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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Fifty years & Other Poems + +Author: James Weldon Johnson + +Commentator: Brander Matthews + +Release Date: March 1, 2006 [EBook #17884] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTY YEARS & OTHER POEMS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + + +<h1>FIFTY YEARS & OTHER POEMS</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>JAMES WELDON JOHNSON</h2> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF</h4> + +<h4>"THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLORED MAN," ETC.</h4> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3><i>With an Introduction by</i></h3> + +<h2>BRANDER MATTHEWS</h2> +<p> </p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/image_1.jpg" alt="Seal" width="150" height="177" /></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>THE CORNHILL COMPANY<br /> +BOSTON<br /> +1917</h3> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="To" id="To"></a>To</h3> +<h2>G. N. F. </h2> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ACKNOWLEDGMENT" id="ACKNOWLEDGMENT"></a>ACKNOWLEDGMENT</h2> + + +<p>For permission to reprint certain poems in this book thanks are due to +the editors and proprietors of the <i>Century Magazine</i>, the +<i>Independent</i>, <i>The Crisis</i>, <i>The New York Times</i>, and the following +copyright holders, G. Ricordi and Company, G. Schirmer and Company, +and Joseph W. Stern and Company. </p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + + + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr><td ></td><td class="tocpg" ><i>Page</i></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#FIFTY_YEARS_OTHER_POEMS">Fifty Years</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#TO_AMERICA">To America</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#O_BLACK_AND_UNKNOWN_BARDS">O Black and Unknown Bards</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_6">6</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#O_SOUTHLAND">O Southland</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#To_HORACE_BUMSTEAD">To Horace Bumstead</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_COLOR_SERGEANT">The Color Sergeant</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_BLACK_MAMMY">The Black Mammy</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#FATHER_FATHER_ABRAHAM">Father, Father Abraham</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#BROTHERS">Brothers</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#FRAGMENT">Fragment</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_WHITE_WITCH">The White Witch</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#MOTHER_NIGHT">Mother Night</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_YOUNG_WARRIOR">The Young Warrior</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_GLORY_OF_THE_DAY_WAS_IN_HER_FACE">The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#SONNET">From the Spanish of Plácido</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#FROM_THE_SPANISH">From the Spanish</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#FROM_THE_GERMAN_OF_UHLAND">From the German of Uhland</a></td> +<td class="tocpg" ><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#BEFORE_A_PAINTING">Before a Painting</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#I_HEAR_THE_STARS_STILL_SINGING">I Hear the Stars Still Singing</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#GIRL_OF_FIFTEEN">Girl of Fifteen</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_SUICIDE">The Suicide</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#DOWN_BY_THE_CARIB_SEA">Down by the Carib Sea</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><span style="margin-left:2em;"><a href="#one">I. Sunrise in the Tropics</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><span style="margin-left:2em;"><a href="#two">II. Los Cigarillos</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><span style="margin-left:2em;"><a href="#three">III. Teestay</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><span style="margin-left:2em;"> <a href="#four">IV. The Lottery Girl</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><span style="margin-left:2em;"><a href="#five">V. The Dancing Girl</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><span style="margin-left:2em;"> <a href="#six">VI. Sunset in the Tropics</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#AND_THE_GREATEST_OF_THESE_IS_WAR">The Greatest of These Is War</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#A_MID-DAY_DREAMER">A Mid-Day Dreamer</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_TEMPTRESS">The Temptress</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#GHOSTS_OF_THE_OLD_YEAR">Ghosts of the Old Year</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_GHOST_OF_DEACON_BROWN">The Ghost of Deacon Brown</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#LAZY">Lazy</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#OMAR">Omar</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#DEEP_IN_THE_QUIET_WOOD">Deep in the Quiet Wood</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#VOLUPTAS">Voluptas</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_WORD_OF_AN_ENGINEER">The Word of an Engineer</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#LIFE">Life</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#SLEEP">Sleep</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#PRAYER_AT_SUNRISE">Prayer at Sunrise</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_GIFT_TO_SING">The Gift to Sing</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#MORNING_NOON_AND_NIGHT">Morning, Noon and Night</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#HER_EYES_TWIN_POOLS">Her Eyes Twin Pools</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_AWAKENING">The Awakening</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#BEAUTY_THAT_IS_NEVER_OLD">Beauty That Is Never Old</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#VENUS_IN_A_GARDEN">Venus in a Garden</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#VASHTI">Vashti</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_REWARD">The Reward</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td > </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#JINGLES_CROONS">JINGLES & CROONS</a></td><td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td > </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#SENCE">Sence You Went Away</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#MA_LADYS_LIPS_AM_LIKE_DE_HONEY">Ma Lady's Lips Am Like de Honey</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#TUNK">Tunk</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#NOBODYS_LOOKIN_BUT_DE_OWL_AND_DE_MOON">Nobody's Lookin' but de Owl an' de Moon</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#YOUS_SWEET_TO_YO_MAMMY_JES_DE_SAME">You's Sweet to Yo' Mammy Jes de Same</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#A_PLANTATION_BACCHANAL">A Plantation Bacchanal</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#JULY_IN_GEORGY">July in Georgy</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#A_BANJO_SONG">A Banjo Song</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#ANSWER_TO_PRAYER">Answer to Prayer</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#DAT_GAL_O_MINE">Dat Gal o' Mine</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_SEASONS">The Seasons</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#POSSUM_SONG">'Possum Song</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#BRER_RABBIT_YOUS_DE_CUTES_OF_EM_ALL">Brer Rabbit, You'se de Cutes' of 'Em All</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#AN_EXPLANATION">An Explanation</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#DE_LITTLE_PICKANINNYS_GONE_TO_SLEEP">De Little Pickaninny's Gone to Sleep</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td ><a href="#THE_RIVALS">The Rivals</a></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>Of the hundred millions who make up the population of the United +States ten millions come from a stock ethnically alien to the other +ninety millions. They are not descended from ancestors who came here +voluntarily, in the spirit of adventure to better themselves or in the +spirit of devotion to make sure of freedom to worship God in their own +way. They are the grandchildren of men and women brought here against +their wills to serve as slaves. It is only half-a-century since they +received their freedom and since they were at last permitted to own +themselves. They are now American citizens, with the rights and the +duties of other American citizens; and they know no language, no +literature and no law other than those of their fellow citizens of +Anglo-Saxon ancestry.</p> + +<p>When we take stock of ourselves these ten millions cannot be left out +of account. Yet they are not as we are; they stand apart, more or +less; they have their own distinct characteristics. It behooves us to +understand them as best we can and to discover what manner of people +they are. And we are justified in inquiring how far they have revealed +themselves,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span> their racial characteristics, their abiding traits, their +longing aspirations,—how far have they disclosed these in one or +another of the several arts. They have had their poets, their +painters, their composers, and yet most of these have ignored their +racial opportunity and have worked in imitation and in emulation of +their white predecessors and contemporaries, content to handle again +the traditional themes. The most important and the most significant +contributions they have made to art are in music,—first in the +plaintive beauty of the so-called "Negro spirituals"—and, secondly, +in the syncopated melody of so-called "ragtime" which has now taken +the whole world captive.</p> + +<p>In poetry, especially in the lyric, wherein the soul is free to find +full expression for its innermost emotions, their attempts have been, +for the most part, divisible into two classes. In the first of these +may be grouped the verses in which the lyrist put forth sentiments +common to all mankind and in no wise specifically those of his own +race; and from the days of Phyllis Wheatley to the present the most of +the poems written by men who were not wholly white are +indistinguishable from the poems written by men who were wholly white. +Whatever their merits might be, these verses cast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span> little or no light +upon the deeper racial sentiments of the people to whom the poets +themselves belonged. But in the lyrics to be grouped in the second of +these classes there was a racial quality. This contained the dialect +verses in which there was an avowed purpose of recapturing the color, +the flavor, the movement of life in "the quarters," in the cotton +field and in the canebrake. Even in this effort, white authors had led +the way; Irvin Russell and Joel Chandler Harris had made the path +straight for Paul Laurence Dunbar, with his lilting lyrics, often +infused with the pathos of a down-trodden folk.</p> + +<p>In the following pages Mr. James Weldon Johnson conforms to both of +these traditions. He gathers together a group of lyrics, delicate in +workmanship, fragrant with sentiment, and phrased in pure and +unexceptionable English. Then he has another group of dialect verses, +racy of the soil, pungent in flavor, swinging in rhythm and adroit in +rhyme. But where he shows himself a pioneer is the half-dozen larger +and bolder poems, of a loftier strain, in which he has been nobly +successful in expressing the higher aspirations of his own people. It +is in uttering this cry for recognition, for sympathy, for +understanding, and above all, for justice, that Mr. Johnson is most +original and most powerful. In the superb and soaring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span> stanzas of +"Fifty Years" (published exactly half-a-century after the signing of +the Emancipation Proclamation) he has given us one of the noblest +commemorative poems yet written by any American,—a poem sonorous in +its diction, vigorous in its workmanship, elevated in its imagination +and sincere in its emotion. In it speaks the voice of his race; and +the race is fortunate in its spokesman. In it a fine theme has been +finely treated. In it we are made to see something of the soul of the +people who are our fellow citizens now and forever,—even if we do not +always so regard them. In it we are glad to acclaim a poem which any +living poet might be proud to call his own.</p> + + +<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">Brander Matthews</span>.</p> + +<p><i>Columbia University</i><br /> + +<i>in the City of New York.</i> </p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="FIFTY_YEARS_OTHER_POEMS" id="FIFTY_YEARS_OTHER_POEMS"></a>FIFTY YEARS & OTHER POEMS </h2> + +<h3>FIFTY YEARS</h3> +<h3>1863-1913</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O brothers mine, to-day we stand<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where half a century sweeps our ken,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Since God, through Lincoln's ready hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Struck off our bonds and made us men.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Just fifty years—a winter's day—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As runs the history of a race;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet, as we look back o'er the way,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">How distant seems our starting place!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Look farther back! Three centuries!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To where a naked, shivering score,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Snatched from their haunts across the seas,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Stood, wild-eyed, on Virginia's shore.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Far, far the way that we have trod,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From heathen kraals and jungle dens,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To freedmen, freemen, sons of God,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Americans and Citizens.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A part of His unknown design,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">We've lived within a mighty age;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And we have helped to write a line<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On history's most wondrous page.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A few black bondmen strewn along<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The borders of our eastern coast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now grown a race, ten million strong,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">An upward, onward marching host.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then let us here erect a stone,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To mark the place, to mark the time;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A witness to God's mercies shown,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A pledge to hold this day sublime.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And let that stone an altar be,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Whereon thanksgivings we may lay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where we, in deep humility,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For faith and strength renewed may pray.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With open hearts ask from above<br /></span> +<span class="i2">New zeal, new courage and new pow'rs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That we may grow more worthy of<br /></span> +<span class="i2">This country and this land of ours.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For never let the thought arise<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That we are here on sufferance bare;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Outcasts, asylumed 'neath these skies,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And aliens without part or share.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">This land is ours by right of birth,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">This land is ours by right of toil;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We helped to turn its virgin earth,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Our sweat is in its fruitful soil.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Where once the tangled forest stood,—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where flourished once rank weed and thorn,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Behold the path-traced, peaceful wood,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The cotton white, the yellow corn.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To gain these fruits that have been earned,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To hold these fields that have been won,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our arms have strained, our backs have burned,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Bent bare beneath a ruthless sun.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That Banner which is now the type<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of victory on field and flood—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Remember, its first crimson stripe<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Was dyed by Attucks' willing blood.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And never yet has come the cry—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When that fair flag has been assailed—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For men to do, for men to die,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That have we faltered or have failed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We've helped to bear it, rent and torn,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Through many a hot-breath'd battle breeze;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Held in our hands, it has been borne<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And planted far across the seas.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And never yet—O haughty Land,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Let us, at least, for this be praised—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has one black, treason-guided hand<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ever against that flag been raised.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then should we speak but servile words,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or shall we hang our heads in shame?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stand back of new-come foreign hordes,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And fear our heritage to claim?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">No! stand erect and without fear,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And for our foes let this suffice—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We've bought a rightful sonship here,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And we have more than paid the price.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And yet, my brothers, well I know<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The tethered feet, the pinioned wings,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The spirit bowed beneath the blow,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The heart grown faint from wounds and stings;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The staggering force of brutish might,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That strikes and leaves us stunned and daezd;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The long, vain waiting through the night<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To hear some voice for justice raised.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Full well I know the hour when hope<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sinks dead, and 'round us everywhere<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hangs stifling darkness, and we grope<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With hands uplifted in despair.