Matriarchal Roles
The poem outlines how women are essential to passing down history and culture in African American families. African American women, especially elderly ones, held an almost sanctified role as child rearers and historians during this time. The fourth line of the poem reads, “Aunt Sue cuddles a brown-faced child to her bosom,” emphasizing how Aunt Sue is not only a living artifact of the past, but a source of safety and comfort. This role of women in oral storytelling traditions grants African American women a level of social power and respect that they do not have in the greater society.
Oral Storytelling
The overarching theme in the poem is the importance of oral storytelling in African American families specifically, and in the preservation of cultural history more generally. Despite the melancholy tone of most of the poem, oral storytelling was used to lift the spirits of the enslaved. In this way, it serves as a means of survival as well.
Perseverance
This poem emphasizes how African American heritage endures despite slavery. While Aunt Sue tells stories about hiding in the cover of night during slavery, she is able to tell stories freely on a front porch by the time she holds the brown-faced child. The last line reads “Listening to Aunt Sue’s stories” in the present progressive tense, emphasizing how Aunt Sue’s stories endure slavery and even transcend time.
Sorrow
Aunt Sue’s stories are not without sorrow because many of her life experiences come from slavery. This is best seen in lines 10-11: “And black slaves / singing sorrow songs on the banks of a mighty river.” The alliteration of /s/ sounds emphasizes and draws out the sense of sorrow that the songs communicate. Aunt Sue tells stories about sneaking in the dead of night during slavery to avoid being discovered by slave owners. No matter how enthralling her stories may be, they cannot escape the shadow of slavery.
