Countee Cullen was an American Poet that lived from May 30th, 1903 to January 9th, 1946. During his high school years, he won a citywide poetry competition where his fame initially began. He was also known as a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, due to his poetry publications. Cullen wrote "Saturday's Child" in the early 1900's. I like this poem because it expresses memories about a childhood lived in poverty. It made me think about how fortunate and lucky I am, to not be brought up in a struggling environment.
The poem begins with using the symbols "teethed on a silver spoon" alluding the old saying "born with a silver spoon," meaning that some are born into a wealthy family. Then in line two he states "stars strung for a rattle" referring to some children are given more expensive toys to play with whereas the speaker didn't have. Then cuts his teeth as a "black raccoon," symbolizing that he had to be strong in order to survive and overcome obstacles that poverty brought. In Stanza 2, he uses symbols like "silk" and "sackcloth gown" to compare that wealthy children were born in to expensive clothes like silk, whereas he was wrapped by some kind of rag cloth. In Stanza 3, the speaker refers to his welcomed birth into "poverty" and "pain." The quotes in Stanza 4, Bad time for planting a seed"... “One mouth more to feed” symbolizes the speaker's resentment towards his upbringing and father. The speaker implies as "Death" bringing him to life instead of a doctor, in Stanza 5. That his survival was the only fortune he had in life.
The speaker in this poem compares his life to the life of a wealthy child. In order to understand the poem, you must detonate the symbols in each stanza. For instance, teeth, detonates as hard bone like structures in the jaws of vertebrates; used for biting and chewing or for attack and defense. The detonation of rattle is a baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken; loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail. A raccoon is an omnivorous nocturnal mammal native to North America and Central America. Silk detonates as a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae. Sackcloth is a garment made of coarse sacking; formerly worn as an indication of remorse. Poverty is the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions. The detonation of pain is hurting; a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder. Finally, the detonation of Death is a permanent cessation of all vital functions; the end of life; the passing or destruction of something inanimate.
From my point of view, the speaker of the poem is comparing his life of poverty to wealthy children. He expresses that some are born with a silver spoon whereas he wasn’t, being that he didn’t have anything. Some children are born into privileged homes and some simply aren’t. He didn’t have the fancy toys to rattle with, nor was he clothed in luxurious clothes. The speaker is basically talking about his unfortunate upbringing into poverty and the struggles he faced. The tone of this poem is resentment and pessimistic. The speaker was envious of the rich, resenting his unfortunate upbringing.
Resources
"Countee
Cullen." 2013. The Biography Channel Website. Sept. 24, 2013,
11:46. http://www.biography.com/people/countee-cullen-38950.
Cullen,
Countee. Saturday's Child by Countee Cullen: The Poetry Foundation.' Poetry
Foundation. N.p. n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171340.
