"Yet Do I Marvel" is a sonnet by the American poet Countee Cullen, published in his 1925 collection Color. This poem grapples with an ancient question: why would a good and loving God allow so much suffering in the world? In the poem's final couplet, the speaker relates this idea to his own circumstances, asking why God would make a Black man a poet in a time of extreme racial prejudice. The fact that Cullen remains one of the best-known poets of the Harlem Renaissance adds both to the poem's poignancy and its power: Cullen was up against terrible odds, but "s[a]ng" anyway.

• Read the full text of “Yet Do I Marvel”

• “Yet Do I Marvel” Summary

• “Yet Do I Marvel” Themes

  • 

    God and Human Suffering

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Lines 2-8
    • Lines 9-12
  • 

    The Difficulty of Being a Black Poet

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-8
    • Lines 13-14

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Yet Do I Marvel”

  • Line 1

    I doubt not ... good, well-meaning, kind,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 2-4

    And did He ...
    ... some day die,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-6

    Make plain the ...
    ... the fickle fruit,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-8

    If merely brute ...
    ... a never-ending stair.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    Inscrutable His ways ...
    ... His awful hand.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-14

    Yet do I ...
    ... bid him sing!

    

    

    

    

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• “Yet Do I Marvel” Symbols

  • 

    The Mole

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “And did He stoop to quibble could tell why / The little buried mole continues blind,”
  • 

    Tantalus's Fruit

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus / Is baited by the fickle fruit”
  • 

    Sisyphus's Stairs

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-8: “declare / If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus / To struggle up a never-ending stair”

• “Yet Do I Marvel” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Diacope

    

    

    

    

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    Where diacope appears in the poem:

    • Line 12: “What awful brain compels His awful hand.”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,”
    • Line 6: “Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “God,” “good”
    • Line 3: “buried,” “blind”
    • Line 4: “mirrors,” “must,” “day,” “die”
    • Line 5: “tortured,” “Tantalus”
    • Line 6: “fickle,” “fruit”
    • Line 7: “Sisyphus”
    • Line 8: “struggle,” “stair”
    • Line 9: “Inscrutable,” “immune”
    • Line 14: “black,” “bid”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “not,” “God”
    • Line 5: “plain”
    • Line 6: “baited,” “fruit,” “declare”
    • Line 7: “brute,” “dooms”
    • Line 8: “struggle,” “up,” “never,” “ending”
    • Line 9: “Inscrutable,” “immune”
    • Line 14: “bid,” “sing”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “why / The”
    • Lines 5-6: “Tantalus / Is”
    • Lines 6-7: “declare / If ”
    • Lines 7-8: “Sisyphus / To”
    • Lines 9-10: “immune / To”
    • Lines 10-11: “strewn / With”
    • Lines 11-12: “understand / What”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-8: “Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus / Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare / If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus / To struggle up a never-ending stair.”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “The little buried mole continues blind,”
    • Line 8: “To struggle up a never-ending stair.”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4: “I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind, / And did He stoop to quibble could tell why / The little buried mole continues blind, / Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die,”
    • Lines 13-14: “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: / To make a poet black, and bid him sing!”

• “Yet Do I Marvel” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Stoop
  • Quibble
  • Tantalus
  • Baited
  • Fickle
  • Brute
  • Caprice
  • Merely
  • Sisyphus
  • Inscrutable
  • Immune
  • Catechism
  • Petty
  • Strewn
  • Awful
  • Marvel
  • Bid
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “did He stoop to quibble”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Yet Do I Marvel”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Yet Do I Marvel” Speaker

• “Yet Do I Marvel” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Yet Do I Marvel”

• More “Yet Do I Marvel” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Reading of the Poem — Watch a reading and discussion of the poem by Todd Hellems for the Favorite Poem Project. 

    • Biography and Poems — Read a biography of Countee Cullen and find links to more of his work at the Poetry Foundation.

    • The Harlem Renaissance — Read an introduction to the Harlem Renaissance, the movement with which Cullen is most associated.

    • Countee Cullen Reads Aloud — Listen to a recording of Cullen reading one of his most famous poems, "Heritage."

    • An Essay on Cullen — Read an essay on Countee Cullen by Major Jackson, adapted from his introduction to Countee Cullen: The Collected Poems.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Countee Cullen

    • From the Dark Tower

    • Incident

    • Tableau

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