Category: American
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“After the Winter” by Claude McKay (1889–1948)
Some day, when trees have shed their leaves And against the morning’s white The shivering birds beneath the eaves Have sheltered for the night…,
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“Summer Holiday” by Robinson Jeffers (1887 – 1962)
When the sun shouts and people abound One thinks there were the ages of stone and the age of bronze
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“Autumn Movement” by Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967)
I cried over beautiful things knowing no beautiful thing lasts…
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“He Who Serves” by Edgar Albert Guest
He has not served who gathers gold, Nor has he served, whose life is told In selfish battles he has won, Or deeds of skill that he has done; But he has served who now and then Has helped along his fellow men. The world needs many men today; Red-blooded men along life’s way, With…
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“Ships That Pass In The Night” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing; I look far out into the pregnant night, Where I can hear a solemn booming gun And catch the gleaming of a random light, That tells me that the ship I seek is passing, passing. My tearful eyes my soul’s deep hurt are glassing; For…
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“Are you the new person drawn toward me?” by Walt Whitman
Are you the new person drawn toward me? To begin with, take warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose; Do you suppose you will find in me your ideal? Do you think it so easy to have me become your lover? Do you think the friendship of me would be unalloy’d satisfaction?…
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“A Clear Midnight” by Walt Whitman
This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless, Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done, Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best, Night, sleep, death and the stars.
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“A Noiseless Patient Spider” by Walt Whitman
A noiseless patient spider, I marked where on a promontory it stood isolated, Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, It launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them. And you O my soul where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space, Ceaselessly musing, venturing,…
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“A Grain of Sand” by Frances E. W. Harper
Do you see this grain of sand Lying loosely in my hand? Do you know to me it brought Just a simple loving thought? When one gazes night by night On the glorious stars of light, Oh how little seems the span Measured round the life of man. Oh! how fleeting are his years With…
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“Church Building” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Uncle Jacob often told us, Since freedom blessed our race We ought all to come together And build a meeting place. So we pinched, and scraped, and spared, A little here and there: Though our wages was but scanty, The church did get a share. And, when the house was finished, Uncle Jacob came to…
Stanza & Story 