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Courage! Look out, beyond, and see<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The far horizon's beckoning span!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Faith in your God-known destiny!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">We are a part of some great plan.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Because the tongues of Garrison<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And Phillips now are cold in death,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Think you their work can be undone?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or quenched the fires lit by their breath?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Think you that John Brown's spirit stops?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That Lovejoy was but idly slain?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or do you think those precious drops<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From Lincoln's heart were shed in vain?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That for which millions prayed and sighed,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That for which tens of thousands fought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For which so many freely died,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">God cannot let it come to naught.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="TO_AMERICA" id="TO_AMERICA"></a>TO AMERICA</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">How would you have us, as we are?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or sinking 'neath the load we bear?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our eyes fixed forward on a star?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or gazing empty at despair?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Rising or falling? Men or things?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With dragging pace or footsteps fleet?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strong, willing sinews in your wings?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or tightening chains about your feet?<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="O_BLACK_AND_UNKNOWN_BARDS" id="O_BLACK_AND_UNKNOWN_BARDS"></a>O BLACK AND UNKNOWN BARDS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O black and unknown bards of long ago,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How came your lips to touch the sacred fire?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How, in your darkness, did you come to know<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The power and beauty of the minstrel's lyre?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who first from midst his bonds lifted his eyes?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who first from out the still watch, lone and long,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Feeling the ancient faith of prophets rise<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Within his dark-kept soul, burst into song?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Heart of what slave poured out such melody<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As "Steal away to Jesus"? On its strains<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His spirit must have nightly floated free,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though still about his hands he felt his chains.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who heard great "Jordan roll"? Whose starward eye<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Saw chariot "swing low"? And who was he<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That breathed that comforting, melodic sigh,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Nobody knows de trouble I see"?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What merely living clod, what captive thing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Could up toward God through all its darkness grope,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And find within its deadened heart to sing<br /></span> +<span class="i0">These songs of sorrow, love, and faith, and hope?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How did it catch that subtle undertone,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That note in music heard not with the ears?<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span><span class="i0">How sound the elusive reed so seldom blown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which stirs the soul or melts the heart to tears.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not that great German master in his dream<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of harmonies that thundered amongst the stars<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At the creation, ever heard a theme<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nobler than "Go down, Moses." Mark its bars,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How like a mighty trumpet-call they stir<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The blood. Such are the notes that men have sung<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Going to valorous deeds; such tones there were<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That helped make history when Time was young.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There is a wide, wide wonder in it all,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That from degraded rest and servile toil<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The fiery spirit of the seer should call<br /></span> +<span class="i0">These simple children of the sun and soil.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O black slave singers, gone, forgot, unfamed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You—you alone, of all the long, long line<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of those who've sung untaught, unknown, unnamed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have stretched out upward, seeking the divine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You sang not deeds of heroes or of kings;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No chant of bloody war, no exulting pean<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of arms-won triumphs; but your humble strings<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You touched in chord with music empyrean.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span><span class="i0">You sang far better than you knew; the songs<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That for your listeners' hungry hearts sufficed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still live,—but more than this to you belongs:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You sang a race from wood and stone to Christ.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="O_SOUTHLAND" id="O_SOUTHLAND"></a>O SOUTHLAND!</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Southland! O Southland!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Have you not heard the call,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The trumpet blown, the word made known<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To the nations, one and all?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The watchword, the hope-word,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Salvation's present plan?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A gospel new, for all—for you:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Man shall be saved by man.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Southland! O Southland!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Do you not hear to-day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The mighty beat of onward feet,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And know you not their way?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis forward, 'tis upward,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On to the fair white arch<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of Freedom's dome, and there is room<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For each man who would march.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Southland, fair Southland!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Then why do you still cling<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To an idle age and a musty page,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To a dead and useless thing?<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span><span class="i0">'Tis springtime! 'Tis work-time!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The world is young again!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And God's above, and God is love,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And men are only men.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Southland! my Southland!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O birthland! do not shirk<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The toilsome task, nor respite ask,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">But gird you for the work.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Remember, remember<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That weakness stalks in pride;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That he is strong who helps along<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The faint one at his side.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="To_HORACE_BUMSTEAD" id="To_HORACE_BUMSTEAD"></a><i>To</i> HORACE BUMSTEAD</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Have you been sore discouraged in the fight,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And even sometimes weighted by the thought<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That those with whom and those for whom you fought<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lagged far behind, or dared but faintly smite?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And that the opposing forces in their might<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of blind inertia rendered as for naught<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All that throughout the long years had been wrought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And powerless each blow for Truth and Right?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If so, take new and greater courage then,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And think no more withouten help you stand;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">For sure as God on His eternal throne<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sits, mindful of the sinful deeds of men,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">—The awful Sword of Justice in His hand,—<br /> +</span> +<span class="i4">You shall not, no, you shall not, fight alone.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_COLOR_SERGEANT" id="THE_COLOR_SERGEANT"></a>THE COLOR SERGEANT</h2> + +<h3>(<i>On an Incident at the Battle of San Juan Hill</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Under a burning tropic sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With comrades around him lying,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A trooper of the sable Tenth<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lay wounded, bleeding, dying.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">First in the charge up the fort-crowned hill,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His company's guidon bearing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He had rushed where the leaden hail fell fast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not death nor danger fearing.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He fell in the front where the fight grew fierce,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still faithful in life's last labor;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Black though his skin, yet his heart as true<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As the steel of his blood-stained saber.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And while the battle around him rolled,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like the roar of a sullen breaker,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He closed his eyes on the bloody scene,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And presented arms to his Maker.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There he lay, without honor or rank,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But, still, in a grim-like beauty;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Despised of men for his humble race,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet true, in death, to his duty.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_BLACK_MAMMY" id="THE_BLACK_MAMMY"></a>THE BLACK MAMMY</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O whitened head entwined in turban gay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O kind black face, O crude, but tender hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O foster-mother in whose arms there lay<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The race whose sons are masters of the land!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It was thine arms that sheltered in their fold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It was thine eyes that followed through the length<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of infant days these sons. In times of old<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It was thy breast that nourished them to strength.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So often hast thou to thy bosom pressed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The golden head, the face and brow of snow;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So often has it 'gainst thy broad, dark breast<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lain, set off like a quickened cameo.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou simple soul, as cuddling down that babe<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With thy sweet croon, so plaintive and so wild,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Came ne'er the thought to thee, swift like a stab,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That it some day might crush thine own black child?<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="FATHER_FATHER_ABRAHAM" id="FATHER_FATHER_ABRAHAM"></a>FATHER, FATHER ABRAHAM</h2> + +<h3>(<i>On the Anniversary of Lincoln's Birth</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Father, Father Abraham,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To-day look on us from above;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On us, the offspring of thy faith,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The children of thy Christ-like love.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For that which we have humbly wrought,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Give us to-day thy kindly smile;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wherein we've failed or fallen short,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Bear with us, Father, yet awhile.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Father, Father Abraham,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To-day we lift our hearts to thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Filled with the thought of what great price<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Was paid, that we might ransomed be.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To-day we consecrate ourselves<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Anew in hand and heart and brain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To send this judgment down the years:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The ransom was not paid in vain.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="BROTHERS" id="BROTHERS"></a>BROTHERS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">See! There he stands; not brave, but with an air<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of sullen stupor. Mark him well! Is he<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not more like brute than man? Look in his eye!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No light is there; none, save the glint that shines<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the now glaring, and now shifting orbs<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of some wild animal caught in the hunter's trap.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">How came this beast in human shape and form?<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">Speak, man!—We call you man because you wear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His shape—How are you thus? Are you not from<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That docile, child-like, tender-hearted race<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which we have known three centuries? Not from<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That more than faithful race which through three wars<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fed our dear wives and nursed our helpless babes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without a single breach of trust? Speak out!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">I am, and am not.<br /> +</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">Then who, why are you?<br /> +</span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">I am a thing not new, I am as old<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">As human nature. I am that which lurks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ready to spring whenever a bar is loosed;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The ancient trait which fights incessantly<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Against restraint, balks at the upward climb;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The weight forever seeking to obey<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The law of downward pull;—and I am more:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The bitter fruit am I of planted seed;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The resultant, the inevitable end<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of evil forces and the powers of wrong.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Lessons in degradation, taught and learned,<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">The memories of cruel sights and deeds,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The pent-up bitterness, the unspent hate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Filtered through fifteen generations have<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sprung up and found in me sporadic life.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In me the muttered curse of dying men,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On me the stain of conquered women, and<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Consuming me the fearful fires of lust,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lit long ago, by other hands than mine.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In me the down-crushed spirit, the hurled-back prayers<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of wretches now long dead,—their dire bequests.—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In me the echo of the stifled cry<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of children for their bartered mothers' breasts.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I claim no race, no race claims me; I am<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">No more than human dregs; degenerate;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The monstrous offspring of the monster, Sin;<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span><span class="i0">I am—just what I am.... The race that fed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Your wives and nursed your babes would do the same<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To-day, but I—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i7">Enough, the brute must die!