Poem_Analysis_On_“Tableau_(For_Donald_Duff)”

Poem Analysis On “Tableau (For Donald Duff)” The poem Tableau (for Donald Duff) written by Countee Cullen, shows the friendship of two young boys, one black and the other one white as they walk down the street “locked arm in arm” (line 1). The colored “folks would stare” (line 5) and the white “folks would talk” (line 6), saying that these two dare not walk with each other. The two boys continue to walk down without caring about what anybody has to say. It reinforces the concept that friendship has no color boundaries. The message in this poem conveys that the boys maintained their friendship, despite the criticisms of their interracial relationship. “Tableau” is a three-stanza poem that utilizes rhyme, imagery and metaphor. The structured rhyme scheme of this particular poem is brilliant. It is three-stanzas long, with four lines per stanza. Cullen wrote this poem as an iambic tetrameter. The poem follows a regular rhyme scheme (ABAB CDCD EFEF). Every other ending line rhymes; “way” (line 1) and “day” (line 3), “white” (line 2) and “night” (line 4), “stare” (line 5) and “dare” (line 7), “talk” (line 6) and “walk” (line 8), “word” (line 9) and “sword” (line 11), and “wonder” (line 10) and “thunder” (line 12). The line, poem, boys, walk, two, white, about, way, talk, one, friendship, cullen, being, together, stare, rhyme, makes, long, lines, each, care, black, wrote, word, wonder, understand, talks, strong, street, shows, scheme, saying, relationship, reader, racism, race