Libretto for the Republic of Liberia (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Melvin B. Tolson
- First Published: 1953
- Type of Work: Epic
- Genres: Poetry, Epic, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: African Americans, History, Africa or Africans, Blacks, Colonies or colonization, Europe or Europeans
The Poem
Melvin B. Tolson, a professor of English at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and author of a collection of poems entitled Rendezvous with America (1944), was appointed poet laureate of Liberia by that African nation’s president, William V. S. Tubman, in 1947. Tolson was commissioned to compose a poem to celebrate Liberia’s centennial. He spent six years at the task, and the book-length Libretto for the Republic of Liberia was eventually published in 1953. While he might have fulfilled this commission with a flattering poem, Tolson had a much more...
[The entire page is 1645 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
