In the poem Bontemps, he uses the metaphor of harvest and harvest to express the bitterness felt by African Americans in a racist America. The metaphor explains that no matter how hard African Americans work, their reward will always be less than that of a white American. Bontemps believes that African Americans have worked long and hard enough for white Americans and that it is time that all Americans receive the same reward for the same work. In lines 11 and 12 Bontemps says “No wonder then that my children reap in the fields / They have not sown and feed on bitter fruit.” These lines are a great example of the extended metaphor used throughout Bontemps' poetry and show that he believes that no matter how hard he works to bring about change, his children have already tasted the "bitter fruit" (line 12) of prejudice racial. Cullen also uses the extended metaphor of harvest and harvest as evident in lines 1 and 2: “We will not always plant while others reap / The golden increase of bursting fruit.” Cullen uses these lines to express his pride in his race and to promote equality. He also says "So in the darkness we hide the bleeding heart, / And we wait, and nurse our dying seeds" (lines 13 and 14) to say that change will not happen overnight and that the wait of equality will be painful and