William Waring Cuney (May 6, 1906 – June 30, 1976) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

of the Harlem Renaissance. He is best known for his poem "No Images," which has been widely anthologized.

Biography

William Waring Cuney was one of a pair of twins born on May 6, 1906, in Washington D.C. His father, Norris Wright Cuney II, worked for the federal government. His mother, Madge Louise Baker, taught in the D.C. public school system. Cuney attended the D.C. public schools, graduating from Armstrong High School. He attended

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

for a time before earning his B.A. at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He also studied at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

in Boston and the Conservatory of Music in Rome.Scott (2004), p. 281.
/ref> In 1926, while Cuney was still a student at Lincoln University, his poem "No Images" won first prize in a competition sponsored by ''Opportunity'' magazine. The poem poignantly portrays a black woman's internalization of European standards of beauty. It has been widely anthologized and is considered a minor classic of the

New Negro Movement The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

. At Lincoln University, Cuney was a classmate and friend of Langston Hughes. Decades later he co-edited an anthology with Hughes, ''Lincoln University Poets: Centennial Anthology, 1854–1954'' (New York: Fine Editions, 1954).Scott (2004), p. 280.
/ref> After training for a career in music as a singer along with his brother who was a pianist, Cuney decided he had a poor singing voice and never performed professionally. His writing, however, was very much influenced by his love of music. His poems are strongly rhythmic, often written in ballad form or in original forms reminiscent of blues songs. Many are character sketches of inner-city African Americans. A number of his poems have been set to music and recorded by

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, and

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. His poems were published in journals such as ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

'' and '' Black World'', and in anthologies edited by

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James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...

, Sterling Brown, and Arna Bontemps. Although his work was largely forgotten in the United States by the 1950s, it was translated into German and Dutch and developed a following in Europe. He published only two volumes of poetry in his lifetime: ''Puzzles'', a limited edition published in the Netherlands in 1960, and ''Storefront Church'', published in London in 1973. He died in New York City on June 30, 1976.

Works

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References

Citations

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