There is an A,B,B,B rhyme scheme in the first stanza. The second stanza has an A,A,A rhyme scheme. The third stanza has an A,B,A,A rhyme scheme.
The words "dead men" are repeated in every stanza except the last one.
There is alliteration in the second stanza with the words heart and heatless.
There is assonance in the first stanza with know, go, and grow. The second stanza has assonance with rain, brain, and pain. The third stanza has assonance with the words satiate, weight, and hate.
There is consonance in the first stanza with the words roots, flowers, seed, go, and grow. The second stanza has consonance with heart and heatless. The third stanza has consonance with the words satiate and sleep. The final stanza has consonance with strange and should.
I think this poem explains that since dead men have no more unhelpful emotions (jealousy,hate,lust,ect.) they can see and think without any of those things affecting what they think. Also they say that dead men focuss on what everyone else would see and not what they feel.
The Wise by Countee Cullen
Dead men are wisest,
for they know
How far the roots of flowers go,
How long a seed must rot to grow.
Dead men alone bear frost and rain
On throbless heart and heatless brain,
And feel no stir of joy or pain.
Dead men alone are satiate;
They sleep and dream and have no
weight,
To curb their rest, of love or hate.
Strange, men should flee their company,
Or think me strange who long to be
Wrapped in their immunity.
There is an A,B,B,B rhyme scheme in the first stanza. The second stanza has an A,A,A rhyme scheme. The third stanza has an A,B,A,A rhyme scheme.
The words "dead men" are repeated in every stanza except the last one.
There is alliteration in the second stanza with the words heart and heatless.
There is assonance in the first stanza with know, go, and grow. The second stanza has assonance with rain, brain, and pain. The third stanza has assonance with the words satiate, weight, and hate.
There is consonance in the first stanza with the words roots, flowers, seed, go, and grow. The second stanza has consonance with heart and heatless. The third stanza has consonance with the words satiate and sleep. The final stanza has consonance with strange and should.
I think this poem explains that since dead men have no more unhelpful emotions (jealousy,hate,lust,ect.) they can see and think without any of those things affecting what they think. Also they say that dead men focuss on what everyone else would see and not what they feel.