Gwendolyn Brooks: First Fight, Then Fiddle

Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem, “First Fight. Then Fiddle.” suggests that music may be society’s equilibrium among “arms” (9), “armor” (9), and “war” (13). To the speaker, the fiddle is a significant symbol; for instance, “Ply the slipping string with feathery sorcery; muzzle the note with hurting love” (1). In the first line, Brooks conveys the idea of the string as fragile and “slipping” (1). The speaker personifies a music note with “hurting love” (1), stating that music has potential to impact an individual. The first line indicates the strings and music note’s fragility that is further emphasized by the term “Threadwise” (5).

In terms of form, this sonnet was written in iambic pentameter with a series of end-stops. The rhyme scheme follows the pattern ABBACDDCDEEDDD. In the last three lines, Brooks has broken away from this pattern in order to give emphasis to her main message about the entire uselessness of war. This is seen in the line, “Be remote/A while from malice and from murdering” (7), and in the contrasting phrases to which the speaker has given emphasis, such as “play your violin with grace” (14) after “[civilizing] a space” (13) upon “[winning] war” (12). The speaker also undermines the philosophy of war by stating, “Carry hate/In front of you and harmony behind./Be deaf to music and to beauty blind” (9); thus, the speaker compares peace with music and destruction with war. The speaker also uses the word “maybe” (12), implying uncertainty; thus, the speaker is aware with the many uncertainties with respect to winning, losing, and causalities. The tone of the poem challenges the principles of war. The speaker knows that it is “maybe not too late/For having first to civilize a space/Wherein to play your violin with grace” (12). The speaker uses first person to involve readers, and tell them that they have the ability to prevent war and that they are part of a never-ending cycle of war and peace.

There are several images used in this poem to compare the delicate features of the violin, for example, “Devote/The bow to silks and honey” (5) is an interpretation of the bow as an instrument of order and delicacy. Comparing civilization with a violin, the speaker indicates that to play the “violin with grace” (14) one must use the bow to make the music note. Therefore, the violin’s bow is an excellent metaphor made with emphasizing order as law is to civilization. The speaker of Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem identifies music as an essential component to the structure of society in preventing war and maintaining peace.

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