Trees

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 * __Angelina Grimke- Trees:__ Dan Reiser B1**

Angelina Grimke was born on February 20, 1805 to a slave-holding Judge in South Carolina. Quickly Angelina and her sister grew away from her father's rules and refused to be involved with slavery (Angelina Grimke 1). It is important to know these facts, for her poems alone represent the harsh conditions and undeniably wrong reasons for slavery. One of these poems, "Trees", can be scene as a connection of anti-slavery, religion, and the common man's greviances time and time again after reading this poem. During the time she wrote, modernism was revolutionizing the aspects of American literature while pushing for improvements in conditions and lifestyle for the common people, most importantly including both women and men. While modernism contradicts the old style of writing, "Trees" is a fine example of small movements of improving the style of living. Angelina Grinke developed her skills of motivating public speaking and determination for improvement in the American society in nearly all of her writings.

The work of Angelina Grinke in "Trees" is symbolic to the characteristics of the modernism time period in a variety of ways.The poem's obvious resentment from slavery withholds a powerful message in the anti-slavery movement that began with the establishment of the fourteenth amendment. However, she redirects the focus of the cruel punishment of slaves, and she brings it into the relationship of lynching and the sacrifice God has given us for forgiveness. The way she includes religion into the different characteristics of the tree itself makes an adjacent description of how Modernism is involved with the change of God, which is seen to be whithering away from the faith of the normal man. The connection between the tree and mankind has a lot to do with the figure of the tree, such as lines 3-4: //"//They grew; majestic bowed or very meek; Huge-bodied, slim; sedate and full of glees.", where the tree has the same body characteristics as the common man. Also, the trees are said to have "and to them soft and little tongues to speak" (line 6, "Trees"), which is a personification of how people have been given the ability to speak of Him; God.

The poem then breaks into a completely new aspect of meaning once the black man has been discovered hanging, "A black-hued gruesome thing swings and swings" (line 10, "Trees"). The most influential and powerful message correlating with Modernism is among lines 12-14 when man is seen as the end of it all and all comes to weaving, but the significance of this message lies in the last line "Was Christ Himself not nailed to a tree?". As Grimke grew, her knowledge of slavery and religion developed into an impressive concoction of the significance of the powerful symbolism of a hanging slave and God Himself hung to the same piece of nature, the tree. When judging the lifestyle of Angelina Grimke, it is easy to see her increasing involvement in anti-slavery, which is why her poems can be broken down into the powerful and religious connection with slavery and modernism writing. She also battled many attacks from religious leaders and slave-holders as Angelina made herself a public speaker for the Anti-slavery Society (Angelina Grimke 1).

Her writings are entirely based on persuading her readers into accepting her ideas and messages as bold and as comprehensible as they can be. The common man at the time of her writings may not have given her a second thought solely based on the fact she was woman public speaker against slavery. All things considered, Grimke's writings, nearly all of them, gave the American society a push for four incredibly influential and new improvements: the anti-slavery movement, woman's right for freedom of speech, the sacrifice of God in comparison with how any man, black or white, is lynched by the same doings, and the overwhelming realization for the common purpose of the common man in society, which can all be tied into the aspects of modernism. Through all of these improvements, Angelina had the support from her close family, mostly comprised of her sister, Sarah, and her anti-slavery campaigning husband, Theodore Weld (Angelina Grimke 1).

Modernism writing has influenced many important writers of American literature, but few women in the history of American literature can be considered to have influenced modernism. Angelina Grimke is one of these influential woman campaigners, public speakers, writers, lecturers, and abolitionists. Her style of writing parallels with Modernism because of it's relationships between the anti-slavery/society improving message with the destruction and purpose of man. Her life among other important factors around her has greatly brought Angelina from a small southern daughter of a slave-holder into the proud, stern public speaking writer who is important enough to be discussed one hundred and thirty-one years after her death (Angelina Grimke 1).

__Work Cited__

"Angelina Grimke." //Spartacus Educational - Home Page//. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. .

Grimke, Angelina W. "Trees." //Oldpoetry - Classical Poetry Discussion//. Amazon. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. 