Poetry of Revolution: Romanticism and National Projects

found in the poem “Les deux bouts de l’échelle.” In this text the Haitian poet Pierre, once again

a name which in several of Durand’s poems is synonymous with the poetic subject, has a

conversation with an American planter from New York named John who employs four hundred

peasants on his land.^231 The first two verses set up the opposition, contrasting physical

appearance, personal attributes, and race. Economic class is most accentuated of all the

characteristics, as show in the placement of “riche” in verse 2:

Nous étions deux sur le chemin; lui, gros, fier, blond

Et riche; moi, fluet, noir, pauvre, humble et très long. (1-2)

Life is difficult for Pierre with the recent death of family members and with the small

amount of money he earns for food. He also downplays his poetry, using the derogatory word

“rimaille” to convey the writing of bad verse. The sympathetic John offers to house and feed

Pierre who can, in turn, write poetry for him. Even as a rich person, John admits to occasional

sadness. His well-intended offer, however, in no way changes the system at the root of the

inequality. The poem suggests another means by which to alter the dynamics of the hierarchy,

for the black poet to move within the liminal space of the ladder. The “understated” description

Pierre continues to give of himself, one which mentions the words titling Durand’s collection,

expands to his poetry:

Je répondis: Moi, je suis le rêveur;

Je m’en vais doucement, côtoyant la double arche

De vos ponts, l’oeil baissé, car j’ai peur, quand je marche,

D’écraser un insecte ou bien quelque humble fleur.

Je butine, en passant, ou le rire ou le pleur,

-Car la vie, ici-bas, a toujours ces deux choses ... (11-16)

The Haitian poet, largely because of race, is in the margins of modern civilizations; he

dreams while Americans build, his inferiority, then, felt in terms of modernity. His respect of

(^231) Although increased American interest is noted in Haiti in the late nineteenth century, I did not find any specific
references in historical texts to Americans owning land in Haiti on any large scale.