<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">Quick! Chain him to that oak! It will resist<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The fire much longer than this slender pine.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now bring the fuel! Pile it 'round him! Wait!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pile not so fast or high! or we shall lose<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The agony and terror in his face.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And now the torch! Good fuel that! the flames<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Already leap head-high. Ha! hear that shriek!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And there's another! wilder than the first.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fetch water! Water! Pour a little on<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The fire, lest it should burn too fast. Hold so!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now let it slowly blaze again. See there!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He squirms! He groans! His eyes bulge wildly out,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Searching around in vain appeal for help!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Another shriek, the last! Watch how the flesh<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Grows crisp and hangs till, turned to ash, it sifts<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down through the coils of chain that hold erect<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The ghastly frame against the bark-scorched tree.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Stop! to each man no more than one man's share.<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">You take that bone, and you this tooth; the chain—<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span><span class="i0">Let us divide its links; this skull, of course,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In fair division, to the leader comes.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">And now his fiendish crime has been avenged;<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">Let us back to our wives and children.—Say,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What did he mean by those last muttered words,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Brothers in spirit, brothers in deed are we"?<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FRAGMENT" id="FRAGMENT"></a>FRAGMENT</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The hand of Fate cannot be stayed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The course of Fate cannot be steered,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By all the gods that man has made,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor all the devils he has feared,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not by the prayers that might be prayed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In all the temples he has reared.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">See! In your very midst there dwell<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ten thousand thousand blacks, a wedge<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Forged in the furnaces of hell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sharpened to a cruel edge<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By wrong and by injustice fell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And driven by hatred as a sledge.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A wedge so slender at the start—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just twenty slaves in shackles bound—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And yet, which split the land apart<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span><span class="i0">With shrieks of war and battle sound,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which pierced the nation's very heart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And still lies cankering in the wound.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not all the glory of your pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Preserved in story and in song,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Can from the judging future hide,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through all the coming ages long,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That though you bravely fought and died,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You fought and died for what was wrong.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Tis fixed—for them that violate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The eternal laws, naught shall avail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till they their error expiate;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor shall their unborn children fail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To pay the full required weight<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Into God's great, unerring scale.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Think not repentance can redeem,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That sin his wages can withdraw;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No, think as well to change the scheme<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of worlds that move in reverent awe;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Forgiveness is an idle dream,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">God is not love, no, God is law.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_WHITE_WITCH" id="THE_WHITE_WITCH"></a>THE WHITE WITCH</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O, brothers mine, take care! Take care!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The great white witch rides out to-night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Trust not your prowess nor your strength;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Your only safety lies in flight;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For in her glance there is a snare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in her smile there is a blight.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The great white witch you have not seen?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then, younger brothers mine, forsooth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like nursery children you have looked<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For ancient hag and snaggled tooth;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But no, not so; the witch appears<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In all the glowing charms of youth.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Her lips are like carnations red,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her face like new-born lilies fair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her eyes like ocean waters blue,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She moves with subtle grace and air,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all about her head there floats<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The golden glory of her hair.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But though she always thus appears<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In form of youth and mood of mirth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unnumbered centuries are hers,<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span><span class="i0">The infant planets saw her birth;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The child of throbbing Life is she,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Twin sister to the greedy earth.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And back behind those smiling lips,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And down within those laughing eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And underneath the soft caress<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of hand and voice and purring sighs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The shadow of the panther lurks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The spirit of the vampire lies.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For I have seen the great white witch,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And she has led me to her lair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I have kissed her red, red lips<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And cruel face so white and fair;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Around me she has twined her arms,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And bound me with her yellow hair.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I felt those red lips burn and sear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My body like a living coal;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Obeyed the power of those eyes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As the needle trembles to the pole;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And did not care although I felt<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The strength go ebbing from my soul.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh! she has seen your strong young limbs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And heard your laughter loud and gay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in your voices she has caught<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span><span class="i0">The echo of a far-off day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When man was closer to the earth;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And she has marked you for her prey.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">She feels the old Antæan strength<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In you, the great dynamic beat<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of primal passions, and she sees<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In you the last besieged retreat<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of love relentless, lusty, fierce,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Love pain-ecstatic, cruel-sweet.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O, brothers mine, take care! Take care!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The great white witch rides out to-night.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O, younger brothers mine, beware!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Look not upon her beauty bright;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For in her glance there is a snare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in her smile there is a blight.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MOTHER_NIGHT" id="MOTHER_NIGHT"></a>MOTHER NIGHT</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Eternities before the first-born day,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or ere the first sun fledged his wings of flame,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Calm Night, the everlasting and the same,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A brooding mother over chaos lay.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And whirling suns shall blaze and then decay,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Shall run their fiery courses and then claim<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The haven of the darkness whence they came;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Back to Nirvanic peace shall grope their way.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So when my feeble sun of life burns out,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And sounded is the hour for my long sleep,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">I shall, full weary of the feverish light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Welcome the darkness without fear or doubt,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And heavy-lidded, I shall softly creep<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Into the quiet bosom of the Night.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_YOUNG_WARRIOR" id="THE_YOUNG_WARRIOR"></a>THE YOUNG WARRIOR</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Mother, shed no mournful tears,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But gird me on my sword;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And give no utterance to thy fears,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But bless me with thy word.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The lines are drawn! The fight is on!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A cause is to be won!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mother, look not so white and wan;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Give Godspeed to thy son.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now let thine eyes my way pursue<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where'er my footsteps fare;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And when they lead beyond thy view,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Send after me a prayer.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But pray not to defend from harm,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor danger to dispel;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pray, rather, that with steadfast arm<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I fight the battle well.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Pray, mother of mine, that I always keep<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My heart and purpose strong,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My sword unsullied and ready to leap<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unsheathed against the wrong.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_GLORY_OF_THE_DAY_WAS_IN_HER_FACE" id="THE_GLORY_OF_THE_DAY_WAS_IN_HER_FACE"></a>THE GLORY OF THE DAY WAS IN HER FACE</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The glory of the day was in her face,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The beauty of the night was in her eyes.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And over all her loveliness, the grace<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of Morning blushing in the early skies.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And in her voice, the calling of the dove;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like music of a sweet, melodious part.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in her smile, the breaking light of love;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all the gentle virtues in her heart.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And now the glorious day, the beauteous night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The birds that signal to their mates at dawn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To my dull ears, to my tear-blinded sight<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are one with all the dead, since she is gone.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SONNET" id="SONNET"></a>SONNET</h2> + +<h3>(<i>From the Spanish of Plácido</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Enough of love! Let break its every hold!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ended my youthful folly! for I know<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That, like the dazzling, glister-shedding snow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Celia, thou art beautiful, but cold.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I do not find in thee that warmth which glows,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Which, all these dreary days, my heart has sought,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That warmth without which love is lifeless, naught<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More than a painted fruit, a waxen rose.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Such love as thine, scarce can it bear love's name,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Deaf to the pleading notes of his sweet lyre,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A frank, impulsive heart I wish to claim,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A heart that blindly follows its desire.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I wish to embrace a woman full of flame,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I want to kiss a woman made of fire.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FROM_THE_SPANISH" id="FROM_THE_SPANISH"></a>FROM THE SPANISH</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Twenty years go by on noiseless feet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He returns, and once again they meet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She exclaims, "Good heavens! and is that he?"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He mutters, "My God! and that is she!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="FROM_THE_GERMAN_OF_UHLAND" id="FROM_THE_GERMAN_OF_UHLAND"></a>FROM THE GERMAN OF UHLAND</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Three students once tarried over the Rhine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And into Frau Wirthin's turned to dine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Say, hostess, have you good beer and wine?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And where is that pretty daughter of thine?"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"My beer and wine is fresh and clear.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My daughter lies on her funeral bier."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They softly tipped into the room;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She lay there in the silent gloom.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The first the white cloth gently raised,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And tearfully upon her gazed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"If thou wert alive, O, lovely maid,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My heart at thy feet would to-day be laid!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The second covered her face again,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And turned away with grief and pain.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ah, thou upon thy snow-white bier!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I have loved thee so many a year."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The third drew back again the veil,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And kissed the lips so cold and pale.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I've loved thee always, I love thee to-day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And will love thee, yes, forever and aye!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="BEFORE_A_PAINTING" id="BEFORE_A_PAINTING"></a>BEFORE A PAINTING</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I knew not who had wrought with skill so fine<br /></span> +<span class="i2">What I beheld; nor by what laws of art<br /></span> +<span class="i2">He had created life and love and heart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On canvas, from mere color, curve and line.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Silent I stood and made no move or sign;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Not with the crowd, but reverently apart;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nor felt the power my rooted limbs to start,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But mutely gazed upon that face divine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And over me the sense of beauty fell,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As music over a raptured listener to<br /></span> +<span class="i3">The deep-voiced organ breathing out a hymn;<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">Or as on one who kneels, his beads to tell,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">There falls the aureate glory filtered through<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The windows in some old cathedral dim.