17 pages • 34 minutes read
William Waring CuneyNo Images
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1973A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“I Am a Black Woman” by Mari Evans (1970)
Written by a poet much influenced by the landmark works of the Harlem Renaissance, the poem reflects on the power and beauty of the Black woman. The poem contrasts with William Waring Cuney’s. Evans is more strident, more confrontational as her poem reflects the Black Pride movement of the civil rights era a half century after the Harlem Renaissance. However, Mari Evans (1923-2017) uses musical patterns of jazz to create rhythms that reflect Cuney’s own interest in the musical effect of words.
“To a Dark Girl” by Gwendolyn Bennett (1922)
“I love you for your brownness,” Gwendolyn Bennett’s poem opens. A poem produced at the height of the Harlem Renaissance by a friend of Cuney’s, “To a Dark Girl” echoes Cuney’s assertion of the unsuspected power and beauty of Black women. Like Cuney, the poet demands respect for the women of color because of their African and Caribbean roots that have been diminished by their adopted white culture.
“Charles Parker, 1925-1955” by William Waring Cuney (1955)
An occasional poem from Cuney’s later years, this poem reflects on the musical stylings of groundbreaking jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker. The poem reflects Cuney’s use of jazz rhythms to create fragmented lines that, in turn, capture in verse the improvisational feel of Parker’s music.
Further Literary Resources
Images in the River: The Life and Work of Waring Cuney by Cynthia Davis and Verner D. Mitchell (2024)
A study of both Cuney’s life and writing, this book-length work uses “No Images” as one of its organizing tools. The study highlights Cuney’s approach to exploring the Black experience by using a range of working-class characters, among them the woman at the sink, rather than drawing on his own life.
“Don’t Bow Down” by Andrew B. Gibbs (2014)
A wide-ranging study of the poets of the Harlem Renaissance, the article uses Cuney as a pivotal figure whose poetry wrestled with the implications of handling identity issues within the Black community. Gibbs focuses on Cuney’s exploration of feelings of alienation from ancestral roots, both African and Caribbean.
“Between Dishwater and the River” by Sofia Betancourt (2016)
A careful reading of “No Images,” the article approaches the poem by exploring the relationship between the woman of color and her environment, specifically the stark contrast between the city and the tropical nation where she was born. The article explores the relationship between her identity and nature. The essay references Nina Simone’s interpretation.
Listen to the Poem
Although there are several readings of Cuney’s poem available, the most helpful introduction to the sorrow and smoldering discontent at the heart of Cuney’s contemplation of the woman of color washing dishes is the live recording by singer/pianist Nina Simone (1933-2003). Her performance of the song at a New Orleans jazz festival in 2000 is available on YouTube.
Renamed “Images,” Simone’s song, running more than four minutes, captures the heartbreaking sadness of Cuney’s poem. Her rendition makes clear Cuney’s rich, subtle use of long vowels and lingering consonants that create in words the soulful emotions of both blues and jazz.
