Yet Do I Marvel (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)

At a glance:

“Yet Do I Marvel” opens with a declaration of faith in God's ways, and this faith is sustained through the first twelve lines. God is “good, well-meaning, kind,” and he does not need to explain his creation or his actions to humankind; however, if God were to “stoop” to humankind's level, he could explain why the mole must be blind; why humans, who are made in God's image, are mortal; why Tantalus is perpetually baited and left unsatisfied; why Sisyphus must experience futility in his efforts to ascend. Nevertheless, to those in the mortal world, God's ways are beyond explanation because the petty distractions in immediate surroundings leave the universal picture beyond view.

The concluding couplet in Cullen's poem, despite the affirmation of faith in the first twelve lines, raises a problem that at first inspection seems to go beyond faith: why does God “make a poet black,” thereby making him or her endure endless injustices and distress, if God intends that the black poet should also “sing”? This creation seems beyond human comprehension, but Cullen's reaction is not anger or frustration; indeed, faith is heightened by a “curious thing” that causes the poet to “marvel.” In the end, the example that seems furthest from possible explanation stands out as the greatest affirmation of faith.

Bibliography

Cullen, Countée. My Soul's High Song: The Collected Writings of Countée Cullen, Voice of the Harlem Renaissance. Edited by Gerald Early. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.

Fetrow, Fred M. “Cullen's ’Yet Do I Marvel.’” Explicator 56, no. 2 (Winter, 1998): 103-106.

Goldweber, David E. “Cullen, Keats, and the Privileged Liar.” Papers on Language and Literature 38, no. 1 (Winter, 2002): 29-49.

Lomax, Michael L. “Countée Cullen: A Key to the Puzzle.” In The Harlem Renaissance Re-examined, edited by Victor A. Kramer. New York: AMS Press, 1987.

Powers, Peter. “’The Singing Man Who Must Be Reckoned With’: Private Desire and Public Responsibility in the Poetry of Countée Cullen.” African American Review 34, no. 4 (Winter, 2000): 661-679.

Shucard, Alan R. Countée Cullen. Boston: Twayne, 1984.

Turner, Darwin T. “Countée Cullen: The Lost Ariel.” In In a Minor Chord: Three African American Writers and Their Search for Identity. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1971.