Racial discrimination is a terrible evil. It has affected African Americans dramatically for hundreds of years in the United States. During the Harlem Renaissance movement, African Americans strove to express their feelings about racism through literary means such as poetry. An example of this is the poem “Only the Polished Skeleton” by Countee Cullen. Countee Cullen attempted to convey the true meaning of the poem through invoking strong feelings in the reader.

The poem possesses a deeper meaning than just a description of a skeleton. The subject of the poem is the racism that African Americans had to endure throughout their lifetime. “The heart has need of some deceit to make its pistons rise and fall” (Cullen line 1, 703). Cullen says here that blacks must deceive themselves into thinking they are not restricted in order to live life. He explains that blacks cannot dwell on their situation in a racist society; they must pretend they have equality. “With subterfuge and fraud the mind must fend and parry thrust for thrust” (line 5, 703). The poet asserts that blacks have to convince themselves that they have equality, while ignoring the attacks of whites; this is the main idea of the poem. He compares racist actions and the response of blacks to a swordfight. “Only the polished skeleton of flesh relieved and pauperized, can rest at ease and think upon the worth of all it so despised” (line 9, 703). In the final stanza, Cullen uses a “polished skeleton” to make two points. The first is that blacks can only be at ease and rest when they are not judged by skin color. The second is that only in death blacks are relieved from the onslaught of racism and discrimination. Cullen concealed a deeper meaning in the poem “Only the Polished Skeleton”, a description of how lifelong prejudice affects African  Americans.

The imagery and metaphors in this poem invoke strong feelings in the reader. Cullen utilizes three metaphors for African Americans: a heart, a mind, and a skeleton. The selection of these particular images is meant to invoke morbid and dire feelings. “For less than this it would not beat, nor flush the sluggish vein at all” (line 3, 703). Cullen is describing a beating heart and vein in lieu of the will to live. This particular imagery continues to provoke morbid feelings, as well as establishing a mournful tone. “With logic brutal and unkind beat off the onslaughts of the dust” (line 7, 703). This describes the way blacks had to think about themselves to fend off racism. The imagery here, the brutal logic and dust onslaughts, invoke a sense of finality or doom. “Only the polished skeleton of flesh relieved and pauperized” (line 9, 703). Here the poet is trying to convey the image of a black without skin. The skeleton is additional morbid imagery that invokes depressing feelings. “Can rest at ease and think upon the worth of all it so despised” (line 11, 703). This line illustrates how blacks despise living in a racist society. The imagery of a skeleton contemplating a terrible life invokes feelings of regret and depression. The imagery and metaphors in this poem invoke almost apocalyptic, depressing, and morbid feelings in the reader.

“Only the Polished Skeleton” by Countee Cullen is a saddening account of the plight of African Americans in a racist society. It uses disturbing imagery to emphasize a mournful tone, as well as describing a lifetime of discrimination. The Harlem Renaissance was characterized by this type of literature, which catalyzed the civil rights movement. Blacks have expressed deep feelings of mourning in literature since before the beginning of the United States. Racism has always been a terrible evil and it should be eradicated.