how dear they are or how thou art their mother.
This one brief day forget thy children dear, and
after that lament; for though thou wilt slay them
yet they were thy darlings still, and I am a lady of
sorrows” (Euripedes, ll. 1468–1471). Throughout
the work as a whole, Cullen worked to transform
the original script by Euripedes into more accessi-
ble modern prose.
In addition to the powerful translation of
Medea,the volume included translations of poems
by Baudelaire, compositions that Cullen wrote
while in FRANCE, and an explosive meditation on
the case of the Scottsboro Boys. Entitled “Scotts-
boro, Too, Is Worth Its Song: A Poem to American
Poets,” the three-stanza poem lamented the fact
that writers failed to call attention to the explosive
case. “I said, Now will the poets sing,” (ll. 1–2) de-
clares the speaker in the opening lines. “Remem-
bering their sharp and pretty / Tunes for Sacco and
Vanzetti, / I said: / Here too’s a cause divinely spun
/ For those whose eyes are on the sun.” The
speaker is dismayed by the ways in which the “dis-
grace / And epic wrong” prompted major outcries
within African-American communities but
prompted little cultural examination in the wider
American community. The poem ends with a
pained observation: “Surely, I said, / Now will the
poets sing. / But they have raised no cry. / I wonder
why.” The poem was reminiscent of earlier Cullen
poems such as “Not Sacco and Vanzetti,” which
appeared in The Black Christ and Other Poems
(1929) and continued Cullen’s tradition of devel-
oping political critiques of provocative issues and
historical events.
Unlike previous volumes, The Medea and Some
Poemsdid not include a number of titled sections.
The remaining poems in the volume were not ar-
ranged chronologically or according to theme. In-
cluded in the set of 27 poems were another poem
about Medusa, meditations on Cullen’s travels, and
poems that addressed the power of emotional bonds
and various relationships. In “Medusa,” a poem
written in first-person voice, the bold and foolhardy
speaker recalls his first impressions of the legendary
figure. “I was never one to be subdued / By any fear
of aught not reason-bred,” he recalls, “And so I
mocked the ruddy word, and stood / To meet the
gold-envenomed dart instead” (ll. 5–8). The poem
closes as the speaker reveals the limits of his immu-
nity but rationalizes his loss of sight, the traditional
penalty for those who would look upon Medusa, so
that it reflects his unfailing romanticism: “Though
blind, yet on these arid balls engraved / I know it
was a lovely face I braved” (ll. 13–14).
Other more personal poems included “Three
Nonsense Rhymes for My Three Goddaughters,”
which included three sections, one dedicated to
“Diana,” another to “Barbara who seldom smiles,”
and a final piece on “Mathematics for Carol not
yet two.” Cullen also included a number of formal,
untitled sonnets on love that contemplated the
glories of love and the limitations of human feel-
ing. In “I have not loved you in the noblest way,”
the speaker assures his audience that “Loved have
I much, but I have not been blind” (l. 8). Despite
his apparent failings, however, he justifies himself
and clarifies the high demands that noble feeling
requires. “The noblest way is fraught with too
much pain,” he suggests, “Who travels it must drag
a crucifix” (ll. 9–10). He concludes with a refer-
ence to the great mythological warrior Achilles,
noting, “My mother never dipped me in the Styx, /
And who would find me weak and vulnerable /
Need never aim his arrow at my heel” (ll. 12–14).
In “I would I could,” the poet considers his desire
for more inspiration, noting that “I would I might
exchange this draggled plume / for one more
exquisite, more brightly hued, / Snatched from a
breast still singing in its doom” (ll. 9–11). Yet, de-
spite his craving for a more rich and inspired pen,
he realizes the power of authenticity. The poem
closes as the speaker comes to the conclusion that
“I can only sing of what I know, / And all I know,
or ever knew, is woe” (ll. 13–14).
The last of Cullen’s original volumes of poetry,
The Medea and Some Poems, demonstrated the
poet’s classical training, investment in traditional
forms, and efforts to use poetry to showcase uni-
versal themes that defy racial categorization.Bibliography
Cullen, Countee. Medea and Some Poems.New York:
Harper & Brothers, 1935.
Ferguson, Blanche. Countee Cullen and the Negro Renais-
sance.New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966.
Shucard, Alan. Countee Cullen.Boston: Twayne, 1984.344 Medea and Some Poems, The