Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note by Amiri Baraka

PREFACE TO A TWENTY VOLUME SUICIDE NOTE

By: Amiri Baraka

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

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

The mood of the speaker in the opening lines is despair, alienation, and self-depression.  “Preface to a Twenty-Volume Suicide Note” was filled with images of the stultifying life of convention and respectability. From the first stanza, the line “Lately, I’ve become accustomed to the way”, and “Or the broad edged silly music the wind” show the speaker’s feeling of depression. Then, the images of American popular culture like allusions to jazz and popular music and references to characters  present in a good number of the works.

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

The daughter’s gesture of peeking into “her own clasped hands” is the daughter still have faith and hope in God and it shows that there's still hope for the  prayers to be answered by God. in the daughter's eyes which probably the reason why the speaker do not end up his life with suicide.

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

The title “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” means expresses dislocation and political stasis, implicitly questioning the role of the poet as a social voice of suicides. There also had its religious aspect. When the father had gone into his daughter’s room, he found her praying. He go to daughter's room and heard her. Talking to someone, and when he opened. Only she on her knees, peeking into. Her own clasped hands.” Just speaking into her own clasp hands, as it seems from his point of view. It shows that the father does not have a strong relationship with God as we can see from the last stanza The closing line shows that there is still hope when the daughter pray to God.

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

Baraka separated the short lines as stanzas because he have an important message in each stanza. Futhermore, he make readers easy to understand what he tried to say and the readers could follow their messages better.

5.      Why does Baraka begin stanzas with “Lately”, “And now” and “And then”? What do these transition words accomplish?

Baraka used the words in the beginning of the stanzas to show the  order of events in his poem. These  words make the readers understand the reason why he wanted to commit suicide, his expression and the incident that make him back to the reality  which make him responsible to his intention.

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

The speaker feels blame and responsinle when he saw her daughter on that night. Her daughter want a guider along the way she do in her life. She represents of loveness and hopeness that makes the speaker woke up from a world of selfish.

Sources:  http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/baraka/onlinepoems.htm