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Dudley Randall was born on January 14, 1914 in
Washington D.C., but moved to Detroit when he was
six.
He was the son of Arthur George Clyde and Ada Viola
Randall.
He married Ruby Hudson in 1935 didn’t work out.
Married Mildred Pinckney in 1942 didn’t last either.
In 1957, he then married Vivian Spencer.
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He developed an interest in poetry while in school.
When he was thirteen he published his first poem that appeared in
the Detroit Free Press.
From 1932 to 1937 he worked in the Ford Motor Company in
Dearborn, Michigan.
He served in the military during World War II.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1949 at Wayne State
University in Detroit.
Randall then completed his Master’s degree in Library Science at the
University of Michigan in 1951.
In 1965 he started his own publishing company called Broadside Press
that published many African American writers. Melvin Tolson, Sonia
Sanchez, Audre Lorde, Gwendolyn Brooks, Etheridge Knight, Margaret
Walker, and others.
He died on August 5, 2000 in Southfield, Michigan.
In 1963, Birmingham Alabama, was
where they had a lot of marches
protesting the racial segregation
of schools and other public
facilities. They intended to be
peaceful protest but would
often get violent. This poem is
based on historical event that
occurred on the morning on
September 15, 1963 where a
bomb exploded during Sunday
school at 16th Street Baptist
Church. Four children were
killed and 22 were injured.
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This poem is a ballad
A ballad is a simple narrative verse which tells a
story
It is sometimes put into music to be sung like for
this one it was sung by Jerry Moore in 1968.
The poem is written in iambic tetrameter
Sounds very nursery rhyme like.
It has 8 stanzas
Every stanza is a quatrain.
Rhyme scheme is ABCB.
Enjambment in lines 1, 3, 11, 15, 20, and 22.
STANZAS 1-4
STANZAS 5-8
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The first stanza is about a child asking her
mother if she can go to a Freedom March in
Birmingham.
The second stanza shows the mother’s
concern by the usage of repetition in the first
line. The poem uses imagery to describe how
violent the freedom marches would get and
that its not safe for a child.
The daughter mentions that other children
will go with her and repeats line 3 to show
that she really wants to go and help fight
segregation.
But the mother still believes that its not safe
because she fears the police may fire. She
then mentions that she should go to church
instead because she believes is safer.
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Stanza 5 describes the mother getting her
daughter ready for church.
Stanza 6 shows the mother’s relief that
she knows her child is in a safer place.
Stanza 7 the mothers reaction changes to
teary and worry when she hears the
explosion of the bomb.
Stanza 8 shows how desperate the mother
is to find her daughter as she goes
through the bits of glass and brick but
only finds her white shoe but not her
child.
REPETITION
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In lines 5 and 13 it uses
repetition to show the concern
of mother about her daughter’s
safety.
Lines 3 and 11 the daughter
repeats herself to show how
eager she is about going to the
Freedom March to try and
convince her mom to let her go.
METAPHOR
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In line 17 the author compares
the child’s hair to night to
emphasize how dark her hair is.
Line 18 Randall uses another
metaphor where he compares
the sweet smell to roses after she
took a bath.
IMAGERY
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Lines 6 and 7 uses imagery to
describe how marches would get.
Although they were intended to
be peaceful they would frequently
get violent.
Lines 19 and 20 give a description
on how the mother dressed her
with white gloves and white
shoes.
Stanza 7 shows the reaction of the
mother when she heard the
explosion and how her eyes got
teary, and her running through
the streets calling for her
daughter.
STANZAS 1-4
“Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?”
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren’t good for a little child.”
“But, mother, I won’t be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free.”
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children’s choir.”
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The words highlighted in green show
the mothers concern for her daughter.
The words highlighted in red give a
violent tone on how freedom marches
got back in the 60’s.
The words highlighted in blue show a
change in tone to a more good feeling
when the mother tells her daughter to go
to church instead of the march.
STANZAS 5-8
She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.
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The mother smiled to know her child
Was in the sacred place, (church)
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?
Again shows a calm and positive tone
when the mother gets her daughter ready
for church. (highlighted in blue)
The yellow highlighted words show the
change in tone of the mother fearing that
something happened to her daughter .
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Irony plays a huge part in this poem. The
whole poem is irony because the daughter
wants to go and attend a freedom march. The
mother feels that they are too dangerous for
her and believes that she should go to church
instead because she believes is a safer place as
it says in stanza 6 “The mother smiled to know
her child was in the sacred place,”. What she
thought was the safest place ended up being
the most dangerous place and took the life of
her daughter.
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1. Why is the poem ironic?
2. How many enjambments does the poem have?
3.Why does the author use repetition in lines 5 and 13.
4. What kind of image does stanza 2 give?
5. How many victims died in the bombing?
6. What year was the author born?
7. What meter is the poem written in?
8. How many stanzas does it have?
9.When did the historical event happen?
10. In line 17 what is the poem comparing?