The Full Text of “From the Dark Tower”
1We shall not always plant while others reap
2The golden increment of bursting fruit,
3Not always countenance, abject and mute,
4That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;
5Not everlastingly while others sleep
6Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
7Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
8We were not made to eternally weep.
9The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,
10White stars is no less lovely being dark,
11And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
12In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;
13So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
14And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
The Full Text of “From the Dark Tower”
1We shall not always plant while others reap
2The golden increment of bursting fruit,
3Not always countenance, abject and mute,
4That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;
5Not everlastingly while others sleep
6Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
7Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
8We were not made to eternally weep.
9The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,
10White stars is no less lovely being dark,
11And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
12In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;
13So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
14And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
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“From the Dark Tower” Introduction
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Countee Cullen published "From the Dark Tower" in 1927 in his second collection of poems, Copper Sun. The poem is a sonnet that focuses on the injustices of racism, as the speaker notes that white people deprive Black people of the fruits of their labor. However, the speaker—who is Black—is confident that this will not be the case forever, ultimately suggesting that such hardships build strength and resiliency. In turn, the speaker sets forth the optimistic belief that Black people will one day triumph over racist oppression and "reap" the rewards of their hard work.
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“From the Dark Tower” Summary
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We won't always be the people who do the hard work of planting just so other people can benefit from the precious fruits of our labor. We won't always quietly tolerate the fact that people who are inferior to us treat us like we're the ones who are inferior. We also won't always let other people rest while we relieve them of their burdens as if we're playing them to sleep with the sound of a calming flute. And we won't always submit to the sly beasts who mistreat us; our sadness and suffering will not last forever.
The night sky, whose very blackness is what allows the stars to stand out so brightly, isn't any less beautiful just because it's dark. There are some flowers that can't even blossom in the daytime because the sun's harsh light shrivels them up and causes them to droop in a sad, defeated way. Like flowers that blossom at night, then, we live in darkness with suffering hearts, waiting to someday flourish and overcome the painful oppression we've endured for so long.
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“From the Dark Tower” Themes
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Black Oppression and Hope
The poem highlights the fact that racism and oppression keep Black Americans from benefiting from the fruits of their own labor. White people, the poem argues, are the ones who prosper from the hard work of Black people, ultimately “reap[ing]” rewards without sharing anything with the people who made those rewards possible in the first place.
Given this dynamic, the speaker calls attention to the many ways in which Black people suffer because of racism. For example, the speaker notes that when Black people “plant” something, white people are the ones who end up enjoying the tangible results of this hard work (something the speaker refers to as the “golden increment of bursting fruit”). Worse, Black people are expected to put up with this racist mistreatment without saying a word, acting “abject”—which is to say without dignity or pride—and “mute” instead of speaking up for themselves.
Despite these demoralizing circumstances, though, the speaker believes that Black people will not remain oppressed and subservient forever. To that end, the speaker emphasizes the words “not always,” saying that Black people will “not always countenance”—or tolerate—being treated so poorly. With this conviction, then, the speaker reveals the optimistic belief that Black people will one day overcome the manipulative and exploitative oppression they've been forced them to endure.
This hopeful outlook is most likely the result of the speaker’s belief that hardship can lead to good things. To illustrate this point, the speaker refers to certain kinds of flowers that actually thrive in darkness—a metaphor for the idea that positive outcomes can emerge from unlikely circumstances. With this in mind, the speaker appears content with the idea of “wait[ing]” for the day when Black people overcome racism and oppression. In this way, then, the speaker uses a hopeful tone to suggest that Black people’s suffering will inevitably come to an end, at which point Black people will finally have the opportunity to prosper from the many things they’ve been deprived of as a result of racist subjugation.
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “From the Dark Tower”
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Lines 1-2
We shall not always plant while others reap
The golden increment of bursting fruit,The speaker begins by using the first-person plural pronoun, saying, "We shall not always plant while others reap." Considering that the poem is about how Black people will someday overcome racism and oppression, the speaker's use of "we" is notable because it establishes that the speaker is Black.
Of course, the speaker never explicitly states that this poem is about Black oppression, but the opening two lines make this element clear enough since the speaker alludes to the institution of slavery by referencing the act of planting. The main kind of forced labor during slavery was agricultural, meaning that most enslaved people were forced to work in fields—fields that belonged to white enslavers who then "reap[ed]" the benefits of this labor.
This first line also alludes to a proverb found in the Bible, which says that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." This phrase has worked its way into popular usage, though the wording is usually changed to something like, "You reap what you sow." It essentially emphasizes the idea that hard work leads to positive outcomes, since the act of sowing—which means planting—is what creates harvestable crops.
