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A Collection of Short Poems by African-American Poets and Authors
This assortment of shorter poems and sonnets includes:
Be sure and visit these other collections of short poems:
Christmas poems by Christina Rossetti A collection of Christmas Poems Easter Poems and Prose A collection of short poems by various writers Short poems and sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Short poems by Robert Browning Short poems by William Cullen Bryant Short poems by Emily Dickinson Short poems by Eugene Field Short poems by Oliver Wendell Holmes Short poems and sonnets by John Keats Short poems by Rudyard Kipling Short poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Short poems by James Russell Lowell Short poems and sonnets by John Milton Short poems by Edgar Allan Poe Short poems by James Whitcomb Riley Short poems and sonnets by Christina Rossetti Poems and ballads by Sir Walter Scott Valentine's Day poems by Christina Rossetti Short poems by Walt Whitman Short poems by John Greenleaf Whittier Short poems by William Wordsworth To see all available titles by other authors, drop by our index of free books alphabetized by author or arranged alphabetically by title. "And What Shall You Say?" by Joseph Seaman Cotter, Jr.
AND WHAT SHALL YOU SAY?
BY JOSEPH S. COTTER, JR.
Brother, come! And let us go unto our God. And when we stand before Him I shall say-- "Lord, I do not hate, I am hated. I scourge no one, I am scourged. I covet no lands, My lands are coveted. I mock no peoples, My people are mocked." And, brother, what shall you say? "The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face" by James Weldon Johnson
THE GLORY OF THE DAY WAS IN HER FACE
BY JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
The glory of the day was in her face, The beauty of the night was in her eyes. And over all her loveliness, the grace Of Morning blushing in the early skies. And in her voice, the calling of the dove; Like music of a sweet, melodious part. And in her smile, the breaking light of love; And all the gentle virtues in her heart. And now the glorious day, the beauteous night, The birds that signal to their mates at dawn, To my dull ears, to my tear-blinded sight Are one with all the dead, since she is gone. "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay
IF WE MUST DIE
BY CLAUDE McKAY
If we must die--let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! O Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe! Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! "The Lynching" by Claude McKay
THE LYNCHING
BY CLAUDE McKAY
His spirit in smoke ascended to high heaven. His father, by the crudest way of pain, Had bidden him to his bosom once again; The awful sin remained still unforgiven. All night a bright and solitary star (Perchance the one that ever guided him, Yet gave him up at last to Fate's wild whim) Hung pitifully o'er the swinging char. Day dawned, and soon the mixed crowds came to view The ghastly body swaying in the sun The women thronged to look, but never a one Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue; And little lads, lynchers that were to be, Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee. "Negro Woman" by Lewis Alexander
NEGRO WOMAN
BY LEWIS ALEXANDER
The sky hangs heavy tonight Like the hair of a Negro woman. The scars of the moon are curved Like the wrinkles on the brow of a Negro woman. The stars twinkle tonight Like the glaze in a Negro woman's eyes, Drinking the tears set flowing by an aging hurt Gnawing at her heart. The earth trembles tonight Like the quiver of a Negro woman's eye-lids cupping tears. "Nocturne Varial" by Lewis Alexander
NOCTURNE VARIAL
BY LEWIS ALEXANDER
I came as a shadow, I stand now a light; The depth of my darkness Transfigures your night. My soul is a nocturne Each note is a star; The light will not blind you So look where you are. The radiance is soothing. There's warmth in the light. I came as a shadow, To dazzle your night! "Sonnet" by Alice Dunbar Nelson
SONNET
BY ALICE DUNBAR NELSON
I had no thought of violets of late, The wild, shy kind that spring beneath your feet In wistful April days, when lovers mate And wander through the fields in raptures sweet. The thought of violets meant florists' shops, And bows and pins, and perfumed papers fine; And garish lights, and mincing little fops And cabarets and songs, and deadening wine. So far from sweet real things my thoughts had strayed, I had forgot wide fields, and clear brown streams; The perfect loveliness that God has made,-- Wild violets shy and Heaven-mounting dreams. And now--unwittingly, you've made me dream Of violets, and my soul's forgotten gleam. "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
SYMPATHY
BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals-- I know what the caged bird feels! I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting-- I know why he beats his wing! I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,-- When he beats his bars and would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings-- I know why the caged bird sings! "Time to Die" by Ray Garfield Dandridge
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TIME TO DIE
BY RAY G. DANDRIDGE
Black brother, think you life so sweet That you would live at any price? Does mere existence balance with The weight of your great sacrifice? Or can it be you fear the grave Enough to live and die a slave? O Brother! be it better said, When you are gone and tears are shed, That your death was the stepping stone Your children's children cross'd upon. Men have died that men might live: Look every foeman in the eye! If necessary, your life give For something, ere in vain you die. "To the White Fiends" by Claude McKay
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TO THE WHITE FIENDS
BY CLAUDE McKAY
Think you I am not fiend and savage too? Think you I could not arm me with a gun And shoot down ten of you for every one Of my black brothers murdered, burnt by you? Be not deceived, for every deed you do I could match--out-match: am I not Africa's son, Black of that black land where black deeds are done? But the Almighty from the darkness drew My soul and said: Even thou shalt be a light Awhile to burn on the benighted earth, Thy dusky face I set among the white For thee to prove thyself of highest worth; Before the world is swallowed up in night, To show thy little lamp: go forth, go forth! "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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WE WEAR THE MASK
BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-- This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask! "Zalka Peetruza" by Ray Garfield Dandridge
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ZALKA PEETRUZA
Who Was Christened Lucy Jane
BY RAY G. DANDRIDGE She danced, near nude, to tom-tom beat, With swaying arms and flying feet, 'Mid swirling spangles, gauze and lace, Her all was dancing--save her face. A conscience, dumb to brooding fears, Companioned hearing deaf to cheers; A body, marshalled by the will, Kept dancing while a heart stood still: And eyes obsessed with vacant stare, Looked over heads to empty air, As though they sought to find therein Redemption for a maiden sin. 'Twas thus, amid force driven grace, We found the lost look on her face; And then, to us, did it occur That, though we saw--we saw not her. If you find the above classic African-American poems useful, please link to this page from your webpage, blog or website. Alternatively, consider recommending us to your friends and colleagues. Thank you in advance! Website Copyright © 2005-2012 INTERNET ACCURACY PROJECT. BY ACCESSING THIS SITE YOU ARE STATING THAT YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS regardless of whether you reside in the United States of America or not. Our Privacy Policy. This page was last updated January 1,
2012.
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