Classics - Short Édition - page 1 - all works

Classics

To a Rosebud

O dainty bud, I hold thee in my hand—
A castaway, a dead, a lifeless thing.
A few days since I saw thee, wet with dew,
A bud of promise to thy parent cling,
Now thou art crushed yet lovely ... [+]

Classics

19th Century African American Literature 1 min

The Optimist

J. W. Hammond

Who would have the sky any color but blue,
Or the grass any color but green?
Or the flowers that bloom the summer through
Of other color or sheen?

How the sunshine gladdens ... [+]

Classics

19th Century African American Literature 1 min

For Who?

Mary Weston Fordham

When the heavens with stars are gleaming
Like a diadem of light,
And the moon's pale rays are streaming,
Decking earth with radiance bright;
When the autumn's winds are sighing ... [+]

Classics

19th Century 20th Century African American Literature 1 min

I Cannot Sing

Edward Nathaniel Harleston

I cannot sing, because when a child,
My mother often hushed me.
The others she allowed to sing,
No matter what their melody.

And since I've grown to manhood
All music I ... [+]

Classics

19th Century 20th Century African American Literature 1 min

Morning on Shinnecock

Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

The rising sun had crowned the hills,
And added beauty to the plain;
O grand and wondrous spectacle!
That only nature could explain.

I stood within a leafy ... [+]

Classics

19th Century 20th Century African American Literature 1 min

Regret

Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

I said a thoughtless word one day,
A loved one heard and went away;
I cried: "Forgive me, I was blind;
I would not wound or be unkind."
I waited long, but all in vain,
To win my loved ... [+]

Classics

19th Century 20th Century African American Literature 1 min

The Plains of Peace

Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

Again my fancy takes its flight,
And soars away on thoughtful wing,
Again my soul thrills with delight,
And this the fancied theme, I sing,
From Earthly scenes awhile, I find release, ... [+]

Classics

19th Century 20th Century African American Literature 1 min

A Picture

Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

I drew a picture long ago—
A picture of a sullen sea;
A picture that I value now
Because it clears Life's mystery.

My sea was dark and full of gloom;
I painted rocks ... [+]

Classics

20th Century African American Literature 1 min

'Tis a noble gift to be brown, all brown, Like the strongest things that make up this earth, Like the mountains grave and grand, Even like the very land, Even like the trunks of trees— Even oaks ... [+]

Classics

20th Century African American Literature 1 min

Morning Light

Effie Lee Newsome

(The Dew-drier)

It is a custom in some parts of Africa for travelers into the jungles to send before them in the early morning little African boys called "Dew-driers" to brush with their bodies ... [+]

Classics

20th Century African American Literature 1 min

O Sea, That Knowest Thy Strength

Effie Lee Newsome

Hast thou been known to sing, O sea, that knowest thy strength? Hast thou been known to sing? Thy voice, can it rejoice? Naught save great sorrowing, To me, thy sounds incessant Do express ... [+]

Classics

20th Century African American Literature 1 min

Southern Mansion

Arna Bontemps

Poplars are standing there still as death
And ghosts of dead men
Meet their ladies walking
Two by two beneath the shade
And standing on the marble steps.

There is a sound of music ... [+]

A New Kind of Literary Pulse

A New Kind of Literary Pulse

To a Rosebud

The Optimist

For Who?

I Cannot Sing

Morning on Shinnecock

Regret

The Plains of Peace

A Picture

The Bronze Legacy

Morning Light

O Sea, That Knowest Thy Strength

Southern Mansion

To discover (again)