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The Haunted Oak
152
The Haunted Oak
PRAY why are you so bare, so bare,
Oh, bough of the old oak-tree;
And why, when I go through the shade you throw,
Runs a shudder over me?
My leaves were green as the best, I trow,
And sap ran free in my veins,
But I saw in the moonlight dim and weird
A guiltless victim's pains.
I bent me down to hear his sigh;
I shook with his gurgling moan,
And I trembled sore when they rode away,
And left him here alone.
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Theme
Depiction
The theme that this poem conveys is that justice does not always prevail.
- The poet describes the man lynched as a “guiltless victim” (line 8). Meanwhile, he boldly names the culprits: “the judge” (line 37), “the doctor” (line 38), and “the minister” (line 39). All these people posses significant social ranking yet “they have no care for his innocence” (line 27).
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Purpose
Literary Devices
The purpose of this poem is to provoke anger about the maltreatment the African Americans had experienced around the 19th century. Dunbar, who was the first professional black literary man, used this poem as a tool to inform the public about this disturbing social issue. Furthermore, its purpose is also to fight against racism the African Americans faced during the reign of the “white” leaders.
- Personification - Throughout the poem, the poet lets the oak tree speak and in the lines 45 to 52, the oak tree states how his bough dies at the same time the man dies.
- Imagery - The descriptive words used in the poem helped in setting the mood and expressing the emotion of the poem because they are able to awaken the readers' senses.
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- Symbolism - In lines 11-12, the poet uses the dog's howl and the wind's wail to represent the cry of the man while being hanged. Moreover, he calls the African Americans 'deer' because it represents innocence.
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