X Flashcards
(5 cards)
Musket: Old-fashioned gun, symbolizing war’s violent past
Scythe: Dual symbolism – used for farming (life) but also associated with death
Juxtaposition: Life (farming) vs. death (scythe, war)
Bone-drag: Suggests the brutal, bloody nature of war
Skeleton imagery: Death looming over everyone marching – all heading toward death
No more muskets, the bone-drag / weariness of marching
Again, the Fields (Part 2)
Native Guards as metaphor for her mother: Represents sacrifice, like the soldiers who gave their lives
Sacrament: Religious ritual (e.g., communion) – parallels Christ’s sacrifice with her mother’s and the Native Guard’s
“Soaked”: Complete, all-encompassing blood – no part untouched, symbolizing total sacrifice
Earth: Southern landscape stained with the blood of war, connecting land to historical violence
Red: Blood symbolized as communion wine – a mark of sacrifice
soaked earth red as the wine / of sacrament
Again, the Fields (Part 2)
“New field, bright”: Metaphor for battlefield – a fresh, optimistic future for the South
“Domes”: Symbolizes important buildings (religious, political) – like the Capitol, representing democracy
“Republic”: A nod to their democratic ideals and the new government
Optimistic imagery: Bright future, hope for the South’s democratic recovery post-revolution
a new field, bright / as domes of the republic
Again, the Fields (Part 2)
Black veteran in “distant field”: Represents segregation – even post-slavery, racism persists
- symbol for the Native Guard
Cotton: Symbol of slavery – Black people forced to work in cotton fields, even post-emancipation
Jim Crow laws: Legalized segregation, separating Black people from white spaces
“Dark soil”: Dual meaning – racial reference (Black Americans) and the idea of growth or decay
Soil as metaphor: Negative (dirt) vs. positive (growth, renewal) – ex-slave still trapped in labor, no escape from past exploitation
Final stanza contrasts white veteran with black veteran
- White veteran: Honored with a painting, respected
- Black veteran: Left out of the painting, ignored, uncelebrated
- Black veteran’s focus: He’s only given one stanza – negligence, critique of historical ignorance
Separation: Juxtaposes the honored white veteran with the disregarded Black veteran – critiquing how history marginalizes Black contributions
‘his hands the color of dark soil’
Again, the Fields (Part 2)
SUMMARY
Painting the poem is based on by Winslow Homer
someone working on the land - white? - don’t see his face
Aftermath of the American Civil War
former union (north) soldier - discarded jacket
holding a scythe - symbol of death (grim reaper)
METAPHOR OF THE PAINTING - to show who is honoured after war (white veteran) and who is not (black veteran aka the native guard) - painter has deemed the white veteran important
Tretheway is questioning why the painter chose a white veteran and not a black veteran
links that to the general experience of black people in the south
expanding on this image painted to include another veteran who is black and off the painting
aftermath of the civil war - fields were fought in previously and are now being used to farming -> life and death
Again, the Fields (Part 2)
