Heathen Gods

The fifth stanza of the poem refers to “Quaint, outlandish heathen gods” which “Black men fashion out of rods” (5). This reference is to African practices of woodcutting and pottery based around creating representations of animist deities. Many such samples of this spiritually-inspired artistry are to be found in European and American museums of art and anthropology. This colonial-era understanding of African “fetishes” has permeated through Eurocentric cultures and come to form one of the dominant impressionistic associations with African civilizations. The speaker’s coy reference to this state of affairs is evidenced by the ironic, somewhat archaic, use of the descriptor “heathen” (5), with all its puritanical and colonialist overtones.

Jesus Christ

Contrasted with the “heathen gods” of Africa is the figure of Jesus Christ, who the speaker to professes to “belong to” (5). The speaker describes Christ as “Preacher of humility” (5). In the multi-generational process of Christianizing of...