“The artist speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives, to our sense of pity and beauty, and pain.” –Joseph Conrad
I have chosen to use the poem "the Harlem Dancer" by Claude McKay to respond to this quote by Joseph Conrad. I think that this quote is saying that the artist or author is speaking to our sense through his or her art- whether that be the sense of beauty, sadness, pain, or some other one is up to the creator of the work.
Claud McKay is able to create a multitude of human senses in his poem. The first is guilt and sadness; he starts it off by saying "Applauding youths laughed with young prostitutes" (ln 1) showing us how young people in a bar were applauding the dancer and laughing with other young prostitutes. It makes you sad that youths were applauding and laughing about prostitution of their peers. Next he evokes emotion by comparing the voice of the dancer to "the sound of blended flutes" (ln 3)- a beautiful noise that sounds like something you can relax to and enjoy. The ending is where the real emotion of the poem stands out, "But looking at her falsely-smiling face/ I knew her self was not in that strange place" (lns. 13 & 14). It shows what the poem was about: are we truly happy? Or are we like the dancer, miserable but smiling through the pain? What in our life do we have to fake being happy? I think that is the main point of this poem, to ask a deep question about happiness and life in general.
I also think that stories like "Sonny's Blues" shows us how art can depict emotion and be able to express yourself. I think that all art has that ability.
For myself, I think that this quote is true because poetry can speak to our souls if its the right place and time. I also think that some can go over our heads or just not really seem that important or meaningful to us depending on our situations and how we look at the art. I think that if you look at it with certain intentions it can mean different things at different times.
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