<br /> +</span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="I_HEAR_THE_STARS_STILL_SINGING" id="I_HEAR_THE_STARS_STILL_SINGING"></a>I HEAR THE STARS STILL SINGING</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I hear the stars still singing<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To the beautiful, silent night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As they speed with noiseless winging<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their ever westward flight.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I hear the waves still falling<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On the stretch of lonely shore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the sound of a sweet voice calling<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I shall hear, alas! no more.<br /></span></div> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="GIRL_OF_FIFTEEN" id="GIRL_OF_FIFTEEN"></a>GIRL OF FIFTEEN</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Girl of fifteen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I see you each morning from my window<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As you pass on your way to school.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I do more than see, I watch you.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I furtively draw the curtain aside.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And my heart leaps through my eyes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And follows you down the street;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leaving me behind, half-hid<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And wholly ashamed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What holds me back,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Half-hid behind the curtains and wholly ashamed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But my forty years beyond your fifteen?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Girl of fifteen, as you pass<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There passes, too, a lightning flash of time<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In which you lift those forty summers off my head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And take those forty winters out of my heart.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_SUICIDE" id="THE_SUICIDE"></a>THE SUICIDE</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For fifty years,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cruel, insatiable Old World,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You have punched me over the heart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till you made me cough blood.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The few paltry things I gathered<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You snatched out of my hands.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You have knocked the cup from my thirsty lips.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You have laughed at my hunger of body and soul.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You look at me now and think,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"He is still strong,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There ought to be twenty more years of good punching there.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At the end of that time he will be old and broken,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not able to strike back,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But cringing and crying for leave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To live a little longer."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Those twenty, pitiful, extra years<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Would please you more than the fifty past,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Would they not, Old World?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Well, I hold them up before your greedy eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And snatch them away as I laugh in your face,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ha! Ha!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bang—!<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DOWN_BY_THE_CARIB_SEA" id="DOWN_BY_THE_CARIB_SEA"></a>DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA</h2> + +<h3><a name="one" id="one"></a>I</h3> +<h3><i>Sunrise in the Tropics</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sol, Sol, mighty lord of the tropic zone,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here I wait with the trembling stars<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To see thee once more take thy throne.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There the patient palm tree watching<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Waits to say, "Good morn" to thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And a throb of expectation<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pulses through the earth and me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now, o'er nature falls a hush,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Look! the East is all a-blush;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And a growing crimson crest<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dims the late stars in the west;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now, a flood of golden light<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sweeps across the silver night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Swift the pale moon fades away<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Before the light-girt King of Day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">See! the miracle is done!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Once more behold! The Sun!<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="two" id="two"></a>II</h3> +<h3><i>Los Cigarillos</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">This is the land of the dark-eyed <i>gente</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the <i>dolce far niente</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where we dream away<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Both the night and day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At night-time in sleep our dreams we invoke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our dreams come by day through the redolent smoke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As it lazily curls,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And slowly unfurls<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From our lips,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the tips<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of our fragrant <i>cigarillos</i>.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For life in the tropics is only a joke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So we pass it in dreams, and we pass it in smoke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Smoke—smoke—smoke.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Tropical constitutions<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Call for occasional revolutions;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But after that's through,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why there's nothing to do<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But smoke—smoke;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For life in the tropics is only a joke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So we pass it in dreams, and we pass it in smoke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Smoke—smoke—smoke.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a name="three" id="three"></a>III</h3> +<h3><i>Teestay</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Of tropic sensations, the worst<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is, <i>sin duda</i>, the tropical thirst.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When it starts in your throat and constantly grows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till you feel that it reaches down to your toes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When your mouth tastes like fur<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And your tongue turns to dust,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There's but one thing to do,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And do it you must,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Drink <i>teestay</i>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Teestay</i>, a drink with a history,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A delicious, delectable mystery,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"<i>Cinco centavos el vaso, señor</i>,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If you take one, you will surely want more.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Teestay, teestay</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The national drink on a feast day;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How it coolingly tickles,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As downward it trickles,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Teestay, teestay</i>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And you wish, as you take it down at a quaff,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That your neck was constructed à la giraffe.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Teestay, teestay</i>.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a name="four" id="four"></a>IV</h3> +<h3><i>The Lottery Girl</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Lottery, lottery,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Take a chance at the lottery?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Take a ticket,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or, better, take two;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who knows what the future<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May hold for you?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lottery, lottery,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Take a chance at the lottery?"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, limpid-eyed girl,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I would take every chance,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If only the prize<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were a love-flashing glance<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From your fathomless eyes.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Lottery, lottery,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Try your luck at the lottery?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Consider the size<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the capital prize,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And take tickets<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For the lottery.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tickets, <i>señor</i>? Tickets, <i>señor</i>?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Take a chance at the lottery?"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, crimson-lipped girl,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With the magical smile,<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span><span class="i0">I would count that the gamble<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were well worth the while,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not a chance would I miss,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If only the prize<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were a honey-bee kiss<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gathered in sips<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From those full-ripened lips,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And a love-flashing glance<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From your eyes.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<h3>V<a name="five" id="five"></a></h3> +<h3><i>The Dancing Girl</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Do you know what it is to dance?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Perhaps, you do know, in a fashion;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But by dancing I mean,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not what's generally seen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But dancing of fire and passion,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of fire and delirious passion.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With a dusky-haired <i>señorita</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her dark, misty eyes near your own,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And her scarlet-red mouth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like a rose of the south,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The reddest that ever was grown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So close that you catch<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her quick-panting breath<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As across your own face it is blown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With a sigh, and a moan.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ah! that is dancing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As here by the Carib it's known.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now, whirling and twirling<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like furies we go;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now, soft and caressing<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sinuously slow;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With an undulating motion,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like waves on a breeze-kissed ocean:—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the scarlet-red mouth<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is nearer your own,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the dark, misty eyes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still softer have grown.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ah! that is dancing, that is loving,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As here by the Carib they're known.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="six" id="six"></a>VI</h3> +<h3><i>Sunset in the Tropics</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A silver flash from the sinking sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then a shot of crimson across the sky<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That, bursting, lets a thousand colors fly<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And riot among the clouds; they run,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Deepening in purple, flaming in gold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Changing, and opening fold after fold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then fading through all of the tints of the rose into gray,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till, taking quick fright at the coming night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They rush out down the west,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In hurried quest<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the fleeing day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now above where the tardiest color flares a moment yet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One point of light, now two, now three are set<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To form the starry stairs,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, in her fire-fly crown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Queen Night, on velvet slippered feet, comes softly down.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="AND_THE_GREATEST_OF_THESE_IS_WAR" id="AND_THE_GREATEST_OF_THESE_IS_WAR"></a>AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS WAR</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Around the council-board of Hell, with Satan at their head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Three Great Scourges of humanity sat.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gaunt Famine, with hollow cheek and voice, arose and spoke,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"O, Prince, I have stalked the earth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And my victims by ten thousands I have slain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I have smitten old and young.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mouths of the helpless old moaning for bread, I have filled with dust;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I have laughed to see a crying babe tug at the shriveling breast<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of its mother, dead and cold.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I have heard the cries and prayers of men go up to a tearless sky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And fall back upon an earth of ashes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But, heedless, I have gone on with my work.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis thus, O, Prince, that I have scourged mankind."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And Satan nodded his head.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Pale Pestilence, with stenchful breath, then spoke and said,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Great Prince, my brother, Famine, attacks the poor.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span><span class="i0">He is most terrible against the helpless and the old.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But I have made a charnel-house of the mightiest cities of men.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I strike, neither their stores of gold or of grain avail.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With a breath I lay low their strongest, and wither up their fairest.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I come upon them without warning, lancing invisible death.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From me they flee with eyes and mouths distended;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I poison the air for which they gasp, and I strike them down fleeing.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis thus, great Prince, that I have scourged mankind."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And Satan nodded his head.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then the red monster, War, rose up and spoke,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His blood-shot eyes glared 'round him, and his thundering voice<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Echoed through the murky vaults of Hell.—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"O, mighty Prince, my brothers, Famine and Pestilence,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have slain their thousands and ten thousands,—true;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the greater their victories have been,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The more have they wakened in Man's breast<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span><span class="i0">The God-like attributes of sympathy, of brotherhood and love<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And made of him a searcher after wisdom.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But I arouse in Man the demon and the brute,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I plant black hatred in his heart and red revenge.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the summit of fifty thousand years of upward climb<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I haul him down to the level of the start, back to the wolf.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I give him claws.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I set his teeth into his brother's throat.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I make him drunk with his brother's blood.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I laugh ho! ho! while he destroys himself.