of De Wii Williams on his way to Lincoln Cemetery

The poem gives the first image as a plain black boy, but then as it progresses it is like a funeral fit for a king. "Don't forget the Dance Halls...Where he picked his women, where he drank his liquid joy." It goes from the image of just a plain insignificant man to someone that was very high standing and important. He goes from picking in the fields to drinking in a club. It is like he broke out of the limits imposed by other people. He started out a plain black boy, but made something of himself. He broke the limits others set for him. He could be a rich man or a poor man it is not really clear. I think this is what Brooks was going for. To be able to see something both ways...he could be this or he could be this. You do not really know. Lines such as "Where he picked his women" could be a throwback to living on the plantation.