![]() Symons’ poem ends with the speaker concluding that he will spend “all life long crying without avail.” Sadly, this is the conclusion Du Bois flirts with. The speaker is “weary” and “wonder and cries like the sea.” This aligns perfectly with Du Bois’ assertions that the African American race was in a time of “storm and stress.” Du Bois writes that the constant repression of his race has culminated as “inspiration strives with doubt, and faith with vain questionings.” Like the narrator in Symons’ poem, Du Bois hears the wailing of his race and he cannot help but channel it. Within Symons’ poem, a wailing sea becomes metaphorical of the speaker’s heart. The poem he includes at the beginning of the chapter is significant that it is the paratext to Du Bois’ introduction. The Souls of Black Folk is Du Bois’ attempt to illuminate “the striving” in the souls of African Americans. The poem Du Bois includes at the beginning of chapter one is Arthur Symons’ “The Crying of Water.” Chapter one serves as Du Bois’ thesis statement, so to speak. ![]() Chapter 1, entitled “Our Spiritual Strivings” is one such example. These paratextual inclusions are particularly telling of Du Bois’ own experience and the tone which the respective chapter takes. Du Bois begins every chapter with an excerpt of a song. Within his book, The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. ![]()
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