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O, mighty Prince, not only do I slay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But I draw Man hellward."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And Satan smiled, stretched out his hand, and said,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"O War, of all the scourges of humanity, I crown you chief."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And Hell rang with the acclamation of the Fiends.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="A_MID-DAY_DREAMER" id="A_MID-DAY_DREAMER"></a>A MID-DAY DREAMER</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I love to sit alone, and dream,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dream, and dream;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In fancy's boat to softly glide<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Along some stream<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where fairy palaces of gold<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And crystal bright<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stand all along the glistening shore:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A wondrous sight.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">My craft is built of ivory,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With silver oars,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sails are spun of golden threads,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And priceless stores<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of precious gems adorn its prow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And 'round its mast<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An hundred silken cords are set<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To hold it fast.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">My galley-slaves are sprightly elves<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who, as they row,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And as their shining oars they swing<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Them to and fro,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Keep time to music wafted on<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The scented air,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Made by the mermaids as they comb<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their golden hair.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And I the while lie idly back,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dream, and dream,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And let them row me where they will<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Adown the stream.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_TEMPTRESS" id="THE_TEMPTRESS"></a>THE TEMPTRESS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Old Devil, when you come with horns and tail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With diabolic grin and crafty leer;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I say, such bogey-man devices wholly fail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To waken in my heart a single fear.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But when you wear a form I know so well,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A form so human, yet so near divine;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis then I fall beneath the magic of your spell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis then I know the vantage is not mine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ah! when you take your horns from off your head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And soft and fragrant hair is in their place;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I must admit I fear the tangled path I tread<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When that dear head is laid against my face.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And at what time you change your baleful eyes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For stars that melt into the gloom of night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All of my courage, my dear fellow, quickly flies;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I know my chance is slim to win the fight.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And when, instead of charging down to wreck<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Me on a red-hot pitchfork in your hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You throw a pair of slender arms about my neck,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I dare not trust the ground on which I stand.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Whene'er in place of using patent wile,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or trying to frighten me with horrid grin,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You tempt me with two crimson lips curved in a smile;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Old Devil, I must really own, you win.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="GHOSTS_OF_THE_OLD_YEAR" id="GHOSTS_OF_THE_OLD_YEAR"></a>GHOSTS OF THE OLD YEAR</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The snow has ceased its fluttering flight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The wind sunk to a whisper light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An ominous stillness fills the night,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A pause—a hush.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At last, a sound that breaks the spell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Loud, clanging mouthings of a bell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That through the silence peal and swell,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And roll, and rush.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What does this brazen tongue declare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That falling on the midnight air<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brings to my heart a sense of care<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Akin to fright?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis telling that the year is dead,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The New Year come, the Old Year fled,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Another leaf before me spread<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On which to write.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">It tells the deeds that were not done,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It tells of races never run,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of victories that were not won,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Barriers unleaped.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It tells of many a squandered day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of slighted gems and treasured clay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of precious stores not laid away,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of fields unreaped.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And so the years go swiftly by,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Each, coming, brings ambitions high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And each, departing, leaves a sigh<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Linked to the past.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Large resolutions, little deeds;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thus, filled with aims unreached, life speeds<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Until the blotted record reads,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">"Failure!" at last.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_GHOST_OF_DEACON_BROWN" id="THE_GHOST_OF_DEACON_BROWN"></a>THE GHOST OF DEACON BROWN</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In a backwoods town<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lived Deacon Brown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And he was a miser old;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He would trust no bank,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So he dug, and sank<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the ground a box of gold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down deep in the ground a box of gold.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He hid his gold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As has been told,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He remembered that he did it;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But sad to say,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On the very next day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He forgot just where he hid it:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To find his gold he tried and tried<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till he grew faint and sick, and died.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then on each dark and gloomy night<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A form in phosphorescent white,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A genuine hair-raising sight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Would wander through the town.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And as it slowly roamed around,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With a spade it dug each foot of ground;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So the folks about<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Said there was no doubt<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Twas the ghost of Deacon Brown.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Around the church<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This Ghost would search,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And whenever it would see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The passers-by<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Take wings and fly<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It would laugh in ghostly glee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hee, hee!—it would laugh in ghostly glee.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And so the town<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Went quickly down,<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span><span class="i0">For they said that it was haunted;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And doors and gates,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So the story states,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bore a notice, "Tenants wanted."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And the town is now for let,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the ghost is digging yet.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="LAZY" id="LAZY"></a>"LAZY"</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Some men enjoy the constant strife<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of days with work and worry rife,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But that is not my dream of life:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I think such men are crazy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For me, a life with worries few,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A job of nothing much to do,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just pelf enough to see me through:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I fear that I am lazy.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">On winter mornings cold and drear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When six o'clock alarms I hear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis then I love to shift my ear,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And hug my downy pillows.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When in the shade it's ninety-three,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No job in town looks good to me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'd rather loaf down by the sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And watch the foaming billows.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Some people think the world's a school,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where labor is the only rule;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But I'll not make myself a mule,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And don't you ever doubt it.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I know that work may have its use,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But still I feel that's no excuse<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For turning it into abuse;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">What do <i>you</i> think about it?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Let others fume and sweat and boil,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And scratch and dig for golden spoil,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And live the life of work and toil,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their lives to labor giving.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But what is gold when life is sped,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And life is short, as has been said,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And we are such a long time dead,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I'll spend my life in living.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="OMAR" id="OMAR"></a>OMAR</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Old Omar, jolly sceptic, it may be<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That, after all, you found the magic key<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To life and all its mystery, and I<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Must own you have almost persuaded me.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DEEP_IN_THE_QUIET_WOOD" id="DEEP_IN_THE_QUIET_WOOD"></a>DEEP IN THE QUIET WOOD</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Are you bowed down in heart?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Do you but hear the clashing discords and the din of life?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then come away, come to the peaceful wood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here bathe your soul in silence. Listen! Now,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From out the palpitating solitude<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Do you not catch, yet faint, elusive strains?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They are above, around, within you, everywhere.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Silently listen! Clear, and still more clear, they come.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They bubble up in rippling notes, and swell in singing tones.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now let your soul run the whole gamut of the wondrous scale<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Until, responsive to the tonic chord,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It touches the diapason of God's grand cathedral organ,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Filling earth for you with heavenly peace<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And holy harmonies.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VOLUPTAS" id="VOLUPTAS"></a>VOLUPTAS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To chase a never-reached mirage<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Across the hot, white sand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And choke and die, while gazing on<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Its green and watered strand.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_WORD_OF_AN_ENGINEER" id="THE_WORD_OF_AN_ENGINEER"></a>THE WORD OF AN ENGINEER</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"She's built of steel<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From deck to keel,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And bolted strong and tight;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In scorn she'll sail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The fiercest gale,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And pierce the darkest night.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The builder's art<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has proved each part<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Throughout her breadth and length;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Deep in the hulk,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of her mighty bulk,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ten thousand Titans' strength."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The tempest howls,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Ice Wolf prowls,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The winds they shift and veer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But calm I sleep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And faith I keep<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the word of an engineer.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Along the trail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the slender rail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The train, like a nightmare, flies<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dashes on<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through the black-mouthed yawn<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the cavernous tunnel lies.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Over the ridge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Across the bridge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Swung twixt the sky and hell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On an iron thread<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Spun from the head<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the man in a draughtsman's cell.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And so we ride<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Over land and tide,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without a thought of fear—<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Man never had</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>The faith in God</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>That he has in an engineer!</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="LIFE" id="LIFE"></a>LIFE</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Out of the infinite sea of eternity<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To climb, and for an instant stand<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon an island speck of time.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From the impassible peace of the darkness<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To wake, and blink at the garish light<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through one short hour of fretfulness.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SLEEP" id="SLEEP"></a>SLEEP</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Sleep, thou kindest minister to man,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Silent distiller of the balm of rest,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How wonderful thy power, when naught else can,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To soothe the torn and sorrow-laden breast!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When bleeding hearts no comforter can find,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When burdened souls droop under weight of woe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When thought is torture to the troubled mind,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When grief-relieving tears refuse to flow;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis then thou comest on soft-beating wings,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And sweet oblivion's peace from them is shed;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But ah, the old pain that the waking brings!