Jean Toomer’s “Face” is a close, quiet portrait of a woman whose features seem to carry long hardship. The speaker studies her silver-gray hair, comparing it to streams of stars, and her brows to curved canoes trembling under pain. Her eyes are described as mist or tears condensing on her skin, and the muscles of her face look like clusters of grapes, purple and heavy with sorrow, almost ripe for worms. The mood is solemn and tender, mixing awe with grief. There is beauty in the images, but it is a beauty close to exhaustion and decay. The speaker does not turn away from suffering; instead, he lingers on it, seeing the woman’s face as both dignified and deeply marked by everything she has endured.
Face — Summary
Hair-- silver-gray, like streams of stars, Brows-- recurved canoes quivered by the ripples blown by pain, Her eyes--mist of tears condensing on the flesh below And her channeled muscles are cluster grapes of sorrow purple in the evening sun nearly ripe for worms.