Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Amiri Baraka
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
The Poem
Dedicated to Kellie Jones, the author’s daughter, who was born on May 16, 1959, Amiri Baraka’s “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” suggests a turning point in the poet’s relationship to American society in the late 1950’s. Written from a first-person perspective, the poem, likely a reflection of the poet’s own concerns and personal experience, is autobiographical in tone, though the point of view could be that of a fictive voice struggling with the same issues.
Then known as LeRoi Jones, Baraka is one with the persona of the poem. In a...
[The entire page is 1491 words long]
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