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That lives again so soon as thou art fled!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Man, why should thought of death cause thee to weep;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Since death be but an endless, dreamless sleep?<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PRAYER_AT_SUNRISE" id="PRAYER_AT_SUNRISE"></a>PRAYER AT SUNRISE</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O mighty, powerful, dark-dispelling sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now thou art risen, and thy day begun.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How shrink the shrouding mists before thy face,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As up thou spring'st to thy diurnal race!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How darkness chases darkness to the west,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As shades of light on light rise radiant from thy crest!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For thee, great source of strength, emblem of might,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In hours of darkest gloom there is no night.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou shinest on though clouds hide thee from sight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And through each break thou sendest down thy light.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O greater Maker of this Thy great sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Give me the strength this one day's race to run,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fill me with light, fill me with sun-like strength,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fill me with joy to rob the day its length.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Light from within, light that will outward shine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strength to make strong some weaker heart than mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Joy to make glad each soul that feels its touch;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Great Father of the sun, I ask this much.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_GIFT_TO_SING" id="THE_GIFT_TO_SING"></a>THE GIFT TO SING</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And blackening clouds about me cling;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But, oh, I have a magic way<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To turn the gloom to cheerful day—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I softly sing.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And if the way grows darker still,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shadowed by Sorrow's somber wing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With glad defiance in my throat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I pierce the darkness with a note,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And sing, and sing.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I brood not over the broken past,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor dread whatever time may bring;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No nights are dark, no days are long,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While in my heart there swells a song,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And I can sing.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MORNING_NOON_AND_NIGHT" id="MORNING_NOON_AND_NIGHT"></a>MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When morning shows her first faint flush,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I think of the tender blush<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That crept so gently to your cheek<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When first my love I dared to speak;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How, in your glance, a dawning ray<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gave promise of love's perfect day.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When, in the ardent breath of noon,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The roses with passion swoon;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There steals upon me from the air<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The scent that lurked within your hair;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I touch your hand, I clasp your form—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Again your lips are close and warm.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When comes the night with beauteous skies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I think of your tear-dimmed eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their mute entreaty that I stay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Although your lips sent me away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And then falls memory's bitter blight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dark—so dark becomes the night.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="HER_EYES_TWIN_POOLS" id="HER_EYES_TWIN_POOLS"></a>HER EYES TWIN POOLS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Her eyes, twin pools of mystic light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The blend of star-sheen and black night;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'er which, to sound their glamouring haze,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A man might bend, and vainly gaze.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Her eyes, twin pools so dark and deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In which life's ancient mysteries sleep;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wherein, to seek the quested goal,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A man might plunge, and lose his soul.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_AWAKENING" id="THE_AWAKENING"></a>THE AWAKENING</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I dreamed that I was a rose<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That grew beside a lonely way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Close by a path none ever chose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And there I lingered day by day.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath the sunshine and the show'r<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I grew and waited there apart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gathering perfume hour by hour,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And storing it within my heart,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Yet, never knew,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just why I waited there and grew.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I dreamed that you were a bee<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That one day gaily flew along,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You came across the hedge to me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sang a soft, love-burdened song.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You brushed my petals with a kiss,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I woke to gladness with a start,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And yielded up to you in bliss<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The treasured fragrance of my heart;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And then I knew<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That I had waited there for you.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="BEAUTY_THAT_IS_NEVER_OLD" id="BEAUTY_THAT_IS_NEVER_OLD"></a>BEAUTY THAT IS NEVER OLD</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When buffeted and beaten by life's storms,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When by the bitter cares of life oppressed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I want no surer haven than your arms,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I want no sweeter heaven than your breast.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When over my life's way there falls the blight<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of sunless days, and nights of starless skies;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Enough for me, the calm and steadfast light<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That softly shines within your loving eyes.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The world, for me, and all the world can hold<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is circled by your arms; for me there lies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Within the lights and shadows of your eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The only beauty that is never old.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="VENUS_IN_A_GARDEN" id="VENUS_IN_A_GARDEN"></a>VENUS IN A GARDEN</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Twas at early morning,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The dawn was blushing in her purple bed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When in a sweet, embowered garden<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She, the fairest of the goddesses,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The lovely Venus,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Roamed amongst the roses white and red.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She sought for flowers<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To make a garland<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For her golden head.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Snow-white roses, blood-red roses,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In that sweet garden close,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Offered incense to the goddess:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Both the white and the crimson rose.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">White roses, red roses, blossoming:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the fair Venus knew<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The crimson roses had gained their hue<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the hearts that for love had bled;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the goddess made a garland<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gathered from the roses red.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="VASHTI" id="VASHTI"></a>VASHTI</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I sometimes take you in my dreams to a far-off land I used to know,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Back in the ages long ago; a land of palms and languid streams.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A land, by night, of jeweled skies, by day, of shores that glistened bright,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Within whose arms, outstretched and white, a sapphire sea lay crescent-wise.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Where twilight fell like silver floss, where rose the golden moon half-hid<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Behind a shadowy pyramid; a land beneath the Southern Cross.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And there the days dreamed in their flight, each one a poem chanted through,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which at its close was merged into the muted music of the night.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And you were a princess in those days. And I—I was your serving lad.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But who ever served with heart so glad, or lived so for a word of praise?<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And if that word you chanced to speak, how all my senses swayed and reeled,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till low beside your feet I kneeled, with happiness o'erwrought and weak.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If, when your golden cup I bore, you deigned to lower your eyes to mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Eyes cold, yet fervid, like the wine, I knew not how to wish for more.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I trembled at the thought to dare to gaze upon, to scrutinize<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The deep-sea mystery of your eyes, the sun-lit splendor of your hair.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To let my timid glances rest upon you long enough to note<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How fair and slender was your throat, how white the promise of your breast.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But though I did not dare to chance a lingering look, an open gaze<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon your beauty's blinding rays, I ventured many a stolen glance.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I fancy, too, (but could not state what trick of mind the fancy caused)<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At times your eyes upon me paused, and marked my figure lithe and straight.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Once when my eyes met yours it seemed that in your cheek, despite your pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A flush arose and swiftly died; or was it something that I dreamed?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Within your radiance like the star of morning, there I stood and served,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Close by, unheeded, unobserved. You were so near, and, yet, so far.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ah! just to stretch my hand and touch the musky sandals on your feet!—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My breaking heart! of rapture sweet it never could have held so much.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, beauty-haunted memory! Your face so proud, your eyes so calm,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Your body like a slim young palm, and sinuous as a willow tree.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Caught up beneath your slender arms, and girdled 'round your supple waist,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A robe of curious silk that graced, but only scarce concealed your charms.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A golden band about your head, a crimson jewel at your throat<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, when the sunlight on it smote, turned to a living heart and bled.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But, oh, that mystic bleeding stone, that work of Nature's magic art,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which mimicked so a wounded heart, could never bleed as did my own!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now after ages long and sad, in this stern land we meet anew;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No more a princess proud are you, and I—I am no serving lad.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And yet, dividing us, I meet a wider gulf than that which stood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Between a princess of the blood and him who served low at her feet.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_REWARD" id="THE_REWARD"></a>THE REWARD</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">No greater earthly boon than this I crave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That those who some day gather 'round my grave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In place of tears, may whisper of me then,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"He sang a song that reached the hearts of men."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h2><a name="JINGLES_CROONS" id="JINGLES_CROONS"></a>JINGLES & CROONS </h2> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="SENCE" id="SENCE"></a>SENCE YOU WENT AWAY</h2> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me de stars don't shine so bright,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me de sun done loss his light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me der's nothin' goin' right,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sence you went away.<br /> +</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me de sky ain't half so blue,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me dat ev'ything wants you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me I don't know what to do,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sence you went away.<br /> +</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me dat ev'ything is wrong,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me de day's jes twice as long,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me de bird's forgot his song,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sence you went away.<br /> +</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me I jes can't he'p but sigh,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me ma th'oat keeps gittin' dry,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems lak to me a tear stays in ma eye,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sence you went away.<br /> +</span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MA_LADYS_LIPS_AM_LIKE_DE_HONEY" id="MA_LADYS_LIPS_AM_LIKE_DE_HONEY"></a>MA LADY'S LIPS AM LIKE DE HONEY</h2> + +<h3>(<i>Negro Love Song</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Breeze a-sighin' and a-blowin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Southern summer night.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stars a-gleamin' and a-glowin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Moon jes shinin' right.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strollin', like all lovers do,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down de lane wid Lindy Lou;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Honey on her lips to waste;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Speck I'm gwine to steal a taste.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Oh, ma lady's lips am like de honey,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's lips am like de rose;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">An' I'm jes like de little bee a-buzzin'<br /></span> +<span class="i2">'Round de flower wha' de nectah grows.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's lips dey smile so temptin',<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's teeth so white dey shine,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Oh, ma lady's lips so tantalizin',<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's lips so close to mine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Bird a-whistlin' and a-swayin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In de live-oak tree;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems to me he keeps a-sayin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Kiss dat gal fo' me."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Look heah, Mister Mockin' Bird,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gwine to take you at yo' word;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If I meets ma Waterloo,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gwine to blame it all on you.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Oh, ma lady's lips am like de honey,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's lips am like de rose;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">An' I'm jes like de little bee a-buzzin'<br /></span> +<span class="i2">'Round de flower wha' de nectah grows.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's lips dey smile so temptin',<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's teeth so white dey shine,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Oh, ma lady's lips so tantalizin',<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ma lady's lips so close to mine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Honey in de rose, I spose, is<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Put der fo' de bee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Honey on her lips, I knows, is<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Put der jes fo' me.