HELP I get this the words of the poem, but what is it actually talking about?? Who is "we" in this poem???

Question

Reconnaissance - Arna Bontemps

After the cloud embankments,
The lamentation of wind
And the starry descent into time,
We came to the flashing waters and shaded our eyes
From the glare.
Alone with the shore and the harbor,
The stems of the cocoanut trees,
The fronds of silence and hushed music,
We cried for the new revelation
And waited for miracles to rise.
Where elements touch and emerge,
Where shadows swoon like outcasts on the sand
And the tired moment waits, its courage gone—
There were we
In latitudes where storms are born.

also the Author is African American around the 1920-30's.. so does it have something to do with slavery or something like that?? i guess what is the author talking about? why?

Answer 1

Why would it have something to do with slavery if it was written in the 1920s? Slavery is not the ONLY historical experience of the African-American.

It does look like the we of the poem is a culture or a large group of people. They are standing as one and seeing the same things.

You might get a hint about the poem by reading the title more closely and putting it into a true historical context. What was going on in the 1920s and 30s?

Good luck!

Nathan

Answer 2

It's about a group of people (or at least two, but I assume a group) who have traveled by ship to a new land. They have embanked (left the ship) and are now standing on the shore.

Although they could have been 'freemen' (newly released from slavery) this would not have taken place in the United States. Pay attention to the words 'coconut trees'. Coconut trees do not normally grow freely in the United States (although they have been planted and cultivated in parts of Florida). But the last line tells us it couldn't possibly be the United States.

The line 'In latitudes where storms are born' either suggests an island in the Caribbean or in the South Pacific. Chances are he was talking about being dropped off on an island in the Caribbean (hurricanes) or the South Pacific (typhoons).

So it could be about freed slaves. When England and the rest of Europe abandoned the slave trade (long before the United States gave up slavery) the freemen were often relocated to isolated places like islands where they were released and freed.

However, the title of the poem suggests that the 'we' are servicemen who have just landed on an island in the South Pacific during WWII. 'Reconnaissance' usually refers to a team of soldiers sent ahead of the regular Army or Navy to check out the area.

Answer 3

Immigrants!! The poem sounds like someone coming to a new land and the family or the people that are with that person.

Answer 4

I wonder if he wrote this when he was in California?

Depending on the time frame he might be talking about "We" as African Americans standing on the moment of change in America.

A very prolific man with an appetite for writing. Thanks for the question and for giving me a new name to explore.