Shadows in the Dark

Since the term “Tenebris” can be translated from Latin to mean “darkness,” it is fitting that author Angelina Weld Grimké wrote her poem “Tenebris” to spark a discussion on darkness – the darkness of one’s skin. During Grimké’s life, segregation was still a major issue. In fact, she was born less than twenty years after the end of the Civil War and issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Much of her work, including “Tenebris” was written during the early twentieth century and was in response to racial tensions and violence. As a biracial child, having a white mother and black father, she was naturally caught in the middle of the black-white schism as she would have grown up fighting against pressures and opinions from both sides of the conflict (“Angelina”). Her background gave her a unique view that allowed her to write precisely about the racial divide. In the poem “Tenebris,” Grimké utilizes simplistic language and metaphor with the purpose of conversing between both blacks and whites during the early twentieth century and of reflecting the sense of continued uncertainty about where the racial conflict is ultimately headed.

In “Tenebris”, Grimké uses simple language, which does not reflect a simple mind (for she was highly educated despite being a female from her background) but instead her purpose. While there is much more meaning to this poem than simply a shadow against a wall, the simple diction suggests that Grimké wished people of all different educational backgrounds be able to read and relate to her work. The poem starts out with the description of a tree. During the daytime, it is just an inconsequential tree. However, what is important is what the tree is used for once the sun goes down. The tree is said to “[have] a shadow,/ A hand huge and black,” in reference to it taking on the role of a gallows at night. Also, the description of the hand as “huge and black” and then of fingers as “long and black” give the shadow a menacing feel as...