Cane is a 1923 novel by noted Harlem Renaissance author Jean Toomer. The novel is structured as a series of vignettes revolving around the origins and experiences of African Americans in the United States. The vignettes alternate in structure between narrative prose, poetry, and play-like passages of dialogue. As a result, the novel has been classified as a composite novel or as a short story cycle. Though some characters and situations recur between vignettes, the vignettes are mostly freestanding, tied to the other vignettes thematically and contextually more than through specific plot details.
The novel's ambitious and unconventional structure, along with its lasting impact on subsequent generations of writers, has contributed to Cane's recognition as an important figure in modernism.[1] Some of the vignettes from the novel have been extracted and included in literary collections, while the poetic passage "Harvest Song" has been featured in multiple Norton poetry anthologies. The poem begins with the evocative line: "I am a reaper whose muscles set at sundown."[2]
