Harlem female writer Jessie Redmon Fauset

Harlem Female writer Jessie Redmon Fauset biograpghy http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/harlemrenaissance/a/bio_fauset_jess.htm

"Lolotte, Who Attires My Hair" by Jessie Redmon Fauset
Lolotte, who attires my hair, Lost her lover. Lolotte weeps;Trails her hand before her eyes;Hangs her head and mopes and sighs,Mutters of the pangs of hell.Fills the circumambient airWith her plaints and her despair.Looks at me:'May you never know, Mam'selleLove's harsh cruelty.'

This poem by Jessie Redmon Fauset is an embodiment of the time period with its diction and obsession with the intangible object of love. The renaissance was an explosion of the Negro community displaying their ability to compose about intangible objects such as love. This poems purpose is to show the feelings and affects that love has on human being along with displaying the intellectual dexterity of a Negro woman. This poem also rhymes which is a characteristic of the Harlem renaissance.
The diction in the piece is characteristic of the Harlem Renaissance in that it utilizes large words. Her hair is not styled it is “attired” the air is not just surrounding it is “circumambient”. Lolotte analyzes this weeping woman like a scientist performs naturalistic observation. Her analysis of the woman gives a feeling of supreme intellectualism and sage-likeness.
The description of the woman displays the comprehension of the affects of a love lost upon another human. The poem does not mention anything about the woman except that she attires Lolotte’s hair. A person who attires hair can be a friend, peasant, celebrity hairstylist or any other social class. By not mentioning the social class of who is being described it shows the blindness to social class that the Lolotte wishes to show.
This poem is a short insight of the level of comprehension the Negro community possesses. It shows that a black man or woman is not void of emotional comprehension and verbal dexterity. It is a “hey look what I can do “paper. It relates to the renaissance because it shows off the Negro community, rhymes and posses an obsession with the intangible object of love.