Theme. A theme is a central idea in a literary work. Think about what the theme is in “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” as you read its four stanzas.
Refrain. A refrain is a repeated line or group of words in a song or poem. Often spirituals were sung by a lone singer, with a group of people joining in for the refrain. As you read the lyrics, determine which stanza is the refrain.
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By the middle of the nineteenth century, there were more than four million slaves in the United States. Most came from the west coast of Africa. West Africans, who lived in close-knit communities, often engaged in communal labor accompanied by song. In America, such traditional songs developed into the work songs and calls of laborers on plantations. These work songs typically contained repeated lines or phrases and were sung in unison by the workers or in an answer-response format.
Kept from practicing their traditional religions, many African Americans adopted Christianity. Slave owners actively encouraged the Christianizing of the slaves, some because of concern for their slaves’ immortal souls, but many more out of hope that people who looked for rewards in the next life might tolerate terrible circumstances in this one. Combining elements of traditional African music, work songs, and Christian hymns, African Americans created a new kind of music known as the spiritual, a forerunner of many modern musical styles, including gospel and blues. Spirituals such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” had Christian themes. They often retold stories from the Bible or dealt with subjects such as salvation and the afterlife. Their form was that of the traditional folk hymn, with repeated elements of the kind found in work songs. They were often sung by groups, with rhythmical accompaniments like those found in African music. Interestingly, many of the spirituals, such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” were intentionally ambiguous or allegorical, dealing on one level with deliverance from earthly toil into a pleasant afterlife in heaven and on another level with deliverance from slavery.
When you feel a need to escape from reality, of what real or imaginary place do you dream?
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