The Blue Terrance

Terrance Hayes

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2006

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Literary Context

“The Blue Terrance” is taken from Hayes’s third volume of poems, Wind in a Box (2006). Like “The Blue Terrance,” many of the poems in the collection are formal in structure. Hayes often composes poems in traditional forms such as sonnets and odes; and his poems are unusual in the contemporary milieu in that they can have a very clear, unabashed point of view. His themes remain widespread and current, ranging from popular music, the history of racial violence, and masculinity. The combination of varied influences with his love of form makes it difficult to slot Hayes in a particular literary school. He can be considered a Formalist, yet he is equally a Postmodernist, experimental poet, with his poems mirroring snatches of blues music, dialect, and even political manifestos. Perhaps, the best way to consider Hayes’s poetic craft is that of different literary and cultural traditions in conversation.

This dialogue between many literary traditions is evident through the range of Hayes’s cultural influences. He is heavily influenced by the literary and spiritual legacy of African American poets like Amiri Baraka (1934-2014) and Wanda Coleman (1946-2013), as well as poets from the mainstream traditional canon, from William Shakespeare (1564-1616) to Walt Whitman (1819-1892). As Hayes has stated in an interview, one doesn’t need to separate oneself from any cultural context to express their identity: “You can read Toni Morrison and still read Shakespeare. They’re different, but you also find that they’re still gold” (Williams, Jeffrey J. “Terrance Hayes on Shakespeare, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and What Makes a Good MFA.” Literary Hub, 9 May 2018). Hayes also moves seamlessly between texts considered highly literary and voices from popular culture, such as funk music and popular movies.

Cultural Context

Blues music is a prominent motif in “The Blue Terrance,” inextricably linked with the speaker’s awakening as a human being, a Black man, and a romantic. It shapes his identity on a personal and political level, helping him find his unique, complex place in the world. When he hears a piece of blues music, the speaker feels it calls to him, because of the extremes of human nature it represents, and also because it is part of the speaker’s cultural history. The songs mentioned or referenced in “The Blue Terrance” are from the 1970s, but the history of blues music predates this decade. One of the most prominent and influential American musical traditions, blues music has its roots in African American work songs and spirituals of the deep south from the 1860s. Tracing these roots even further, these songs themselves contained beats and techniques from Indigenous musical traditions on the African continent. Some of the distinctive features of early blues music in the US were call-and-response (question and answer) lyrics, and repeated words and lines. The lyrics were charged with emotion, reflecting the struggles of African American people. In the 20th century, blues music spread to urban centers, and gave rise to other popular music forms such as jazz.

Though blues music and jazz are closely related, jazz tends to be livelier and more focused on virtuoso play with instruments. Blues music is more melancholy in tone than other music, and it reflects soulful, romantic lyrics. By the 1940s, jazz, the blues, and other African American-origin musical forms were being grouped under the rhythm and blues or R & B music category. Critics note that while the forms have had a tremendous influence on the history of American and world music, many African American proponents of the music did not get their due. For instance, the traditional song “Hound Dog” was first recorded for the mainstream by blues singer Big Mama Thornton in 1952. Though Thornton’s song was a modest hit, it was neglected in favor of the version recorded by white performer Elvis Presly in 1956. For Hayes, blues music understands love and loss, because it is inextricably linked with the struggles and fight of Black people.