From the title, we may guess that "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a joyous song. It is. But it's also a song that's full of suffering. There's blood, there are tears, and there's even a "chast'ning rod." Why so much suffering? Well, because African-Americans have suffered a lot in America. We just have to think about how horrible slavery was to begin to understand that suffering. And as if that weren't enough, slavery was followed by Jim Crow, which was pretty much as bad as slavery. So the references to suffering in this poem point to all the violence, oppression, and injustice that African-Americans have had to endure.
Questions About Suffering
- How does the imagery of the "road" (11) and "the path" (18) convey the suffering that the speakers have lived through?
- What specific images are associated with suffering in this poem, besides those of the "road"?
- What's the relationship between suffering and singing in this poem?
Chew on This
This poem's true message is that suffering makes us stronger.
Actually, come to think of it, this poem shows us how suffering doesn't make us stronger; it holds us back.