“The Black Man's Burden” Introduction

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“The Black Man's Burden” Summary

“The Black Man's Burden” Themes

• 

  Racism and Imperialism

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• 

  Religion and Justice

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Black Man's Burden”

• Lines 1-2

  Pile on the Black Man’s Burden,
  'Tis nearest at your door;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-4

  Why heed long bleeding Cuba
  Or dark Hawaii’s shore?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Halt ye your fearless armies
  Which menace feeble folks,
  Who fight with clubs and arrows
  And brook your rifles' smoke.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Pile on the Black Man’s Burden,
  His wail with laughter drown,
  You’ve sealed the Red Man’s problem
  And will take up the Brown.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  In vain ye seek to end it
  With bullets, blood or death—
  Better by far defend it
  With honor’s holy breath.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  Pile on the Black Man's Burden,
  His back is broad though sore;
  What though the weight oppress him,
  He's borne the like before.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  Your Jim-crow laws and customs,
  And fiendish midnight deed,
  Though winked at by the nation,
  Will some day trouble breed.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  Pile on the Black Man's Burden,
  At length 'twill heaven pierce;
  Then on you or your children
  Will reign God's judgments fierce.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-32

  Your battleships and armies
  May weaker ones appall,
  But God Almighty's justice
  They'll not disturb at all.

  

  

  

  

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“The Black Man's Burden” Symbols

• 

  The Burden

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“The Black Man's Burden” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Refrain

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Irony

  

  

  

  

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• Rhetorical Question

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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“The Black Man's Burden” 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.

• Pile
• Burden
• 'Tis
• Heed
• Halt
• Ye
• Feeble
• Brook
• Wail
• Sealed
• Brown
• Vain
• Seek
• Broad
• Borne
• Jim Crow laws
• Fiendish midnight deed
• 'Twill
• Reign
• Appall

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Black Man's Burden”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Black Man's Burden” Speaker

“The Black Man's Burden” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Black Man's Burden”

More “The Black Man's Burden” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Philippine-American War — For more information about the circumstances that prompted Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" and, thus, Johnson's "The Black Man's Burden," read this entry on the Philippine-American War.

  • "The White Man's Burden" — For a more in-depth look at the poem that prompted the writing of "The Black Man's Burden," check out our guide of Rudyard Kipling's "The White Man's Burden."

  • Mark Twain's Response — H. T. Johnson wasn't the only writer to respond to Rudyard Kipling's racist poem, "The White Man's Burden." Take a look, for instance, at Mark Twain's essay "To the Person Sitting in Darkness," which also addresses the racist thinking that lies behind imperialism.

  • A Portrait of Johnson — Check out this portrait of H. T. Johnson, which is housed at the Library of Congress.

  • The Christian Recorder — For more information about the publication that first published "The Black Man's Burden," read this brief overview of The Christian Recorder, which H. T. Johnson edited from 1893 to 1902.