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seen a sparkle in her eye,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Heard her heave a little sigh;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Felt her kinder squeeze ma han',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Nuff to make me understan'.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="TUNK" id="TUNK"></a>TUNK</h2> + +<h3>(<i>A Lecture on Modern Education</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Look heah, Tunk!—Now, ain't dis awful! T'ought I sont you off to school.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Don't you know dat you is growin' up to be a reg'lah fool?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Whah's dem books dat I's done bought you? Look heah, boy, you tell me quick,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whah's dat Webster blue-back spellah an' dat bran' new 'rifmatic?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'ile I'm t'inkin' you is lahnin' in de school, why bless ma soul!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You off in de woods a-playin'. Can't you do like you is tole?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Boy, I tell you, it's jes scan'lous d'way dat you is goin' on.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' you sholy go'n be sorry, jes as true as you is bo'n.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Heah I'm tryin' hard to raise you as a credit to dis race,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' you tryin' heap much harder fu' to come up in disgrace.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dese de days w'en men don't git up to de top by hooks an' crooks;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tell you now, dey's got to git der standin' on a pile o' books.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en you sees a darkey goin' to de fiel' as soon as light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Followin' a mule across it f'om de mawnin' tel de night,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wukin' all his life fu' vittles, hoein' 'tween de cott'n rows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en he knocks off ole an' tiah'd, ownin' nut'n but his clo'es,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You kin put it down to ignunce, aftah all what's done an' said,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You kin bet dat dat same darkey ain't got nut'n in his head.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ain't you seed dem w'ite men set'n in der awfice? Don't you know<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dey goes der 'bout nine each mawnin? Bless yo' soul, dey's out by fo'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dey jes does a little writin'; does dat by some easy means;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gals jes set an' play piannah on dem printin' press muchines.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Chile, dem men knows how to figgah, how to use dat little pen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' dey knows dat blue-back spellah f'om beginnin' to de en'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dat's de 'fect of education; dat's de t'ing what's gwine to rule;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Git dem books, you lazy rascal! Git back to yo' place in school!<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="NOBODYS_LOOKIN_BUT_DE_OWL_AND_DE_MOON" id="NOBODYS_LOOKIN_BUT_DE_OWL_AND_DE_MOON"></a>NOBODY'S LOOKIN' BUT DE OWL AND DE MOON</h2> + +<h3>(<i>A Negro Serenade</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">De river is a-glistenin' in de moonlight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De owl is set'n high up in de tree;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De little stars am twinklin' wid a sof' light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De night seems only jes fu' you an' me.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thoo de trees de breezes am a-sighin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Breathin' out a sort o' lover's croon,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Der's nobody lookin' or a-spyin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nobody but de owl an' de moon.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Nobody's lookin' but de owl an' de moon,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de night is balmy; fu' de month is June;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come den, Honey, won't you? Come to meet me soon,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wile nobody's lookin' but de owl an' de moon.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I feel so kinder lonely all de daytime,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It seems I raly don't know what to do;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I jes keep sort a-longin' fu' de night-time,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Cause den I know dat I can be wid you.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de thought jes sets my brain a-swayin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' my heart a-beatin' to a tune;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come, de owl won't tell w'at we's a-sayin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' cose you know we kin trus' de moon.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="YOUS_SWEET_TO_YO_MAMMY_JES_DE_SAME" id="YOUS_SWEET_TO_YO_MAMMY_JES_DE_SAME"></a>YOU'S SWEET TO YO' MAMMY JES DE SAME</h2> + +<h3>(<i>Lullaby</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Shet yo' eyes, ma little pickaninny, go to sleep<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mammy's watchin' by you all de w'ile;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Daddy is a-wukin' down in de cott'n fiel',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wukin' fu' his little honey child.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' yo' mammy's heart is jes a-brimmin' full o' lub<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fu' you f'om yo' head down to yo' feet;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh, no mattah w'at some othah folks may t'ink o' you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To yo' mammy's heart you's mighty sweet.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You's sweet to yo' mammy jes de same;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dat's why she calls you Honey fu' yo' name.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yo' face is black, dat's true,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' yo' hair is woolly, too,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But, you's sweet to yo' mammy jes de same.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Up der in de big house w'ere dey lib so rich an' gran'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dey's got chillen dat dey lubs, I s'pose;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Chillen dat is purty, oh, but dey can't lub dem mo'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dan yo' mammy lubs you, heaben knows!<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dey may t'ink you's homely, an' yo' clo'es dey may be po',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But yo' shinin' eyes, dey hol's a light<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dat, my Honey, w'en you opens dem so big an' roun',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Makes you lubly in yo' mammy's sight.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="A_PLANTATION_BACCHANAL" id="A_PLANTATION_BACCHANAL"></a>A PLANTATION BACCHANAL</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en ole Mister Sun gits tiah'd a-hangin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">High up in de sky;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en der ain't no thunder and light'nin' a-bangin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de crap's done all laid by;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en yo' bones ain't achin' wid de rheumatics,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Den yo' ride de mule to town,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Git a great big jug o' de ole corn juice,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' w'en you drink her down—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Jes lay away ole Trouble,<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">An' dry up all yo' tears;<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">Yo' pleasure sho' to double<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">An' you bound to lose yo' keers.<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">Jes lay away ole Sorrer<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">High upon de shelf;<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">And never mind to-morrer,<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">'Twill take care of itself.<br /> +</span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en ole Mister Age begins a-stealin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thoo yo' back an' knees,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en yo' bones an' jints lose der limber feelin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' am stiff'nin' by degrees;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now der's jes one way to feel young and spry,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en you heah dem banjos soun'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Git a great big swig o' de ole corn juice,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' w'en you drink her down—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Jes lay away ole Trouble,<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">An' dry up all yo' tears;<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">Yo' pleasure sho' to double<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">An' you bound to lose yo' keers.<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">Jes lay away ole Sorrer<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">High upon de shelf;<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">And never mind to-morrer,<br /> +</span> +<span class="i3">'Twill take care of itself.<br /> +</span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="JULY_IN_GEORGY" id="JULY_IN_GEORGY"></a>JULY IN GEORGY</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I'm back down in ole Georgy w'ere de sun is shinin' hot,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'ere de cawn it is a-tasslin', gittin' ready fu' de pot;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'ere de cott'n is a-openin' an' a-w'itenin' in de sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de ripenin' o' de sugah-cane is mighty nigh begun.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' de locus' is a-singin' f'om eveh bush an' tree,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' you kin heah de hummin' o' de noisy bumblebee;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' de mule he stan's a-dreamin' an' a-dreamin' in de lot,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de sun it is a-shinin' mighty hot, hot, hot.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But evehbody is a-restin', fu' de craps is all laid by,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' time fu' de camp-meetin' is a-drawin' purty nigh;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' we's put away de ploughshare, an' we's done hung up de spade,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' we's eatin' watermelon, an' a-layin' in de shade.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="A_BANJO_SONG" id="A_BANJO_SONG"></a>A BANJO SONG</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en de banjos wuz a-ringin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de darkies wuz a-singin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh, wuzen dem de good times sho!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All de ole folks would be chattin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de pickaninnies pattin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As dey heah'd de feet a-shufflin' 'cross de flo'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' how we'd dance, an' how we'd sing!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dance tel de day done break.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' how dem banjos dey would ring,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de cabin flo' would shake!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Come along, come along,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come along, come along,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Don't you heah dem banjos a-ringin'?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Gib a song, gib a song,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gib a song, gib a song,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Git yo' feet fixed up fu' a-wingin'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'ile de banjos dey go plunka, plunka, plunk,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We'll dance tel de ole flo' shake;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'ile de feet keep a-goin' chooka, chooka, chook,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We'll dance tel de day done break.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ANSWER_TO_PRAYER" id="ANSWER_TO_PRAYER"></a>ANSWER TO PRAYER</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Der ain't no use in sayin' de Lawd won't answer prah;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If you knows how to ax Him, I knows He's bound to heah.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">De trouble is, some people don't ax de proper way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Den w'en dey git's no answer dey doubts de use to pray.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You got to use egzac'ly de 'spressions an' de words<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To show dat 'tween yo' faith an' works, you 'pends on works two-thirds.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now, one time I remember—jes how long I won't say—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I thought I'd like a turkey to eat on Chris'mus day.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Fu' weeks I dreamed 'bout turkeys, a-struttin' in der pride;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But seed no way to get one—widout de Lawd pervide.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' so I went to prayin', I pray'd wid all my might;<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span><span class="i0">"Lawd, sen' <i>to</i> me a turkey." I pray'd bofe day an' night.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Lawd, sen' <i>to</i> me a turkey, a big one if you please."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I 'clar to heaben I pray'd so much I mos' wore out ma knees.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I pray'd dat prah so often, I pray'd dat prah so long,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet didn't git no turkey, I know'd 'twas sump'n wrong.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So on de night 'fore Chris'mus w'en I got down to pray,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Lawd, sen' <i>me</i> to a turkey," I had de sense to say.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Lawd, sen' <i>me</i> to a turkey." I know dat prah was right,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' it was sholy answer'd; I got de bird dat night.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DAT_GAL_O_MINE" id="DAT_GAL_O_MINE"></a>DAT GAL O' MINE</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Skin as black an' jes as sof' as a velvet dress,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Teeth as white as ivory—well dey is I guess.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Eyes dat's jes as big an' bright as de evenin' star;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' dat hol' some sort o' light lublier by far.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hair don't hang 'way down her back; plaited up in rows;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wid de two en's dat's behin' tied wid ribben bows.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Han's dat raly wuz'n made fu' hard work, I'm sho';<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Got a little bit o' foot; weahs a numbah fo'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You jes oughtah see dat gal Sunday's w'en she goes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To de Baptis' meetin' house, dressed in her bes' clo'es.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en she puts her w'ite dress on an' othah things so fine;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now, Su', don't you know I'm proud o' dat gal o' mine.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_SEASONS" id="THE_SEASONS"></a>THE SEASONS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en de leaves begin to fall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de fros' is on de ground,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de 'simmons is a-ripenin' on de tree;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en I heah de dinner call,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de chillen gadder 'round,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis den de 'possum is de meat fu' me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en de wintertime am pas'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de spring is come at las',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en de good ole summer sun begins to shine;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh! my thoughts den tek a turn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' my heart begins to yearn<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fo' dat watermelon growin' on de vine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now, de yeah will sholy bring<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Round a season fu' us all,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ev'y one kin pick his season f'om de res';<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But de melon in de spring,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' de 'possum in de fall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mek it hard to tell which time o' year am bes'.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="POSSUM_SONG" id="POSSUM_SONG"></a>'POSSUM SONG</h2> + +<h3>(<i>A Warning</i>)</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Simmons ripenin' in de fall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better run,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brudder 'Possum, run!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mockin' bird commence to call,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better run, Brudder 'Possum, git out de way!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better run, Brudder 'Possum, git out de way!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run some whar an' hide!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ole moon am sinkin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down behin' de tree.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ole Eph am thinkin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' chuckelin' wid glee.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ole Tige am blinkin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' frisky as kin be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yo' chances, Brudder 'Possum,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Look mighty slim to me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Run, run, run, I tell you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run, Brudder 'Possum, run!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run, run, run, I tell you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ole Eph's got a gun.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pickaninnies grinnin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Waitin' fu' to see de fun.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span><span class="i0">You better run, Brudder 'Possum, git out de way!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run, Brudder 'Possum, run!