However, the poem turns this phrase on its head by spotlighting the ways in which Black Americans have been unable actually "reap" what they sow. Indeed, the speaker's point is that Black Americans have historically been cut off from enjoying the fruits of their labor. To that end, the oppression of Black people has created a situation in which powerful white people are the ones to benefit from the hard work of Black people.
Despite this, the speaker is confident that this will not always be the case. In fact, the poem begins with the speaker's assertion that Black people will "not always" be mistreated in this way. In keeping with this, the speaker is confident that Black people will one day be able to enjoy "the golden increment of bursting fruit," which is the speaker's way of saying that Black people will someday actually benefit from the precious growth of the plants they themselves have worked so hard to tend.
It's worth noting that the consonance in these first two lines is very euphonic, since there are so many pleasing, rounded or humming sounds, like /l/, /th/, /z/, /n/, /m/, and /r/:
We shall not always plant while others reap
The golden increment of bursting fruitThis euphony gives the opening lines a pleasant, lush sound that ultimately matches the speaker's highly poetic tone. In keeping with this poetic tone, these lines also establish the sonnet's adherence to iambic pentameter, meaning that each line contains five iambs (metrical feet made up of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, da-DUM). The lines scan like this:
We shall | not al- | ways plant | while oth- | ers reap
The gold- | en in- | crement | of burst- | ing fruitThese lines are good examples of iambic pentameter, but it's worth mentioning that some readers might hear a stress on the word "not" in line 1, turning the line's second foot ("not al-") into a spondee, meaning that both syllables are stressed. If this is the case, then the speaker ultimately ends up emphasizing the idea that Black people won't live in oppression forever.
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Lines 3-4
Not always countenance, abject and mute,
That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; -
Lines 5-6
Not everlastingly while others sleep
Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute, -
Lines 7-8
Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
We were not made to eternally weep. -
Lines 9-12
The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,
White stars is no less lovely being dark,
And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall; -
Lines 13-14
So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
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“From the Dark Tower” Symbols
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Crops and Planting
Crops and planting are symbolic in the poem of potential and success. Note how the fruit in line 2 are described as "golden," like a treasure, and "bursting," suggesting that they are fully ripe. Black people are filled with immense value, beauty, and potential, the speaker insists, but are denied these things by racist society; they work hard "while others reap," or harvest, the fruits of their labor.
During slavery, this theft was quite literal: enslaved Black people were forced to tend crops without any kind of compensation or benefit. And while Black people did the hard work of planting, white enslavers prospered and the country at large grew more powerful. In turn, the very act of planting in the poem comes to also stand for the ways in which Black people have been cut off from the resources that they themselves have created.
The speaker continues the symbolism in the poem's sestet, here metaphorically comparing Black people to "buds that cannot bloom at all / In light." Buds are flowers that are not yet mature, again implying that Black people have been smothered by the "light" of racist society, prevented from growing and realizing their full power and potential. As such, the speaker says, they "wait, and tend our agonizing seeds." Seeds, like buds, are not yet mature plants—they offer potential for growth and often represent new beginnings or hope. The speaker does not deny the pain of racism and oppression, noting that these seeds are "agonizing," but also uses the symbolic resonance of planting to suggest a certain optimism as Black people "tend," or take care of, the "seeds" of their own future.
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Darkness
The speaker uses darkness to stand for a certain kind of unexpected beauty. The speaker's initial point about darkness is that it is "no less lovely" than the brightness of the stars—an idea that ultimately urges readers to question society's tendency to value whiteness over blackness. What's more, this idea also implies that, although stars are dazzling and therefore get all the attention, they wouldn't actually be all that beautiful if it weren't for the vast sky that surrounds them, since the darkness of the sky is what provides the backdrop upon which the stars shine. Similarly, it might seem like white people deserve all of their wealth and power, but Black people are the ones who have made this wealth and power possible by working hard—only to end up having the fruits of their labor stolen.
The speaker also notes that there are some flowers that require dark conditions in order to blossom. Needless to say, most flowers need sunlight in order to survive, but the speaker suggests that this isn't always the case, thereby indicating that beauty often emerges from unlikely circumstances. With this in mind, darkness comes to symbolize the idea that Black people will someday rise up and prosper even though they've had to face harrowing oppression and incredible hardship.
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“From the Dark Tower” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Anaphora
The speaker uses anaphora in the sonnet's opening octave to emphasize the point that Black people will not have to endure racist oppression forever. Starting in the first line, the speaker says, "We shall not always plant while others reap." Then, two lines later, the speaker uses a pared down version of this sentence construction by saying, "Not always countenance[...]." This time, the speaker leaves off the words "we shall," which are implied because they appear at the beginning of the poem. In turn, the speaker is able to place extra emphasis on the words "not always," thereby underscoring just how hopeful the speaker is that oppression will not last forever.
