards achieving a common goal of peace and tranquility. The author uses symbolism and often over-emphasizes situations so that the reader can clearly define with the changing of themes between peace and disarray in one’s life and further how to achieve such peace and tranquility.

Most of Toomer’s writing are officially unpublished. Toomer expresses much work of the South and the African American culture in his writings.  Many of his writings are full of impressionism and involve the understood people of society. He always portrays his characters in a very skillful way of depicting their natural heritage so that the reader can specifically have feelings of compatibility with the characters. “For example his writings in Cane was initially criticized for its approach to racial relations.” (“Toomer, J Introduction”).

Toomer’s article on the Harlem Renaissance speaks of the importation of French Theory and how the American philosophy is somewhat disregarded as a result to this liking of the French analogies. Toomer’s Cane and Renaissance collaborate in this one piece to speak of different virtues offered by each.

“Toomer’s theme of writing particularly follows the human development and further a mosaic of prose and poetry. Because most of his writings are considered experimental they are quite controversial by nature. His writings come from a crucial time of development of African America history and often readers do not understand the true meanings behind his writings.” (Mark, 2006). His writings are presented at Yale University and are a compilation of resources used in many other literary teachings.

Cane is perhaps his best known work of sketches, poems and writings from the 1900’s. His projects were of great intellectual imagination, a vision for the future and were engineered with a life long prospect of expressionism towards relieving the African American society form deprivation, slavery and infringement of civil rights.

Toomer was inspired by many authors such as Russian Gurdjieff and Russian psychologist Borus Bohun, especially living near the District of Columbia. The author refers to his ‘black side of personality’ that was portrayed in the release of the album Sacred Hymns of Gurdieff in the 1970’s. “He further refers to the inspiration of the writers and philosophers ten years later on his daughter, the writer Rachael with her works of ‘many bloods’.” (“Interests and Aims of the Toomer Pages”).

There has been much criticism of Toomer’s writings on lynching in particular reference to the themes used by symbolic nature.  Research states that Toomer expresses symbolism from a pure white viewpoint that is not idealistic of the true interpretation of the morbid acts that were displayed during those times. “Like a Violin for the Wind to Play” is denoted as one of the critical writings of Toomey that is criticized for such use of inaccurate symbolic interpretation and representation of that era. The lynching and burning situations are only exploited experimentation techniques used by the writer and his support writers Harris and Stephens to give their own inaccurate version of those morbid crimes. The time of the early 1920’s was in fact acts of cruel violence and interpretation of criminal acts. All three authors present inaccurate data with respect to the number of lynching’s during that period actually reporting that the number of lynching’s decreased. “Experimentation with lyricism allowed the authors to affirm the humanity of the lynching victims whilst illustrating the brutality of the lynch mob.” (Banks, 2004). It is seen throughout his avid poems and other literary writings that his elusive style of writing often left many feeling puzzled and further feeling Toomey had misunderstood the true concept of political and social referendum of that era. Perhaps Toomey was looking towards the future at what the present was going to deliver but no one but himself could envision those types of manifestations. The essence of the beauty of his poems and literature are that they combined reality with dissonance and sometimes people do not want to know true reality!

References

Toomer, J. (2009) Retrieved November 9, 2009 from, http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/toomer/toomerpoems.html#certainman

Toomer, Jean Introduction Retrieved November 9, 2009 from, http://www.enotes.com/short-story-criticism/toomer-jean

Williams, T. (2001) Jean Toomer and the Harlem Renaissance and The Evidence of Things not Said Retrieved November 10, 2009 from, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2220/is_4_43/ai_90251851/

Mark, W. (2006) Letters of Toomer Retrieved November 10, 2009 from, http://utpress.org/a/searchdetails.php?jobno=T01125

Banks, K. (2004) Like a Violin for the Wind-Lyrical Approaches Retrieved November 10, 2009 from, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2838/is_3_38/ai_n12938686/