Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note 1961

Amiri Baraka (1934-)

                                                                                 For Kellie Jones, born 16 May 1959

Lately, I’ve become accustomed to the way

The ground opens up and envelopes me

Each time I go out to walk the dog.

Or the broad edged silly music the wind

Makes when I run for a bus…

Things have come to that.

And now, each night I count the stars.

And each night I get the same number.

And when they will not come to be counted,

I count the holes they leave.

Nobody sings anymore.

And then last night I tiptoed up

To my daughter’s room and heard her

Talking to someone, and when I opened

The door, there was no one there…

Only she on her knees, peeking into

Her own clasped hands

Explorations of the Text

What is the mood of the speaker in the opening lines? What images suggest his feelings?

He was sad, frustrated and became hopeless. He got used with his daily life. He used to live in the miserable and horrible. He was adapted to endure with that situation. The images that suggest his feeling are the sentence of “The ground opens up and envelopes me”, “Things have come to that” showing that he is not happy with the way things are, and that it does not seem to be changing. These statements seem so blunt.

What is the significance of the daughter’s gesture of peeking into “her own clasped hands”?

I found it was something about praying. Maybe her daughter was praying at that time and it was like there is hope for something to be better.

What does the title mean? How does it explain the closing line?

To be honest, when I first read this poem, I am not too sure whether it is about commit suicide or not.  Regardless of the title, I wouldn't think it was a suicide note. Perhaps, it is just like an emotional feeling towards this poem to show that the speaker’s life was too horrible like commit a suicide. It does explain the closing line by saying that “ Her own clasped hand”. His tone changes to. It changes what he was previously feeling. By seeing his daughter hold onto this hope that there is something better, he knows he has to make it better for her. So, we cannot conclude the poem is something about commit suicide.

What does Baraka have three short lines, separated as stanzas? How do they convey the message of the poem?

As for me, the first stanza showed the frustration of the speaker about his life. Then, the second stanza showed how the speaker feels lost hope. Lastly, the third stanza showed that there is still hope for the speaker to have a better life when he saw her daughter was praying. Every stanza convey the message with their tone.

Why does Baraka begin stanzas with “Lately”, “And Now”, and “And Then”? What do these transition words accomplish?

Baraka began stanzas with those words to show the power of language. The power of language in terms of literary text is to make the using of words more meaningful and bombastic for those who read the poem. “Lately”, showed the obstacles that the speaker went through previously, “And Now” showed the present of the speaker’s life and “And Then” showed what will happened to the speaker in his future life.

How does the speaker feel about his daughter? What does she represent to him?

The speaker felt glad to see her daughter was praying. She represented the symbolism of hope and strength for the speaker to have a better life in the future.