Daybreak in Alabama Essay Questions

What role does color play in conveying the message of the poem?

Color is used to describe nature and later skin color in Hughes’s “Daybreak in Alabama.” The speaker begins the poem by expressing his desire to be a “colored composer.” This distinction reveals that the speaker is African American. However, the speaker goes on to reveal that the music that he will compose contains literal colors as well, such as red, brown, and yellow. The colors that are used to describe nature (“long red necks”) are the same colors used to describe people (“And red clay earth hands”) in a similar way that the word “colored” describes the race of the composer as well as the fact that his compositions are colorful. The speaker uses color to unite nature and humanity as one in his music.

What effect does the use of multiple senses have on the composer’s music?

The speaker uses synesthesia, or the mixing of the senses, to describe his music. He writes, “I’m gonna put some tall tall trees in it / And the scent of pine needles / And the smell of red clay after rain” (lines 7-9). It is difficult to imagine smelling music or seeing tall trees in a song, but in adding these elements the “colored composer” affirms that the harmonies that he wants to create transcend sonic pleasure. His music will create harmonies in nature and social unity as well. Toward the end of the poem he writes, “And I’m going to put white hands / And black hands and brown yellow hands” (lines 15-16). Joining the hands of different races together through song is this composer’s goal, but this requires his music to not only touch ears, but to touch eyes, noses, and hands as well.

What role does the speaker’s use of African American Vernacular English play in the poem?

The first four lines of the poem establish the colloquial tone of the poem. The speaker uses African American Vernacular English when writing, “When I get to be a colored composer / I’m gonna write me some music about / Daybreak in Alabama / And I’m gonna put the purtiest songs in it” (lines 1-4). The phrase “get to be” is not grammatically correct in American/US English, yet it is used as a part of the opening phrase of the poem to establish an acceptance and reification of African American dialects. This grammatical structure is especially prominent in the southern United States, where this poem takes place. Contractions such as “gonna” also originate from AAVE. Their presence in this poem asserts that there is beauty in colloquial dialects as well as formal speech. The word prettiest is spelled “purtiest” in the fourth line to better emulate the Southern accent of African Americans in Alabama. These dialect additions to the poem emphasize the appreciation of all languages, lexicons, and dialects in this future harmonious society.