The speaker continues in line 5 by using anaphora to repeat another variation on the phrase, this time saying, "Not everlastingly[...]." For something to be "everlasting" means that it lasts forever. As such, the use of the word "everlastingly" is little more than a replacement of the word "always," ultimately enabling the speaker to build upon the stanza's central idea that the misery that comes along with racism and oppression will someday end. Then, in line 7, the speaker returns to the words "not always," saying, "Not always bend to some more subtle brute."
All in all, the speaker's use of anaphora stresses the idea that the oppressive conditions in which Black people live are temporary. This is an especially important idea when considering how long racist oppression has been present in the U.S. As a result of this terrible history, it might seem like Black Americans will never experience what it's like to live freely. The speaker, however, is confident that the day will come when Black people are able to triumph, and this is why the speaker repeats the words "not always" so many times, putting a sense of hopefulness on display in a way that is uplifting and encouraging.
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Euphony
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Metaphor
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Enjambment
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Sibilance
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Allusion
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Personification
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"From the Dark Tower" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Shall
- Reap
- Increment
- Bursting
- Countenance
- Abject
- Mute
- Cheap
- Everlastingly
- Beguile
- Limbs
- Mellow
- Bend
- Subtle
- Brute
- Eternally
- Sable
- Relieves
- Stark
- Piteous
- Tend
- Agonizing
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An antiquated way of saying "will."
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “From the Dark Tower”
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Form
"From the Dark Tower" is a Petrarchan sonnet. This means it's divided into an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet. Taking the poem's rhyme scheme into account, these can further be broken down into two quatrains followed by three couplets. Like most Petrarchan sonnets, the poem also uses iambic pentameter and features a "turn" (or "volta") at the beginning of the sestet.
Here, this "turn" isn't all that surprising, since it doesn't set forth anything that contradicts what came before it. However, there is a subtle change when the speaker transitions from the octave to the sestet in that the poem becomes more abstract and metaphorical. The speaker offers up several metaphors about beauty and resiliency instead of simply listing all the ways in which Black people will one day stop working for white people without any of reward or benefit.
On the whole, the sonnet's form adds structure and formality to the speaker's words. Indeed, this traditional form matches the speaker's use of language, which is fairly formal and poetic. This, in turn, adds a certain sense of confidence to the speaker's tone, ultimately reflecting the speaker's confidence that Black oppression will not last forever.
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Meter
The poem is written in iambic pentameter, the meter typical of sonnets. Each line contains five iambs: metrical feet consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da-DUM). Consider, for example, line 9:
The night | whose sab- | le breast | relieves | the stark,
This line adheres perfectly to the rhythm of iambic pentameter, which gives the poem a bouncy but flowing sound—a sound that ultimately reflects the speaker's confidence and sense of optimism or hopefulness. Iambic pentameter also mimics the rhythms of regular speech, keeping the poem accessible while also elevating its subject by using a highly-respected poetic form.
The poem maintains this iambic rhythm with surprising consistency. In fact, the only moments in which the rhythm isn't definitively iambic comes when the speaker says the words "not always." Of course, many readers will read the lines that begin with "not always" in perfect iambic pentameter, like this:
Not al- | ways bend | to some | more sub- | tle brute
But because the word "not" is a somewhat harsh word to begin a line with, many readers will perhaps hear it as a stressed syllable, meaning that the first foot of this line would be a spondee, or a foot with two stressed syllables: "Not al-." This, in turn, would only emphasize the speaker's conviction that Black people aren't destined to submit to racists forever. Either way, though, the line retains its iambic bounce, since the rest of the feet are undoubtedly iambs. As such, the speaker preserves the poem's overall rhythm.
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Rhyme Scheme
As a Petrarchan sonnet, "From the Dark Tower" follows a more or less typical rhyme scheme, especially in the opening octave. The poem can be mapped out like this:
ABBAABBA CCDDEE
Most Petrarchan sonnets follow the rhyme scheme found in the poem's octave. However, the rhyme scheme of the sestet tends to vary in Petrarchan sonnets, and though the CCDDEE scheme found in "From the Dark Tower" certainly isn't out of the ordinary, it also isn't the most common pattern.
Setting aside convention, though, the sestet's rhyme scheme in this poem stands out because the rhymes appear very close together and rotate rather quickly. Whereas the octave spreads certain rhymes out over the entire stanza (waiting, for instance, four whole lines to rhyme "reap" with "cheap"), the sestet groups the lines into pairs of two (creating couplets), giving readers an immediate sense of conclusion and satisfaction by delivering the rhymes quickly. This, in turn, makes the sestet sound musical and cohesive.
