Due to Cullen's mixed identity, he developed an aesthetic that embraced both black and white cultures.[4] He was a firm believer that poetry surpassed race and that it could be used to bring the races closer together.[3] Although race was a recurring theme in his works, Cullen wanted to be known as a poet not strictly defined by race.
Cullen developed his Eurocentric style of writing from his exposure to Graeco-Roman Classics and English Literature, work he was exposed to while attending universities like New York University and Harvard.[37] In his collection of poems To the Three for Whom the Book Cullen uses Greek methodology to explore race and identity and writes about Medusa, Theseus, Phasiphae, and the Minotaur.[37] Although continuing to develop themes of race and identity in his work, Cullen found artistic inspiration in ancient Greek and Roman literature.
Cullen was also influenced by the Romantics and studied subjects of love, romance, and religion.[37] John Keats and Edna St. Vincent Millay both influenced Cullen's style of writing.[37] In Caroling Dusk, an anthology edited by Cullen, he expands on his belief of using a Eurocentric style of writing. He writes: "As heretical as it may sound, there is the probability that Negro poets, dependent as they are on the English language, may have more to gain from the rich background of English and American poetry than from the nebulous atavistic yearnings towards an African inheritance."[37] Cullen believed that African-American poets should work within the English conventions of poetry to prove to white Americans that African Americans could participate in these classic traditions.[4] He believed using a more traditional style of writing poetry would allow African Americans to build bridges between the black and white communities.[3]
