Significance of "Dark Symphony"

Dark symphony is arguably Tolson's best work and one many people can feel a connection to because it covers more ground than just being a modernist poem, or a poem about racial inequality. It is a poem celebrating the accomplishments of the African race throughout history and into the modern era in a musical way that would make it pleasing to anyone that enjoys poetry. Each section of the poem is broken up into parts like most symphonic music starting with part 1 Allegro Moderato which means quick but not overly fast, part 2 Lento Grave means extremely slow, Part 3 Andante Sostenuto which means a slow sustained tempo, Part 4 Tempo Primo which means starting tempo, Part 5 Larghetto which means slow but not overly slow, and part 6 Tempo di Marcia which means a marching tempo. Knowing the musical terms of Dark Symphony is important in understanding the significance in this piece because each title gives us a pace and mindset for each part of the symphony.

Another importance to this poem is it's structure and length as said by Farnsworth of World Literature Today, "He alternates rhyme with blank-verse sections. This poem is the longest that he had written to this time and is an example of the increasing lengthiness of the major poems he will write hereafter" (395), the poem itself is longer because it expresses a lot history and is written in a way to keep it formal as well as informal in a way that is musically accurate. Another way to see Dark symphony is in the way Cansler describes Tolson's work, "Tolson chose to be a negro, but he also chose to work in a poetic form and tradition most effective for him" (Cansler, 115), we see that Tolson in Dark Symphony blends all mentioned above in a western style while still retaining a distinct African American poet. The historical aspect of this poem is most heavily seen in parts 1 through 3 giving us such lines as in part 1, "Waifs of the auction block,/Men blackand strong/The juggernauts of despotism withstood,/Loin-girt with faith that worms/Equate the wrong/And dust is purged to create brotherhood" (1371) which shows us the middle passage and the auction of slaves and how it became a unifying experience for Africans going on into the brutal labor and hardship of slavery in part 3, and ending with the questioning of white Americans and how Tolson feels white culture tries to forget the shameful past that was slavery as if it never happened at all.

Parts 4 through 6 slowly ramps up in intensity as each title suggests beginning with Tolson and his concept of a New Negro in part 4, "The New Negro strides upon the continent/ In seven-league boots.../ The New Negro..." (1372), in short the New Negro described by Tolson is someone to be admired and looked upon as the equal if not greater than any other race of people. He goes on to describe the accomplishments of the Old Negro and the New Negro, which is a race to be appreciated and feared for its power. The poem leaves us with the New Negro and how he/she will shape the world in the future as much as any other race.

The significance of this text is only understood when you break it down and look at each piece of the Symphony. There are myths even to this day that Africans have no history, which Tolson has clearly busted. Africans have been apart of almost every great civilization in some form or another and are responsible for the creation of many of the world’s greatest physical accomplishments and many accomplishments to come in the future.

works cited

Cansler, Ronald Lee. ""The White and Not-White Dichotomy" of  Melvin B. Tolson's Poetry." Negro 
American Literature Forum 7.4 (1973): 115-18. JSTOR. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

Tolson Jr., Melvin B. "The Poetry Of Melvin B. Tolson (1898-1966)." World Literature Today 64.3 (1990): 395. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.