Category: 19th century
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“Wordsworth” by Charlotte L. Forten Grimke (1837 – 1914)
“…The calm, more ardent singers cannot give; As in the glare intense of tropic days, Gladly we turn from the sun’s radiant beams, And grateful hail fair Luna’s tender light…”
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“The Misanthropist” by James Monroe Whitfield (1822 – 1871)
The Misanthropist BY JAMES MONROE WHITFIELD In vain thou bid’st me strike the lyre, And sing a song of mirth and glee, Or, kindling with poetic fire, Attempt some higher minstrelsy; In vain, in vain! for every thought That issues from this throbbing brain, Is from its first conception fraught With gloom and darkness, woe…
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“Liberty and Slavery” by George Moses Horton (1798 – 1884)
“…How long have I in bondage lain, And languished to be free! Alas! and must I still complain— Deprived of liberty…”
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“At the Closed Gates of Justice” by James D. Corrothers
“…To be a Negro in a day like this— Alas! Lord God, what evil have we done? Still shines the gate, all gold and amethyst, But I pass by, the glorious goal unwon, “Merely a Negro”—in a day like this!”
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“Sonnet” by Alice Dunbar- Nelson
“…The thought of violets meant florists’ shops, 5 And bows and pins, and perfumed papers fine; And garish lights, and mincing little fops…”
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“The Wife-Woman” by Anne Spencer
“We trekked into a far country, My friend and I. Our deeper content was never spoken, But each knew all the other said…”
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“Negro Seranade” by James Edwin Campbell
“…I’ll sing dis night twel broad day-light, Ur bu’s’ my froat wid tryin’, ’Less you come down, Miss ’Lindy Brown, 15 An’ stops dis ha’t f’um sighin’!”
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“And What Shall You Say?” by Joseph S. Cotter, Jr.
“Lord, I do not hate, I am hated. I scourge no one, I am scourged…”
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“To the White People of America” by Joshua McCarter Simpson (1820 – 1876)
“…Lo! Ten thousand steeples shining Through this mighty Christian land, While four millions slaves all pining And dying ‘neath the Tyrant’s hand…”
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“George Moses Horton, Myself” by George Moses Horton (1797? – 1883?)
George Moses Horton, Myself BY GEORGE MOSES HORTON I feel myself in need Of the inspiring strains of ancient lore, My heart to lift, my empty mind to feed, And all the world explore. I know that I am old And never can recover what is past, But for the future may some light unfold And…
Stanza & Story 