The first poem is entitled "America’’ and it presents the way in which the narrator reacted when he was faced with the sizes of the American cities, different from the world he was used to until them. The narrator talks about the new country as if it were a woman, feeding him and also taking away his life. The narrator feels overwhelmed when faced with the new way of life and he is unable to deal with it properly.
Despite the narrator feeling uncomfortable and even threatened in the new environment, he refuses to leave and makes himself stand his ground and decides he must do everything he can to move on.
Flame Heart
The poem "Flame Heart’’ is a meditative poem in which the narrator looks back at his life and how it changed in the ten years he was away from home. The narrator lists a number of things he ‘’forgot’’ since he moved to America, namely the way his life used to be and the things that once brought him joy. The narrator calls this time of his life "a season’’, implying thus that this period of his life will end someday and he will return to how he was once.
The narrator talks about the fruits and the birds he remembers from his homeland but claims he does not remember in which season they bloomed or in which season the birds came back to the country he was living in. What he does remember is everything that has to do with the month of December and the things associated with that time of the year.
The narrator talks about the bees he used to see every day and also about the pig pens he remembers. He talks about the women and the way the looked but he still claims he can only remember the time of December. The narrator remembers his school years, when he had no worry and when he used to spend his time pining after girls. The narrator claims he ‘’embalmed’’ those days so he could still remember them and so he could still look back at them when he was feeling down.
The Tropics of New York
The poem begins with the narrator listing fruits native to his home country that are now prizes are parish fairs. The narrator sees them in the windows and the image of the fruits makes him think about the place where he grew up. The sight of the fruits is almost unbearable for the narrator and he has to turn his head away, not being able to support being remembered about the life he once had.
Mulatto
"Mulatto’’ is a harsh poem which the narrator addresses to his father. The narrator reveals he is the son of a white man and bears his sign upon his check. The narrator does not let himself be torn down by other people simply because he is a black man and promises to fight for the ‘’throne’’ or the right to rule and be considered a good man in the world.
The narrator talks about the hate he has towards his father and how that affected his life. He ends the poem by claiming he is able to murder his father, should the situation present to him.
In the poem "The Lynching’’ the narrator begins by comparing someone’s sprit with smoke, rising towards the heavens. The soul is expected by a father, who longs to see the boy back with him. Meanwhile, on earth, a group of boys called the "lynchers’’ dance round a hanged corpse while "blue eyes’’ watch from afar, not being affected by the sight of the dead boy.
This poem, while short, portrays the cruelty with which the black people were treated. The narrator describes in this poem the death of a young boy and from the way the event is described one can reach the conclusion that the boy’s death was not revenged. What is more, the rest of society just stood by and watched as the boy was killed in a ruthless manner.
The poem ends in a slight positive manner, with the narrator hinting that the boy was saved by God and he eventually found peace in Heaven.