To that end, the entire poem's use of rhyme adds to the controlled overall sound. After all, each rhyme is a perfect rhyme instead of a slant rhyme, and they all appear with dependable consistency. In this way, the speaker's words sound particularly thoughtful and controlled, which is yet another indication of the speaker's confidence and unflappability in the face of oppression and hardship.
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“From the Dark Tower” Speaker
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The speaker of "From the Dark Tower" uses the word "we," indicating that the speaker identifies with the people upon whom the poem focuses. Judging by the poem's allusions to slavery and racial oppression, then, it's safe to say that the speaker is Black and has experienced racism firsthand. Accordingly, some readers will perhaps view the speaker as Countee Cullen himself, since Cullen was a Black man who lived in the first half of the 20th century—a time in which racial segregation was still legal. However, there isn't quite enough identifying information about the speaker to conclude with any kind of certainty that the speaker is, indeed, Cullen himself. To that end, it's possible that the speaker is living during slavery and is talking about the prospects of freedom and liberation. Either way, what remains clear is that the speaker is Black, knows what it's like to experience racism and oppression, and is optimistic that Black people will someday leave this oppression behind.
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“From the Dark Tower” Setting
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Given that the poem alludes to slavery, it's reasonable to assume that it is set in the United States, since the country was profoundly shaped by slavery. However, it is difficult to say when, exactly, the poem is set, since the speaker's words could easily pertain to almost any period during or after slavery. Indeed, the poem is even relevant to the contemporary society, since the speaker's allusions to slavery can be interpreted as metaphorical ways of talking about the ongoing disenfranchisement of Black people in the United States. However, given that Countee Cullen lived between 1903 and 1946, it seems most likely that the poem takes place at some point during this period, after slavery but before the legal end of racial segregation.
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Literary and Historical Context of “From the Dark Tower”
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Literary Context
"From the Dark Tower" was published in Countee Cullen's second collection of poetry, Copper Sun, in 1927. Cullen was active in the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural and artistic movement that took place in New York City in the 1920s. The writing and art that came out of the Harlem Renaissance was specifically aimed at empowering the Black community and examining the social positioning of Black people in the U.S. This resonated with Cullen, who was interested at the time in examining the history of racism and oppression while also focusing on the current nature of life for Black Americans.
Because Cullen is often associated with the Harlem Renaissance, it's worth mentioning his relationship with the prolific writer Langston Hughes, who praised Cullen's work for the way it depicted Black prosperity and success in the face of hardship and oppression. However, Cullen wrote less and less about race as time went on; by the 1930s, hardly any of his poems mentioned race at all. Hughes, for his part, criticized this apparent desire of Cullen's to turn away from matters of race. Nonetheless, Cullen became most interested in ideas surrounding beauty and nature, thereby hearkening back to the central themes of the Romantic movement.
On that note, Cullen was very affected by Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and William Blake. In "From the Dark Tower," this influence manifests itself in the speaker's florid language and metaphorical references to nature and its beauty. In this way, Cullen combines Romantic values with the racial focus of the Harlem Renaissance, all while setting forth a certain kind of musicality that is reminiscent of the Romantic poets.
Historical Context
"From the Dark Tower" alludes to the era of American slavery by referencing the act of planting. This, in turn, draws upon the history of slavery in the U.S., which was primarily fueled by field work carried out by enslaved people while enslavers or their white employees watched to make sure nobody escaped. Enslaved people were forced to plant, care for, and harvest the crops, which in most cases yielded cotton, tobacco, sugar, or rice—all of which enslavers would then sell. It is in this sense, then, that enslavers "reap[ed]" what enslaved people sowed, depriving Black people of benefiting from their own hard work.
This history of slavery serves as a backdrop for the poem, but it's also possible to read the poem as a response to post-slavery injustices. After all, racism in the U.S. certainly did not end with slavery. Indeed, the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation and other racist policies were still in effect when Countee Cullen wrote "From the Dark Tower" in 1927—a good indicator of the extent to which Black Americans continued to experience bigotry and oppression long after slavery.
In fact, the poem unfortunately pertains to the landscape of contemporary times as well, considering that Black communities still struggle to gain the same kind of economic and cultural benefits that most white communities can take for granted. So although the speaker of "From the Dark Tower" expresses a sense of hopefulness by asserting that white people will "not always" prosper so unfairly over Black people, the poem's acknowledgment of this inequality still resonates today because it still exists in many ways.
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More “From the Dark Tower” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poet's Voice — Hear Countee Cullen read one of his other well known poems, "Heritage."
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Jim Crow Laws — More on the racist and segregationist policies still in place at the time Cullen wrote this poem.
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More About Cullen — To learn more about Countee Cullen, take a look at this overview of his life and work.
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The Harlem Renaissance — For more information about the Harlem Renaissance, check out this helpful entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
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A Reading of the Poem — Hear the poem read aloud.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Countee Cullen
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