17 pages • 34-minute read
Black Woman
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Literary Devices
Form and Meter
In “Black Woman,” Senghor employs the traditional African form of the praise poem (sometimes referred to as a “praise song” when chanted or performed). A praise poem is a series of descriptions that laud a subject for its virtues or positive characteristics, all in service to capturing the essence of the subject.
In keeping with the form of the praise poem, “Black Woman” features an increasingly intense series of descriptions that define the Black woman (and metaphorically, the continent of Africa) as being worthy of respect and reverence. The repeated lines “Naked woman, Black woman” (Lines 1, 28) and “Naked woman, fathomless woman” (Lines 9, 18) are refrains that anchor the series of descriptions that unfolds over five stanzas.
“Black Woman” is in free verse and thus has no regular rhyme scheme, line length, or meter.
Apostrophe
“Black Woman” uses apostrophe, or direct poetic address: The speaker directs his words to a specific figure rather than to an assumed audience. Apostrophe allows the speaker to praise the Black woman, share heightened emotion about her, and define her through the use of imagery. Thus, Senghor uses direct address to depict the Black woman as a muse and presence that Western colonialist culture has overlooked. The form of the apostrophe gives Senghor the occasion to reflect on the many positive elements of the Black woman and Africa for audiences that may not be accustomed to seeing either as beautiful. Finally, the apostrophe makes the poem a site of encounter between Africa and his audience, a key moment that reinforces the poem as an act of resistance to colonialism.
Imagery
“Black Woman” is laden with imagery that appeals to many senses. These sensory images help Senghor develop the themes of the poem, especially those related to African beauty and postcolonial resistance. Much of the imagery of the poem is drawn from the material world of the African continent. The Black woman’s body is variously defined as “dark ecstasy of dark wines” (Line 10), shining like “oil of the princes of Mali” (Line 21), and “red gold rippling” (Line 24). The import of these visuals is that the Black woman and the continent are precious and vibrant rather than devalued and fixed in a primitive history.
Senghor also relies on sound, movement, and touch to portray Africa and the Black woman as dynamic and to reinforce the messages of the poem. For example, the mixed image of the “taut tom-tom” (Line 15) captures both the Black woman’s perseverance in the face of colonial exploitation and the sounds of African culture and arts. There is also “the fervent caress of the East Wind” (Line 13), whose touch and movement help the speaker represent the intensity of the African landscape, one of the natural features of that continent, and the beauty of the Black woman.
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