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Gwendolyn BrooksA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The word “May” occurs three times in the poem, twice in the first stanza. In Line 1, the speaker announces, “I shall not sing a May song” (Line 1), implying that May songs are common enough to be expected in the northern hemisphere, May marks springtime, which has long been a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings, symbolized by the return of sunshine and new growth. It is a festive time, and in the western canon, springtime is also associated with the Christian holidays Easter and Pentacost, which signal the return of a joyous period after the difficult days of winter. The speaker explicitly addresses this symbolic tradition, where she says, “A May song should be gay” (Line 2), reinforcing the expectation that a May song should be upbeat because springtime is a welcomed period of the year. As such, her refusal to participate in a traditional celebration of springtime alerts the reader to a rejection of the norm in a way that goes against the collective expectation of the moment.
In the poem, November symbolizes gloom and a time of the year not regularly welcomed by a majority of people in the northern hemisphere. The month links to the onset of winter and the disappearance of light, warmth, and bountiful nature.
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By Gwendolyn Brooks