Thomas and Beulah


Thomas and Beulah is a book of poems by American poet Rita Dove that tells the semi-fictionalized chronological story of her maternal grandparents during the Great Migration, the focus being on her grandfather in the first half and her grandmother in the second. It won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, making Dove the second African American to win the award after Gwendolyn Brooks won in 1950.

Contents

I. Mandolin

The EventVariation on PainJivingStraw HatCourtshipRefrainVariation on GuiltNothing DownThe Zeppelin FactoryUnder the Viaduct, 1932Lightnin' BluesCompendiumDefinition in the Face of Unnamed FuryAircraftAurora BorealisVariation on Gaining a SonOne Volume MissingThe CharmGospelRoast PossumThe StrokeThe Satisfaction Coal Company
  • ''Thomas at the Wheel''

II. Canary in Bloom

Taking in WashMagicCourtship, DiligencePromisesDustingA Hill of BeansWeathering OutMotherhoodAnniversaryThe House on Bishop StreetDaystarObedienceThe Great Palaces of VersaillesPomadeHeaddressSunday GreensRecoveryNightmareWingfoot LakeCompany
  • ''The Oriental Ballerina''

Critical Engagement

Malin Pereira has argued that one of the central functions of Thomas and Beulah is to redefine what "home" means in a cosmopolitan context, such as the kind in which many African Americans found themselves after the Great Migration.