Strange FruitWritten first as a poem by Jewish schoolteacher Abel Meeropol (1903–1986) in the late 1930s, "Strange Fruit" captures the haunting and violent history of lynching in America. Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. (Image via Wikipedia) ADVERTISEMENT. Strange Fruit is all about the lynching of black people in the American south during the first half of the 1900s. Even now, as I think of it, the short hair on the back of my neck tightens and I want to hit somebody. Shocked by a postcard bearing a photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abraham Smith … To start off with, sensory details are used a lot throughout the poem. 1930s anti-lynching poem written by Meeropol, put to music and made famous by Billie Holiday. Meeropol was said to have written the poem after viewing a disturbing photograph of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, two young black males lynched in Marion, Indiana, in 1930. In ‘Strange Fruit’ by Abel Meeropol, “Southern trees” is a metaphor. A far cry from the sheer brutality of Monáe’s latest record (which is itself significantly different from the original ‘Hell You Talmbout’… a shame, by all standards) ‘Strange Fruit’ is all nuance and melody, a combination that yields one of the most dramatic and haunting songs ever made. This simple song has a super-powerful meaning. The “strange fruit” is another metaphor in this poem. The story behind the song "Strange Fruit" is well-known. I know who, too. Here is fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop, It is called Strange Fruit and it will, even after the tenth hearing, make you blink and hold to your chair. The poem “Strange Fruit” has a huge variety of the poetic devices. On another hand, the tree represents “hatred towards black people”. Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant South The bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burnin' flesh Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop Strange Fruit was not the first popular song to deal with race. Fats Waller’s Black and Blue had come out 10 years earlier, and Lead Belly recorded … It refers to black people either dead or alive. First recorded in 1939, the protest song Strange Fruit came to symbolise the brutality and racism of the practice of lynching in America's South. This song is actually haunting and dark. "Strange Fruit" is a song recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939, written by Abel Meeropol and published in 1937. The line, “The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,” is an example of sensory imagery. Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday. It protests the lynching of Black Americans, with lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees.Such lynchings had reached a peak in the Southern United States at the turn of the 20th century, and the great majority of victims were black. Firstly, it depicts white people living in southern America. Literary Devices in Strange Fruit. Pastoral scene of the gallant south, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, Then the sudden smell of burning flesh. The Strange Story Of The Man Behind 'Strange Fruit' One of Billie Holiday's most iconic songs is "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest against the inhumanity of … Provides possible basis for the name of hip hop group "Strange fruit project. Is called Strange Fruit hanging from the poplar trees and Lead Belly recorded Strange. Not the first popular song to deal with race is a metaphor black and Blue had come out 10 earlier... 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