Reading Notes W14: Senghor, Part B

While reading the context section for Leopold Sedar Senghor before devling into the various poems provided in The Norton Anthology of World Literature Volume F I was struck by much of his life and aims. I was unaware of some facets he took his literary career and the vast life he lived from the many cities he lived and his service fighting in World War II. Another aspect I was unaware of was his creation along with Aime Cesaire, "Negritude". The following from the historical context section gives an overall picture of Senghor's poetry and other factors "Leopold Sedar Senghor was a poet, a founder of the Negritude movement, and the first president of independent Senegal. His poetry takes as it's central subject the encounter between African and Europe" (676). Senghor and Cesaire's collaboration that led to Negritude was said to be a movement which elevates the black race through self affirmation. This is encapsulated in the following segment: "It was through their collaboration that the Negritude (or "blackness") movement developed, with its challenge of the colonial order and its passionate concern for the rehabilitation of Africa and the black race" (676). Of the poems available my attention was drawn to a few. The poem "Night in Sine" drew my attention because of what appears to be a double-entendre. The poem details a love between the narrator and a woman, with each expression of love also representing passion for Africa itself. The love between this couple is amplified because of where they are; their home.

• "Woman, place your soothing hands upon my brow,/You hands softer than fur./Above us balance the palm trees, barely rustling/In the night breeze. Not even a lullaby./Let the rhythmic silence cradle us./Listen to its song. Hear the beat of our dark blood,/ Hear the deep pulse of Africa in the mist of lost villages" (1-7, 679) - This stanza openly displays the comparison of love between this couple and comfort of being home: Africa.
• The calming actions of the woman are compared to various aspects of Africa, whether it be the animals, nature, surroundings and people