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Brudder 'Possum take a tip;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better run,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brudder 'Possum, run!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tain't no use in actin' flip,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better run, Brudder 'Possum, git out de way!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better run, Brudder 'Possum, git out de way!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run some whar an' hide.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dey's gwine to houn' you<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All along de line,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en dey done foun' you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Den what's de use in sighin'?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wid taters roun' you.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You sholy would tase fine—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So listen, Brudder 'Possum,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better be a-flyin'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Run, run, run, I tell you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run, Brudder 'Possum, run!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run, run, run, I tell you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ole Eph's got a gun.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pickaninnies grinnin'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Waitin' fu' to see de fun.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You better run, Brudder 'Possum, git out de way!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Run, Brudder 'Possum, run!<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="BRER_RABBIT_YOUS_DE_CUTES_OF_EM_ALL" id="BRER_RABBIT_YOUS_DE_CUTES_OF_EM_ALL"></a>BRER RABBIT, YOU'S DE CUTES' OF 'EM ALL</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Once der was a meetin' in de wilderness,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All de critters of creation dey was dar;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Rabbit, Brer 'Possum, Brer Wolf, Brer Fox,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">King Lion, Mister Terrapin, Mister B'ar.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De question fu' discussion was, "Who is de bigges' man?"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dey 'pinted ole Jedge Owl to decide;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He polished up his spectacles an' put 'em on his nose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' to the question slowly he replied:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Brer Wolf am mighty cunnin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Fox am mighty sly,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Terrapin an' 'Possum—kinder small;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Lion's mighty vicious,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer B'ar he's sorter 'spicious,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Rabbit, you's de cutes' of 'em all."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dis caused a great confusion 'mongst de animals,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ev'y critter claimed dat he had won de prize;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dey 'sputed an' dey arg'ed, dey growled an' dey roared,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Den putty soon de dus' begin to rise.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Brer Rabbit he jes' stood aside an' urged 'em on to fight.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Lion he mos' tore Brer B'ar in two;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en dey was all so tiahd dat dey couldn't catch der bref<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Rabbit he jes' grabbed de prize an' flew.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Brer Wolf am mighty cunnin',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Fox am mighty sly,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Terrapin an' Possum—kinder small;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Lion's mighty vicious,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer B'ar he's sorter 'spicious,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brer Rabbit, you's de cutes' of 'em all.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AN_EXPLANATION" id="AN_EXPLANATION"></a>AN EXPLANATION</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Look heah! 'Splain to me de reason<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why you said to Squire Lee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Der wuz twelve ole chicken thieves<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In dis heah town, includin' me.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ef he tole you dat, my brudder,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He said sump'n dat warn't true;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'at I said wuz dis, dat der wuz<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Twelve, <i>widout</i> includin' you.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh!...!—<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DE_LITTLE_PICKANINNYS_GONE_TO_SLEEP" id="DE_LITTLE_PICKANINNYS_GONE_TO_SLEEP"></a>DE LITTLE PICKANINNY'S GONE TO SLEEP</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Cuddle down, ma honey, in yo' bed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Go to sleep an' res' yo' little head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Been a-kind o' ailin' all de day?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Didn't have no sperit fu' to play?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never min'; to-morrer, w'en you wek,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Daddy's gwine to ride you on his bek,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Roun' an' roun' de cabin flo' so fas'—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Der! He's closed his little eyes at las'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">De little pickaninny's gone to sleep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cuddled in his trundle bed so tiny,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De little pickaninny's gone to sleep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Closed his little eyes so bright an' shiny.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hush! an' w'en you walk across de flo'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Step across it very sof' an' slow.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De shadders all aroun' begin to creep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De little pickaninny's gone to sleep.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Mandy, w'at's de matter wid dat chile?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Keeps a-sighin' ev'y little w'ile;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seems to me I heayhd him sorter groan,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lord! his little han's am col' as stone!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'at's dat far-off light dat's in his eyes?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dat's a light dey's borrow'd f'om de skies;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fol' his little han's across his breas',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let de little pickaninny res'.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_RIVALS" id="THE_RIVALS"></a>THE RIVALS</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Look heah! Is I evah tole you 'bout de curious way I won<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Anna Liza? Say, I nevah? Well heah's how de thing wuz done.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lize, you know, wuz mighty purty—dat's been forty yeahs ago—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'N 'cos to look at her dis minit, you might'n spose dat it wuz so.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">She wuz jes de greates' 'traction in de county, 'n bless de lam'!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Eveh darkey wuz a-co'tin, but it lay 'twix me an' Sam.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You know Sam. We both wuz wukin' on de ole John Tompkin's place.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'N evehbody wuz a-watchin' t'see who's gwine to win de race.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hee! hee! hee! Now you mus' raley 'scuse me fu' dis snickering,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But I jes can't he'p f'om laffin' eveh time I tells dis thing.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ez I wuz a-sayin', me an' Sam wuked daily side by side,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He a-studyin', me a-studyin', how to win Lize fu' a bride.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Well, de race was kinder equal, Lize wuz sorter on de fence;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sam he had de mostes dollars, an' I had de mostes sense.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Things dey run along 'bout eben tel der come Big Meetin' day;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sam den thought, to win Miss Liza, he had foun' de shoest way.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' you talk about big meetin's! None been like it 'fore nor sence;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Der wuz sich a crowd o' people dat we had to put up tents.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Der wuz preachers f'om de Eas', an' 'der wuz preachers f'om de Wes';<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Folks had kilt mos' eveh chicken, an' wuz fattenin' up de res'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Gals had all got new w'ite dresses, an' bought ribbens fu' der hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fixin' fu' de openin' Sunday, prayin' dat de day'd be fair.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dat de Reveren' Jasper Jones of Mount Moriah, it wuz 'low'd,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wuz to preach de openin' sermon; so you know der wuz a crowd.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Fu' dat man wuz sho a preacher; had a voice jes like a bull;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So der ain't no use in sayin' dat de meetin' house wuz full.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Folks wuz der f'om Big Pine Hollow, some come 'way f'om Muddy Creek,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Some come jes to stay fu' Sunday, but de crowd stay'd thoo de week.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Some come ridin' in top-buggies wid de w'eels all painted red,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pulled by mules dat run like rabbits, each one tryin' to git ahead.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Othah po'rer folks come drivin' mules dat leaned up 'ginst de shaf',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hitched to broke-down, creaky wagons dat looked like dey'd drap in half.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But de bigges' crowd come walkin', wid der new shoes on der backs;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Scuse wuz dat dey couldn't weah em 'cause de heels wuz full o' tacks.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Fact is, it's a job for Job, a-trudgin' in de sun an' heat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down a long an' dusty clay road wid yo' shoes packed full o' feet.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Cose dey stopt an' put dem shoes on w'en dey got mos' to de do';<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Den dey had to grin an' bear it; dat tuk good religion sho.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But I mos' forgot ma story,—well at las' dat Sunday came<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And it seemed dat evehbody, blin' an' deef, an' halt an' lame,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wuz out in de grove a-waitin' fu' de meetin' to begin;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ef dat crowd had got converted 'twould a been de end o' sin.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lize wuz der in all her glory, purty ez a big sunflowah,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I kin 'member how she looked jes same ez 'twuz dis ve'y houah.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But to make ma story shorter, w'ile we wuz a-waitin' der,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down de road we spied a cloud o' dus' dat filled up all de air.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' ez we kep' on a-lookin', out f'om 'mongst dat ve'y cloud,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sam, on Marse John's big mule, Cæsar, rode right slam up in de crowd.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">You jes oughtah seed dat darkey, 'clar I like tah loss ma bref;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fu' to use a common 'spression, he wuz 'bout nigh dressed to def.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He had slipped to town dat Sat'day, didn't let nobody know,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' had car'yd all his cash an' lef it in de dry goods sto'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He had on a bran' new suit o' sto'-bought clo'es, a high plug hat;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He looked 'zactly like a gen'man, tain't no use d'nyin' dat.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en he got down off dat mule an' bowed to Liza I could see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How she looked at him so 'dmirin', an' jes kinder glanced at me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Den I know'd to win dat gal, I sho would need some othah means<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Sides a-hangin' 'round big meetin' in a suit o' homespun jeans.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en dey blow'd de ho'n fu' preachin', an' de crowd all went inside,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I jes felt ez doh I'd like tah go off in de woods an' hide.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So I stay'd outside de meetin', set'n underneat' de trees,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seemed to me I sot der ages, wid ma elbows on ma knees.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en dey sung dat hymn, "Nobody knows de trouble dat I see,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seem'd to me dat dey wuz singin' eveh word o' it fu' me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Jes how long I might ha' sot der, actin' like a cussed fool,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I don't know, but it jes happen'd dat I look'd an' saw Sam's mule.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' de thought come slowly tricklin' thoo ma brain right der an' den,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dat, perhaps, wid some persuasion, I could make dat mule ma fren'.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' I jes kep' on a-thinkin', an' I kep' a-lookin' 'roun',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tel I spied two great big san' spurs right close by me on de groun'.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Well, I took dem spurs an' put em underneat' o' Cæsar's saddle,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So dey'd press down in his backbone soon ez Sam had got a-straddle.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Twuz a pretty ticklish job, an' jes ez soon ez it wuz done,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I went back w'ere I wuz set'n fu' to wait an' see de fun.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Purty soon heah come de people, jes a-swa'min' out de do',<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Talkin' 'bout de "pow'ful sermon"—"nevah heah'd de likes befo'."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">How de "monahs fell convicted" jes de same ez lumps o' lead,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How dat some wuz still a-layin' same es if dey'd been struck dead.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' to rectly heah come Liza, Sam a-strollin' by her side,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' it seem'd to me dat darky's smile wuz 'bout twelve inches wide.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Look to me like he had swelled up to 'bout twice his natchul size,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' I heah'd him say, "I'd like to be yo' 'scort to-night, Miss Lize."<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Den he made a bow jes like he's gwine to make a speech in school,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' walk'd jes ez proud ez Marse John over to untie his mule,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'en Sam's foot fust touched de stirrup he know'd der wuz sump'n wrong;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Cuz de mule begin to tremble an' to sorter side along.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wen Sam raised his weight to mount him, Cæsar bristled up his ear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en Sam sot down in de saddle, den dat mule cummenced to rear.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">An' he reared an' pitched an' caper'd, only ez a mule kin pitch,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tel he flung Sam clean f'om off him, landed him squar' in a ditch.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wen dat darky riz, well raly, I felt kinder bad fu' him;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He had bust dem cheap sto' britches f'om de center to de rim.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">All de plug hat dat wuz lef' him wuz de brim aroun' his neck,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Smear'd wid mud f'om top to bottom, well, he wuz a sight, I 'speck.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wuz de folks a-laffin'? Well, su', I jes sholy thought dey'd bus';<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wuz Sam laffin'? 'Twuz de fus' time dat I evah heah'd him cuss.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">W'ile Sam slink'd off thoo de backwoods I walk'd slowly home wid Lize,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">W'en I axed her jes one question der wuz sump'n in her eyes<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Made me know der wuz no need o' any answer bein' said,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' I felt jes like de whole world wuz a-spinnin' 'roun' ma head.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So I said, "Lize, w'en we marry, mus' I weah some sto'-bought clo'es?"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She says, "Jeans is good enough fu' any po' folks, heaben knows!"<br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>If homely virtues draw from me a tune</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>In happy jingle or a half-sad croon;</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Or if the smoldering future should inspire</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>My hand to strike the seer's prophetic lyre;</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Or if injustice, brutishness and wrong</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Should make a blasting trumpet of my song;</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>O God, give beauty and strength—truth to my words,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Oh, may they fall like sweetly cadenced chords,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Or burn like beacon fires from out the dark,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Or speed like arrows, swift and sure, to the mark.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Fifty years & Other Poems, by James Weldon Johnson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTY YEARS & OTHER POEMS *** + +***** This file should be named 17884-h.htm or 17884-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/8/8/17884/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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