An Ante-Bellum Sermon

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1895

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1893)

Undoubtedly Dunbar’s most famous poem, “Sympathy” depicts a bird longing to free itself from its cage. The poem is deeply symbolic and somewhat ambiguous, but most critics believe the bird represents the oppressed Black race in America. The poem’s famous final line, “I know why the caged bird sings!”, inspired the title of poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou’s autobiography and cemented Dunbar’s legacy as a formative Black poet who spoke for his race.

“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1895)

Another of Dunbar’s most famous poems, “We Wear the Mask” portrays the ways Black people had to feign a happy, non-threatening persona or “mask” to survive in the white-dominated America. The poem also illuminates the inner turmoil and the desperation those Black people who must wear masks feel.

“To the South—On Its New Slavery” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1903)

In this longer poem, Dunbar addresses the South and laments the lack of improvement for its Black citizens even though slavery had been abolished. He regards this new era of Reconstruction as no more than a “sly convenient hell” (Line 59) and argues that “Sanctioned Slavery” (Line 63) has merely been replaced by “unsanctioned crime” (Line 64) against Black people. The liberation of Black Americans from slavery was mostly semantic, Dunbar argues, as he observes the more subtle tribulation and hardships his people still face.

“By Rugged Ways” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1903)

“By Rugged Ways” expresses the faith and hope of Black American believers who pray that God will deliver them from their persecution and sufferings in America. Like “An Ante-Bellum Sermon,” “By Rugged Ways” invokes the story of Exodus as the speaker predicts another Moses shall lead the Black race to the Promised Land.

“Go Down Moses” by Anonymous

While few details of the authorship and origin of this famous spiritual are known, most historians believe this song originated sometime in the middle of the 19th century, during which it was sung by Black slaves. Historians have speculated that this spiritual contained hidden messages for slaves attempting to escape America via the Underground Railroad. Whether that claim is true, the spiritual is significant to the study of “An Ante-Bellum Sermon” in that it demonstrates the long-held affection Black slaves felt for the story of Exodus and how Moses became an important figure for slaves desperately hoping for liberation from slavery.

Further Literary Resources

“Paul Laurence Dunbar: Dialect Et La Negritude” by Gossie Harold Hudson (1973)

In this article, Gossie Harold Hudson contrasts Paul Laurence Dunbar’s historical legacy as the poet of the Black race and more recent scholarship’s perception of Dunbar as a “plantation apologist” (243). In particular, he focuses on Dunbar’s use of dialect in poetry and explores whether Dunbar’s writing demonstrated a kind of Negritude or Black consciousness.

“Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Rejected Symbol” by Darwin Turner (1967)

Like Hudson, Turner argues against the perception of Dunbar as an unthinking supporter of Southern plantation life. Turner demonstrates the impossibility of one individual to live up to the expectations of being a “symbol” for his entire race and instead focuses on providing a thorough overview of Dunbar’s various writings of social protest.

“Race and the Politics of Memory: Mark Twain and Paul Laurence Dunbar” by Shelley Fisher Fishkin (2006)

In this essay, Fishkin contextualizes the writings of Mark Twain and Paul Laurence Dunbar with the racially tense Reconstruction era that inspired them and maintains that both writers were more overtly critical of racial injustice than their modern critics believe them to be. Fishkin argues that the tactics the two writers employed to combat racism have been “vulnerable” (286) or subject to misinterpretation due to the writers’ penchants for subtlety and irony. Also important in this essay is Fishkin’s analysis of Dunbar’s clever rhetorical strategies in “An Ante-Bellum Sermon” and how his writing style protected him from a potential racist backlash.

“The Preacherly Text: African American Poetry and Vernacular Performance” by Marcellus Blount (1992)

Blount’s essay first examines the common rhetoric and conventions of the 19th century vernacular Black sermon and then demonstrates how Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “An Ante-Bellum Sermon” incorporates that tradition into its narrative. Blount pays particular attention to the methods both Dunbar and his fictional preacher employ to disguise the revolutionary discontent they incite in their listeners. Blount’s essay is a useful resource for understanding “An Ante-Bellum Sermon” within its original historical context.

Listen to Poem

“An Ante-Bellum Sermon” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (performed by Margaret Walker)

African-American poet and writer Margaret Walker, author of the Civil War-era novel Jubilee (1966), lends her voice to this recording of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “An Ante-Bellum Sermon.”