Double Elegy by Michael S. Harper
"Double Elegy" by Michael S. Harper is a poignant exploration of the interconnected lives and artistic journeys of two poets, Gwendolyn Brooks and Richard Wright, who navigate the complexities of race, culture, and personal struggle in America. Through Harper's verses, the poets' experiences are depicted as a shared narrative, highlighting their resilience against the backdrop of societal challenges. The poem opens by illustrating the distinct yet parallel paths of Hayden and Wright, symbolizing their individual struggles while acknowledging their common ground. Harper celebrates their artistic achievements, suggesting that life's adversities can be transformed into sources of inspiration rather than defeat.
Using powerful imagery, including references to the Ohio and Detroit Rivers, Harper emphasizes the notion of collective identity and shared experiences among all Americans. The poem meanders through allusions to cultural landmarks and personal memories, juxtaposing the grandeur of cultural icons with the sobering realities of everyday life. Ultimately, Harper reflects on the profound loss of both poets, connecting them to other figures who have emerged from oppression, and articulating his own grief. "Double Elegy" serves as a tribute to the transformative power of art and the enduring spirit of those who create amidst hardship, making it a significant work for understanding the intersection of personal and collective narratives in American poetry.
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Double Elegy by Michael S. Harper
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1985 (collected in Healing Song for the Inner Ear, 1985)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
“Double Elegy” conflates the lives of two poets whom Michael S. Harper includes in his rendering of artistic kinship by linking them across geographical and racial boundaries. Both Hayden (black) and Wright (white) are characterized as emblems of personal persistence and poetic accomplishment, each struggling to overcome social, economic, cultural, and racial challenges in the pursuit of his artistic passions.
In stanza 1, Harper shows Hayden and Wright traveling on different paths, “city or country roads,” but sharing the experiences of uphill struggles: “the dark invisible elements cling to your skin.” Celebrating each poet’s ability to use life’s obstacles as seeds for writing rather than reasons for failure, “you do not cry/ and you do not scratch,” Harper’s elegy points to the potential of suffering as a source of triumph. By using images of the Ohio and Detroit Rivers, bodies of water that connect across history and distance, Harper asserts both individual and collective identities for the poets and stresses the shared realities of all Americans. Like the rivers, Harper’s second and third stanzas meander along a series of allusions to popular culture, historical landmarks, and memorable performances; Harper traces the emergence of luxurious cultural icons—“the Paradise Theatre,” “the Radisson Hotel,” and “the twentieth century Limited”—alongside poignant personal memories of more modest (and sobering) images from everyday life and culture—“Uncle Henry,” freight trains used to transport men into war, and sporting events in the South.
Harper’s sadness over the loss of Hayden and Wright culminates in the final stanza, in which he connects the poets to other inspiring figures born of oppression, “Leadbelly” and “Little Crow,” and acknowledges the unpleasant but enlightening truths of physical death. Facing his own pain at having to say “goodbye” to Hayden, a very close friend, and Wright, a member of his treasured poetic lineage, Harper uses language to transcend time, space, and mortal death in “Double Elegy” in order to pay tribute to artistry born of difficulty and to explore the promising potential of his own.
Bibliography
Brown, Joseph A. “Their Long Scars Touch Ours: A Reflection on the Poetry of Michael Harper.” Callaloo, no. 26 (Winter, 1986): 209-220.
Cooke, Michael G. Afro-American Literature in the Twentieth Century: The Achievement of Intimacy. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1984.
Harper, Michael S. “The Map and the Territory: An Interview with Michael S. Harper.” Interview by Michael Antonucci. African American Review 34, no. 3 (Autumn, 2000): 501-508.
Henderson, Stephen, ed. Understanding the New Black Poetry. New York: William Morrow, 1973.
Lerner, Ben. To Cut Is to Heal. Providence, R.I.: Paradigm Press, 2000.
Mills, Ralph J. Cry of the Human: Essays on Contemporary American Poetry. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1974.
Moyers, Bill. “Michael S. Harper.” In The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets, edited by James Haba. New York: Doubleday, 1995.
O’Brien, John, ed. “Michael Harper.” In Interviews with Black Writers. New York: Liveright, 1973.
Rowell, Charles H., ed. “Michael S. Harper, American Poet: A Special Section.” Callaloo 13, no. 4 (Autumn, 1990): 748-829.
Stepto, Robert B. “After Modernism, After Hibernation: Michael Harper, Robert Hayden, and Jay Wright.” In Chant of Saints: A Gathering of Afro-American Literature, Art, and Scholarship, edited by Michael S. Harper and Robert B. Stepto. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979.