As I began reading this poem I began to analyze and even scrutinize it. I looked for whatever small detail and meaning I could deduce. However, I found this to be too tedious rather than simply let the meaning come to me. That is, I stopped trying to make too much of the meaning. Rather, I began to notice occurrences that were pervasive within. As I began reading through the entirety, my initial conclusion seemed adapted. I pondered the idea of the water lily which transcended both the archaic depths and the vicious creatures ascending it. As I continued to reexamine, I placed more emphasis and consideration towards the water lilies surroundings. I thought perhaps each were symbolic of something. Of course the most obvious was that of nature…show more content… Then I related these vicious dragon flies to those that banded together under the cause of civil rights. After all, riots were prominent during that era, and as a result, African-Americans were demonized. It seems logical that he would reference them so. These dragon flies are described as “stands in space to take aim, others as dangerous come the hum”. Even so it only says “others” not all, so I deduced he believed that not all are of a malevolent nature solely after a vendetta. There are “battle-shouts and death cries” which correlates to the events of that time period. I thought his use of others indicated his realization that African-Americans as a whole were a nuisance or harbingers of destruction. Those who followed the philosophy of Malcom X and such were violent by nature, yet those under Martin Luther King Jr. and such were not of course. I believe he had made this distinction. More so, the cries of the dragon flies are described as, “inaudible, so the eyes praise to see the color of these flies”. I understood this to mean that despite the coherence and sanity of those advocating civil rights their color was still predisposed to judgement. This same correlation was made to the dragon flies. After all, no one ever makes any attempt to understand a dragon fly. It is simply ignored and demonized. Regardless, Hughes describes the fury as, “cooling like beads of…show more content… The ravenous oppressors “have evolved no improvements”. They have halted in any sort of progression. That of humanity and an empathy of others. They are “ignorant of age” and uninterested in the progression of human interaction. These people or rather creatures poses no empathy towards the dragon flies. I noticed he was much more spiteful towards what lie beneath the water bed. I concluded he must either be an activist or at the very least a sensible human being with a minimal capacity of empathy. There are much more dehumanizing description of what creatures lie dormant underneath the water bed. They are even described as having “jaws for heads”. This comparison parallels that of a shark which are blood thirsty creatures who have no compassion for one another. Certain species even eat one another in their mothers whom which truly emphasizes their monstrous
