The poem Theology by Paul Laurence Dunbar is an epigram which is a brief poem there are bits of compressed irony, satire and paradox. The idea of the poem Theology isĀ about the idea of there being a heaven and a hell. Heaven is somewhere he believes he will go as he says “There is a heaven, for ever, day by day” also he might be even saying that heaven will always be on his side for ever and everyday. In a way it shows that heaven is earth and hell isn’t because if for ever and day by day heaven is there. It certainly means heaven follows or is with him or her everyday.
There is also an uncertainty whether if he or she may go to heaven when it says “The upward longing of my soul doth tell me so”. I believe it says here that it all depends on where the soul tells him or her where to go. The speaker does not seem to like his neighbors because he believes they are the ones that belong in hell. As he says “there is a hell, I’m quite as sure; for pray, if there were not, where would my neighbors go?”. This shows the fact of him not liking his neighbors. Based on the time of the poem I believe he perhaps did not like his neighbors due to the fact of them being racist towards him and treating him like a separated individual.
