Theology and Lyric Poetry in Slave Songs

Abstract

Lyric poetry historically has been used for theological purposes, beginning with the Homeric text in the ancient Greek world, which has served the dual role as “bible” for its own culture as well as perhaps the central Western canonical text for oral-to-written verse. In this sense, slave songs are part of an ancient tradition. As with a great deal of such sacred verse, slave songs embody both a permeable boundary between the sacred and secular and an intimate relationship between these two realms of experience. This duality is consistent with the canonical lyric poetic tradition—for instance, as embodied in the written work of William Langland, William Blake, John Donne, George Herbert, John Milton, Christopher Smart, and Gerard Manley Hopkins, as well as the oral cultures discussed in chapter 1—yet rarely has it been demonstrated with as much power and poignancy as in slave songs. Slave songs’ value as lyric poetry is not negated by their theological value; rather, their literary, religious, and cultural significances are integrally related and mutually reinforcing.KeywordsTrue BelieverFolk SongBiblical StoryUnderground RailroadLyric PoetryThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.