What I thought was love
in me, I find a thousand instances
as fear.
The opening lines can be interpreted two different ways depending upon perspective one brings to the concept of “love in me.” Do those word imply the love that is radiating outward from the speaker toward external objects or the love for external objects which are going inward. A short list of external object parenthetically following strongly indicates the former interpretation is probably the right perspective. If this is the right perspective, then the interpretation would seem to be that the speaker has made an important discovery about himself which has led toward a reconsideration of his identity.
Though I am a man
who is loud
on the birth
of his ways.
These words are nothing less than articulation of identity. What follows immediately are words which even more strongly suggest the theme of reconsideration of identity. This is the essential quality of the speaker, however, and implies that though other aspects are changing, this fundamental element of personality is not. It is also a confession of self-awareness, hinting at the strong potential for contemplation of not just what he does, but why he does them.
When they say “It is Roi
who is dead.” I wonder
who will they mean?
These closing lines obviously punctuate the interpretation of the poem as a reconsideration of identity, but they will not make complete sense unless one is aware of the contest. The name of the poet—Amiri Baraka—can also be found as the author of works by LeRoi Jones and whose legal name at birth was Everett Leroy Jones. Thus, “It is Roi” refers not to some vague abstract king as one might assume, but specifically the poet himself. Or, to be precise, the person who used to be known by that name.
