pg.10 Epilogue

The poems in this anthology are selected and arranged so as to demonstrate to the reader the various natures of freedom as interpreted by a number of different poets and songwriters. Some of these poems, like “India’s Freedom After Freedom” by Dr. John Celes is a very literal list of demands for the new government of India, while “Freedom” by Jimi Hendrix is about Hendrix’s personal struggle with drug addiction and the freedom he wishes he had. These poems both represent a desire for freedom from some kind of oppressor or oppressive factor, while “Freedom” by Paul McCartney represents the idea that an individual must have freedom in general, with no specific oppressor listed. Each poem has different subject matter; while some are similar a number of them are very different. In “The Battle Cry of Freedom” the poem talks about Civil War soldiers who are off to fight a very literal battle for freedom; this is very different from Jimi Hendrix’s discussion about drug addiction. The poems are arranged in such a way as to guide the reader from type of freedom to type of freedom. This means that the reader will read about a more literal type of freedom and then be guided on to a more figurative style up until they reach the most abstract and obscure type of freedom in the collection. This will also help the reader to see that although the time period in which the poems were written may be different, and the subject matter itself may be different, the theme of the poems and the type of freedom written about in the poem can still be the same. This reflects the fact that freedom is a universal concept, understood and felt by everyone across the world, throughout history and regardless of race or country of origin. Hopefully the arrangement of these poems will reflect this intention and successfully guide the reader through this arrangement of poems in a way that will allow the theme of these poems and the theme of this anthology to be easily understood and interpreted.