Memory

  Home Group Poems Song Prospective Immigrants

//

Memory// By Margaret Walker

I can remember wind-swept streets of cities on cold and blustery nights, on rainy days; heads under shabby felts and parasols and shoulders hunched against a sharp concern; seeing hurt bewilderment on poor faces, smelling a deep and sinister unrest these brooding people cautiously caress; hearing ghostly marching on pavement stones and closing fast around their squares of hate. I can remember seeing them alone, at work, and in their tenements at home. I can remember hearing all they said: their muttering protests, their whispered oaths, and all that spells their living in distress

//Analysis:// In this poem Margaret Walker remembers times of sorrow and stressful times. She uses imagery to paint the picture of how hard life could be and the toll that it can take on the people of America's history. She illustrates how people would talk about and dream of freedom and the stressful life that they currently lead. Margaret also talks about the harsh conditions of 'wind-swept streets of cities on cold and blustery nights,on rainy days' that the people had to endure. She shows the depressing and difficult life of people in the past.