Countee Cullen's Uranian "Soul windows"

Although Countee Cullen was once hailed "poet laureate" of the Harlem renaissance, today his reputation has waned due, in part, to the absence of biographical study which would elucidate the relationship of his life and literary output. One consequential component of Cullen's life--his homosexuality--played an integral part in the creation and development of his poetry. To miss this significant aspect of Cullen's artistic life is to invite misinterpretation. Unfortunately, most African American scholars of the Harlem Renaissance have dismissed, ignored, or denied Cullen's homosexuality. Yet, this weighty element of his life was at the core of his literary imagination. This bio-critical study examines the import of Cullen's homosexuality on his poetry in an attempt to position the poet as the inaugurator of Black gay poetry in the United States.