An Annotation of Paul Laurence Dunbars Ships That Pass In The Night :: Dunbar Ships Pass Night Poem Essays

An Annotation of Paul Laurence Dunbar's Ships That Pass In The Night Laurence Dunbar's "Ship That Pass In The Night" is a cry for opportunity for all men, regardless of race. Dunbar's poem directly parallels a passage from Frederick Douglass' autobiography that gives an account of his life as a slave. Both Douglass and Dunbar look out at the ships that sail by and see hopes for societal changes. Although they both sought change, their aspirations were quite different. Frederick Douglass watched the ships from ashore, wishing for freedom and for slavery to be abolished. Paul Laurence Dunbar on the other hand was already a free man. He was on a ship, still more of an opportunity than Douglass had, yet he was still in search for new opportunities for African Americans. The new opportunities that he seeks are upon a ship somewhere sailing in the dark night and keep passing him by. Links from the poem below are best read in order from the beginning of the poem to the end Ships That Pass In The Night by Paul Laurence Dunbar Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing; I look far out into the pregnant night, Where I can hear a solemn booming gun And catch the gleaming of a random light, That tells me that the ship I seek is passing, passing. My tearful eyes my soul's deep hurt are glassing; For I would hail and check that ship of ships. I stretch my hands imploring, cry aloud, My voice falls dead a foot from mine own lips, And but its ghost doth reach that vessel, passing, passing. O Earth, O Sky, O Ocean, both surpassing, O heart of mine, O soul that dreads the dark! Is there no hope for me? Is there no way That I may sight and check that speeding bark Which out of sight and sound is passing, passing? The speaker begins by looking out into the night sky and sees a storm brewing. The storm represents the future, and like the nature of a storm, the future is unpredictable. A storm can either be threatening with thunder and lightning, or just a gentle rain that comes and goes. The speaker does not know what the future will bring for African Americans. He only knows that something is going to happen. The night is "pregnant" with opportunity and equality, waiting to deliver to people of all races. But the storm brewing on the night horizon is both threatening and promising for the speaker.