Repeated Images in Part One of Cane

initital image patterns in Cane grow out of each of the four lines which appear on the title-page of the book: Oracular. / Redolent of fermenting syrup, / Purple of the dusk, / Deep-rooted cane. First, there is the word oracular, derived originally from the Latin word orare 'to pray,' which, by extension with chanting, as Oxford English Dictionary notes, was associated with oracles. A portion of these meanings is still retained in the modern understanding of oracle as a wise expression. In Cane the idea of expressing and reciting is reflected in the sounds, songs, and chants which were so much a part of the black folk spirit. Out of the sight and smell of boiling syrup grows a second image pattern. making of syrup is only a significant part of one story in Part One; however, the fire and smoke which are associated with the process are frequent images there. Dusk is also an important image, and as Part One draws to a close, purple and colors similar to it become dominant. Lastly, there is the deep-rooted cane. Images that involve the planting and harvesting of crops, the rhythms of the worker and the rhythms of the earth are all generally related to the implications of this image. Further, the cane image is connected to the black man because it, like he, is close to the soil. And there is an implied pun on the word cane: In an article entitled The Mark of Cain and the Redemption of Art, Charles W. Scruggs demonstrates that Cain, the exiled murderer of Abel who mythically bears the mark of blackness, is for Toomer emblematic of the black man's position of exile and doom in America.' In addition to suggesting image patterns, these four lines also imply Toomer's orientation toward his images and toward his book. There are two perspectives from which this poem can be viewed. On one hand, the entire poem moves, as one might expect, toward line four: Each of the three preceding lines describes the deep-rooted cane. From a different perspective, the poem refers to Cane the book, for it appears on the title-page beneath the title. lines of the poem support both readings. Cane the plant is oracular. It is a central image, almost a symbolic instrument through