Dream Song 2

     Listen to Dream Song 1 at the following link: http://www.prx.org/pieces/84589-the-beat-john-berryman-dream-song-1-huffy-h.

     I choose not to give an analysis for Song 1 at this time, because you can find analyses for a few of the Songs easily, since they're the most anthologized. Song 1 is definitely one of them. I'd like to analyze the poems that are a bit more difficult for the reader.

     So let's start with Song 2!

     Follow this link to the poem:  http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_poetry/Dream_Song_2_Big_Buttons_Cornets_the_advance_by_John_Berryman_analysis.php.

     In Berryman's author's note, he dedicates this poem, "to the memory of Daddy Rice who sang and jumped 'Jim Crow' in Louisville in 1828." Jim Crow being the most remembered character of the minstrel show.

     The poem's title contains the word "cornet," which is a wind instrument in the trumpet family. "Big Buttons" refers to the Thomas Rice's blue coat, on which there were big gold buttons, each of which bore a solitaire diamond.

     The poem begins, "The jane is zoned!" We can interpret this as slang form the '50s for "the girl is drunk." Henry is astonished that there are no bars in this neighborhood--surprise!

     Let's stop here to talk a bit about Berryman's thoughts behind using vaudeville dialect. He used it for the same reason he wrote the short story, "The Imaginary Jew": to identify with the suffering of oppressed peoples. The blackface getup is then Berryman's attempt to experience that oppression. The obvious shortsightedness of this ruse lies in the fact that Berryman's character is a white man in costume. We are to assume then that Berryman's character is unlike other minstrels, in that he actually is an authoritative voice on oppression.
   
      Here's a link in which Addriene Rich uses the "n" word. What the hell! (I used this site to gather info on why Berryman uses the minstrel voice).  http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/berryman/minstrel.htm.

     Any time "Sir Bones" or "Mr. Bones" appears, we can assume that the character in blackface is addressing Henry, because this is the minstrel's nickname for Henry. However, it's interesting that the minstrel calls Henry "Galahad," who was a knight at King Arthur's table. The comparison is especially shocking, because Galahad was considered pure-hearted, which Henry is certainly not.