Jericho Brown’s latest collection of poems, The Tradition, looks at the social and political aspects of the US as if it were a pastoral scene. However, Brown’s interpretation of pastoral doesn’t focus on the romance of the countryside or the grandeur of nature but instead delves into the everyday nature that surrounds us in contemporary life: lawns, flower beds, and green spaces outside our windows. While there is beauty and joy in what grows in this country, such as the tenderness between lovers or a mother’s colorful garden, Brown’s pastoral also sheds light on the darker aspects of the nation’s history. The poems in the collection examine the traditions of racism, police violence, mass shootings, and sexual assault that the country has fostered. They challenge why certain things are nurtured, what is hidden, and the narratives—sometimes false—that those in power propagate to evade accountability.
In The Tradition, Brown adapts traditional forms and the pastoral genre, establishing himself as a successor to Black poets from the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts movement like Claude McKay. Just as McKay transformed the sonnet during his time, Brown introduces a new form called the duplex, weaving together elements of the sonnet, ghazal, and blues styles. This form, like McKay’s reimagined sonnet, questions tradition while honoring it. In the poem “Riddle,” Brown’s speakers reflect on the nation’s history, land ownership, and the disregard for certain bodies, raising poignant questions about power dynamics and belonging in the contemporary US.
Through his exploration of form and content, Brown pays homage to literary predecessors like McKay and highlights the deep-rooted nostalgia for an idealized past, which is not just an American phenomenon but a part of English literary tradition. Brown’s poems resist a smooth rhythm and confront the tension between beauty and truth, as seen in “The Rabbits.” In the sonnet “The Tradition,” he links flowers with the names of victims of violence, emphasizing the cyclical nature of life and the resilience that persists despite adversity. The collection is a reflection on the repercussions of the nation’s actions and the resilience that endures despite its destructive past.
Building on his earlier work, The New Testament, Brown’s The Tradition can be seen as a reinterpretation of biblical themes, with references to Revelation, transfigurations, false prophets, and the hope for a transformative future. The poems navigate through themes of oppression, injustice, and the potential for redemption, offering a perspective that delves deep into the complexities of the human experience.
