The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Stevens, Wallace. Cullen, Countee. Color. First ed., Harper & Brothers, 1925.

Note that the parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the stanzas (1-7) of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

“Heritage” is a poem written by Countee Cullen, one of the key figures of the Harlem Renaissance. It was published in 1925, part of Cullen’s first published book verse, titled Color. Cullen published Color while pursuing a master’s in literature at Harvard University. The poem is written in a modernist style, using a conventional AABB rhyme scheme. The language is at times archaic and the verse highly alliterative and rhythmic.

Cullen addresses many themes in “Heritage.” He considers the ramifications of Christianization for African-Americans in the European tradition. He reflects, in a variety of different registers, on the difficulty of knowing Africa as a diasporan living in the Americas. Cullen’s verse is at times probing and exhorting of the reader. But it also relies on a somewhat ironic tonal register. The poem declares a need for an awakening in the Afro-American subject and asserting a pride in African origin.