A prompt—executive Bird is the Jay

by Emily Dickinson

A prompt—executive Bird is the Jay—
Bold as a Bailiff's1 Hymn—
Brittle and Brief in quality—
Warrant2 in every line—

Sitting a Bough3 like a Brigadier4
Confident and straight—
Much is the mien5 of him in March
As a Magistrate6—

legal officer
legal action
branch of a tree
army officer (British)
appearance
judge

I Heard a Bird Sing

By Oliver Herford

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,”
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

Read both poems.

What literary device is used throughout the poems?
Alliteration
Hyperbole
Pun
Metaphor

The harlem renaissance dawned in an era of pervasive racism and segregation. although legally "free," many african americans were still bound by ideas that had their roots in the slavery of earlier centuries. identity and freedom are important ideas presented in many of the poems from the harlem renaissance. furthermore, the values of identity and freedom are not unique to particular times and places. as hughes expresses in "dream variations," all humans want to be able to develop their identities in freedom. what role does freedom play in the poems you read in this unit? what is required of a society to enable each individual to be true to his or her identity and be free to live by that identity? write about at least three of the poems, describing how the poet uses imagery to depict freedom and identity, the lack of it, or the desire for it.