Blood-Burning Moon

The short story “Blood-Burning Moon” is part of Jean Toomer’s book Cane, which was first published in 1923. The book is divided into three parts: the first two contain short stories and poetry, while the third part consists of a loosely-structured play that is sometimes considered a short story. All the stories in this first section take place in the rural South, usually with an African-American woman as the focus. For the most part, they take place at dusk and outdoors, often in the cane fields. “Blood-Burning Moon” is the last story in this part and, interestingly, it is the only one that does not have a woman’s name as its title.