Black American literature; poetry (Charles E. Merrill literary texts) - Softcover

A study of poetic creativity by Afro-Americans should begin not with compositions by individual writers, but with folk songs -- the spirituals, the ballads, the work songs, and the secular songs. Folk songs do not depend upon the niceties of civilization - the formal education which lends literary models and the finances which permit the purchase of pen, ink, and paper.