What is an explanation of the poem 'Epitaph' by Dennis Scott?

Answer 1

epitaph is based on the hanging of an African slave in the late nineteenth century leading up to the early twentieth century. it serves as a remarkable contrasting element to Dennis Scott's lynching. It shows the reaction of the people towards these sinful acts. The epitaph show the present reaction of society, feeling sympathy and pain.

Answer 2

Epitath is similar to The Lynching By Claude McKay It speaks of a slave being hung and lynched .In the poem it speaks of everyone's reverence to the dead slave and how the anger lasts for a while. it also means how you excreat out of your anus

Answer 3

They hanged him on a clement morning, swung

between the falling sunlight and the women's

breathing, like a black apostrophe to pain.

The poem begins with an indefinite pronoun "they" which does not have a clear antecedent. One may assume "they" refers to the masters who have hanged the slave on a "clement morning" which implies justice (clemency) but is also an ironic detail about the weather. The speaker also uses the word "apostrophe" to introduce the difficulty of writing about slavery (an obvious trope), and the hanged slave (imagine his body curled in pain) becomes a "black apostrophe." An apostrophe is not only a symbol of punctuation, but is also '"the addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically" (slave master's)

All morning while the children hushed

their hopscotch joy and the cane kept growing

he hung there sweet and low.

The emotional impact of the hanging results in the children's "hushed" hopscotch joy." Added to the previous statement of the "women's breathing," the speaker highlights the physical/emotional effects of the hanging balanced against nature's indifference, " the cane kept growing" and the slave becomes part of the oral histories of so-called Negro spirituals, swinging "sweet and low."

At least that's how

they tell it. It was long ago

and what can we recall of a dead slave or two

The speaker reinforces the idea of the master's version of history, "at least that's how they tell it," which implies emotional distance and doubt, "it was long ago" and indifference, "and what can we recall of a dead slave or two."

except that when we punctuate our island tale

they swing like sighs across the brutal

sentences, and anger pauses

till they pass away.

The tone of the poem changes with "we" --those who "punctuate our island tale," and the emotional difficulty because "they,"' the hanged slaves, "swing like sighs across the brutal/ sentences." "Brutal" contradicts the idea of clemency and "sentences" is pun not only on the idea of justice, but a clear reference to the writing trope. However, the last line of the poem is ambiguous because it raises the question, how will the text be written after "anger pauses? The speaker's word choice emphasizes the uncertainty because "they," could refer either to the slaves or masters. Both masters and slaves have become joined in the detritus of memory.

Answer 4

The poem begins with an indefinite pronoun "they" which does not have a clear antecedent. One may assume "they" refers to the masters who have hanged the slave on a "clement morning" which implies justice (clemency) but is also an ironic detail about the weather. The speaker also uses the word "apostrophe" to introduce the difficulty of writing about slavery (an obvious trope), and the hanged slave (imagine his body curled in pain) becomes a "black apostrophe." An apostrophe is not only a symbol of punctuation, but is also '"the addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically" (slave master's)

The emotional impact of the hanging results in the children's "hushed" hopscotch joy." Added to the previous statement of the "women's breathing," the speaker highlights the physical/emotional effects of the hanging balanced against nature's indifference, " the cane kept growing" and the slave becomes part of the oral histories of so-called Negro spirituals, swinging "sweet and low."

The poem begins with an indefinite pronoun "they" which does not have a clear antecedent. One may assume "they" refers to the masters who have hanged the slave on a "clement morning" which implies justice (clemency) but is also an ironic detail about the weather. The speaker also uses the word "apostrophe" to introduce the difficulty of writing about slavery (an obvious trope), and the hanged slave (imagine his body curled in pain) becomes a "black apostrophe." An apostrophe is not only a symbol of punctuation, but is also '"the addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically" (slave master's)

The emotional impact of the hanging results in the children's "hushed" hopscotch joy." Added to the previous statement of the "women's breathing," the speaker highlights the physical/emotional effects of the hanging balanced against nature's indifference, " the cane kept growing" and the slave becomes part of the oral histories of so-called Negro spirituals, swinging "sweet and low."

The speaker reinforces the idea of the master's version of history, "at least that's how they tell it," which implies emotional distance and doubt, "it was long ago" and indifference, "and what can we recall of a dead slave or two.".

The tone of the poem changes with "we" --those who "punctuate our island tale," and the emotional difficulty because "they,"' the hanged slaves, "swing like sighs across the brutal/ sentences." "Brutal" contradicts the idea of clemency and "sentences" is pun not only on the idea of justice, but a clear reference to the writing trope. However, the last line of the poem is ambiguous because it raises the question, how will the text be written after "anger pauses? The speaker's word choice emphasizes the uncertainty because "they," could refer either to the slaves or masters. Both masters and slaves have become joined in the detritus of memory.

Answer 5

In the poem "Epitaph" by Dennis Scott, the speaker reflects on the impermanence and fleeting nature of life. The epitaph serves as a reminder that time is limited and death is inevitable, urging the reader to appreciate life's brevity and make the most of the time we have. The poem conveys a sense of urgency and a call to live fully before it is too late.