Emotional Journeys: Tupac Shakur's 'A Rose Grew from Concrete' and Maya Angelou's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The
Romantic Movement is a movement that is highly associated with romanticism.
This is a period that was very influential in the 19th century and was
associated with great developments in literature art and music. It was a
movement whose aspects of art, music, and literature still influence the world
of today. This was a movement highly emphatic on nature and expression of
emotions. Various forms of artists used their art to express their feelings
towards life, God and nature and this gave art great power and influence in Europe
and across the world.it was a movement that reacted to aspects of
industrialization, wars, and stress brought about by enlightenment as a result
of modernity. These aspects brought about great concerns on people’s perception
of life, death, nature, and individuality and this led to the rise of
Romanticism. One great aspect of Romanticism is the aspect of emotion as a
great source of aesthetic expression. Romanticism was very influential in
expressions of natural beauty. It led to the development of philosophies that
influenced libertarianism and led to the growth of nationalism in many nations
in Europe and across the world. The twentieth century saw great developments in
artistic expression and most of them were influences on romanticism. A Rose
Grew from Concrete, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are two poems by Tupac
Shakur and Maya Angelou. They are two poems that greatly express emotions
associated with individual life and struggles. They are two poems that are
greatly influenced by Romanticism in the way they express their artistic
nature. This essay will explore several aspects of the poems in relation to
Romanticism and explore their significance in the society (Shakur, 2017).
A
Rose Grew from Concrete is a poem by Tupac Shakur and is part of his Poetic
album he released in the year 2000. It is a poem about a rose that grows out of
the concrete. The poet encourages people to consider the awe associated with
the rose growing out of concrete and disregard patches on the petals associated
with hardships of growing out of concrete. The poem is symbolic of the actual
life of Tupac. He is a man that was born out of hardship, and his life was
surrounded by negativity associated with poverty, racism, and crime. However,
people in the society focused on the negative aspects of the life of Tupac and
forgot the strength and endurance he had from growing up in the ghetto. It is a
poem that expresses a lot of emotions about a man who survives living in the ghetto.
In relation to romanticism, the poem expresses certain elements critical in
romanticism. The expression of resilience attributed to the growth of a rose in
concrete is representative of an appeal to the strength of nature. The poem
gives a lot of attention to the ability of a rose to grow to form a crack in
the concrete. It relates to Tupac’s resilience in life. He is strong enough to
survive in the ghetto despite the hardships and negative aspects of society at
the time. The other aspect is sentimentality, and this is greatly expressed in
the form of the tender emotions associated with the need to be sympathetic with
Tupac and his hard life. The poem is filled with sentimentality that creates
nostalgia because of the gentle, sad emotions associated with negative aspects
of the society from where the poet comes from (Shakur,
2017).
Another
important element is associated with romantic heroism associated with the way
Tupac Shakur expresses his strength in surviving a difficult life. He appears
more like a hero who endures tough situations in his life and excels above
social constructs, and social difficulties. The depiction of a rose growing out
of concrete is representative of heroism whereby, it is difficult to find a
plant that can survive in such difficult conditions. The other feature is
individuality, and this is depicted in the poem through the representation of
the actual life of Tupac. The poem expresses individuality by showing
individual aspects of life and emotions of Tupac Shakur through the use of
symbolism and metaphors brought forward by the surviving of a rose in concrete.
The poet embraces his emotions of sadness and hope. He does not hide the fact
that the life he lived was hard and embraces his emotions of hope in his own
life (Shakur, 2017).
I
Know Why the Caged Bird sings, on the other hand, is a poem by Maya Angelou. It
is a poem that forms part of her autobiography released in the year 1969. It is
a great poem that summarizes the life of Maya Angelou and explores the aspect
of coming of age. She is a young girl who suffers from great social problems
while growing up. Her parents separate and reject her and her brother, and she
has to live with the sadness of being unwanted. Her life is filled with
negative social aspects of racism, sexual abuse, poverty sexuality and all
affect Maya as she grows up and develops into a woman (Angelou, 2017).
This
poem also has several features of romanticism. Its depiction of nature in the
form of a bird flying freely explores the aspect of real freedom seen in the
lives of whites in the society. African Americans live in a life filled with
limitations of racism, social oppression, and another difficulty. The poem uses
the depiction of a free bird to explore the aspect of nature as it should be.
The poem also has aspects of sentimentality depicted by the sadness the poet
expresses. The life of the caged bird is filled with sadness
because of the limits of deprivation of freedom. The poem explores heroism by
show resilience in the struggle of the caged bird.
The
two poem relate to each other in the way they express emotions. They portray
sad stories associated with limits the society puts in the life of certain
individuals. They are filled with sadness associated with social problems. They
are two poems that are a great representation of Romanticism because of their
focus on emotional expression, focus on nature and individuality. They are
poems developed in different times but show how romanticism is a strong aspect
of artistic expression whose influence is still visible in modern day forms of
art.
As
great representations of Romanticism, the two poems express it using different
ideas. The first poem explores the aspect of a difficult life growing up in the
ghetto while the second poem explores aspects of racism, sexuality and abuse
and social problems affecting the poet. I find the two poems similar in the
exploration of the plight of African American people in different times. The
first explores the life of poverty and crime associated with living in the
Ghetto while the second depicts the life in early 20th century where aspects of
racism were high in the society. The two
poems express they're difficult life in emotional manners shows individual
struggle in the society (Angelou, 2017).
Works
Cited
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
n.d. https://allpoetry.com/I-Know-Why-The-Caged-Bird-Sings. 2017.
Shakur, 2Pac. The Rose That Grew From Concrete. n.d.
https://genius.com/2pac-the-rose-that-grew-from-concrete-lyrics. 2017.
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