The sweetest charm of all the earth
 Came into being with her birth.
 All that without her we would lack
 She is in purity and black.
The pansy and the violet,
 The dark of all the flowers met
 And gave their wealth of color in
 The sable beauty of her skin.
Glad winds of evening are her face,
 Gentle with love and rich in grace;
 The blazing splendors of her eyes
 Are jewels from the midnight skies.
Her hair—the darkness caught and curled,
 The ancient wonder of the world—
 Seems, in its strange, uncertain length,
 A constant crown of queenly strength.
Her smile, it is the rising moon,
 The waking of a night in June;
 Her teeth are tips of white, they gleam
 Like starlight in a happy dream.
Her laughter is a Christmas bell
 Of “peace on earth and all is well!”
 Her voice—it is the dearest part
 Of all the glory in her heart.
The height of joy, the deep of tears,
 The surging passion of the years,
 The mystery and dark of things,
 We feel their meanings when she sings.
Her thoughts are pure and every one
 But makes her good to look upon.
 Daughter of God! you are divine,
 O, Ebon Maid and Girl of Mine!
 Lucian B. Watkins.

I will conclude this section with a very well rhymed tribute to two Negro bards between whom there was a friendship and a correspondence similar to that which existed between Burns and Lapraik. The writer, James Edgar French, was a native of Kentucky, studied for the ministry, and died early:

DUNBAR AND COTTER

Dunbar and Cotter! foster-brothers, ye,
 Nurst at the breast of heav’nly minstrelsy!
 The first two Negroes who have dared to climb
 Parnassus’ mount, and carve your names in rhyme;
 Who, over icy walls of prejudice,
 Where twice ten thousand gorgon monsters hiss,
 Did scale the peak and make the steep ascent;
 For which great feat ye had small precedent.
 There were who said: “The Negro is not fit
 To write good prose, much less to rhyme with wit”;
 That nothing ever Negroes could inspire
 With Spenser’s fancy or with Shakespere’s fire:
 With Dryden’s vigor, with the ease of Pope,
 To weave the iambic pentametric rope,
 But ye, immortal sons of Afric, ye
 Have proved these charges gross absurdity;
 That old Dame Nature’s no respecter in
 Regard to person or the hue of skin.
 Omnific God, at whose fiatic hand
 Did primogenial light deluge the land;
 Whose word supreme did out of chaos draw
 A world, and order made its guiding law,
 Bequeath’d like talents to the black and white;
 To read form’d some and others made to write;
 To govern these, and those to governed be,
 And you, great twain, endued with poesy!
 James Edgar French.

II. Commemorative and Occasional

From this body of Negro verse which I have been describing and giving specimens of may be selected pieces commemorative of days and seasons that are quite up to the standard of similar pieces provided for white children in their school-readers. These selections will further illustrate the variety of themes and emotional responses in this body of contemporary verse.

The first selection hardly needs any allowance to be made for it, I think, on the score that it was written by a girl only sixteen years of age:

CHRISTMAS CHEER

’Tis Christmas time! ’Tis Christmas time!
 Dear hallowed name of every clime!
 How each one’s heart now happy feels,
 How each one’s face fresh joy reveals
 As Christmas Day is drawing near
 The merriest day of all the year!
Old spite and hate, the scowl, the sneer
 Are vanquished, all, by kindly cheer,
 And friendships nigh forgot and cold
 Glow warm again as once of old.
 Man’s worries cease, his hope returns,
 His breast with love now brighter burns;
 So, Christmas cheer! Oh, Christmas cheer!
 A hearty welcome to you here.
A welcome through the world where trod
 The source of joy, the Son of God,
 The Lowly One who from above
 First warmed cold earth with gladsome love:
 Who still proclaims with golden voice,
 “Peace on earth! Rejoice! Rejoice!”
 Corinne E. Lewis.

If the reader is disposed to make comparisons he might recall, without very great detriment to the following poem, Tennyson’s famous stanzas on the same theme. It is in the effective manner of the poems already given from its author:

GOODBYE OLD YEAR

Goodbye, Old Year. Here comes New.
 You’ve done wonders; now you’re through;
 Adding wisdom to the ages,
 Making history’s best pages;
 Rest and slumber with the sages.
 Good-bye, Old Year. Welcome, New.
Goodbye, Old Year. Welcome, New.
 Off with false hopes; on with true.
 Nations raise a mighty chorus,
 Rich intoning, grand, sonorous,
 Blithe and gladsome, sad, dolorous;
 Goodbye, Old Year. Welcome, New.
 Off with false hopes. On with true.
Goodbye, Old Year. Hail the New.
 Goodbye, hatreds. Wrongs, adieu.
 Down Life’s lane, with high or lowly,
 Weak, or strong, sin-cursed, or holy,
 Time is reaping—trudging slowly.
 Goodbye, Old Year. Hail the New.
 Goodbye, hatreds. Wrongs, adieu.
Goodbye, Old Year. Come in, New.
 Stout hearts look for light to you.
 Rising hopes new scenes are staging;
 Brotherhood our thoughts engaging.
 Dreams of Peace hide battle raging.
 Goodbye, Old Year. Come in, New.
 Stout hearts fondly look to you.
 Joshua Henry Jones, Jr.

The remainder of the series will be given without comment:

THE MONTHS

January

To herald in another year,
 With rhythmic note the snowflakes fall
 Silently from their crystal courts,
 To answer Winter’s call.
 Wake, mortal! Time is winged anew!
 Call Love and Hope and Faith to fill
 The chambers of thy soul to-day;
 Life hath its blessings still!

February

The icicles upon the pane
 Are busy architects; they leave
 What temples and what chiseled forms
 Of leaf and flower! Then believe
 That though the woods be brown and bare,
 And sunbeams peep through cloudy veils,
 Though tempests howl through leaden skies,
 The springtime never fails!

March

Robin! Robin! call the Springtime!
 March is halting on his way;
 Hear the gusts. What! snowflakes falling!
 Look not for the grass to-day.
 Ay, the wind will frisk and play,
 And we cannot say it nay.

April

She trips across the meadows,
 The weird, capricious elf!
 The buds unfold their perfumed cups
 For love of her sweet self;
 And silver-throated birds begin to tune their lyres,
 While wind-harps lend their strains to Nature’s magic choirs.

May

Sweet, winsome May, coy, pensive, fay,
 Comes garlanded with lily-bells,
 And apple blooms shed incense through the bow’r,
 To be her dow’r;
 While through the leafy dells
 A wondrous concert swells
 To welcome May, the dainty fay.

June

Roses, roses, roses,
 Creamy, fragrant, dewy!
 See the rainbow shower!
 Was there e’er so sweet a flower?
 I’m the rose-nymph, June they call me.
 Sunset’s blush is not more fair
 Than the gift of bloom so rare,
 Mortal, that I bring to thee!

July

Sunshine and shadow play amid the trees
 In bosky groves, while from the vivid sky
 The sun’s gold arrows fleck the fields at noon,
 Where weary cattle to their slumber hie.
 How sweet the music of the purling rill,
 Trickling adown the grassy hill!
 While dreamy fancies come to give repose
 When the first star of evening glows.

August

Haste to the mighty ocean,
 List to the lapsing waves;
 With what a strange commotion
 They seek their coral caves.
 From heat and turmoil let us oft return,
 The ocean’s solemn majesty to learn.

September

With what a gentle sound
 The autumn leaves drop to the ground;
 The many-colored dyes,
 They greet our watching eyes.
 Rosy and russet, how they fall!
 Throwing o’er earth a leafy pall.

October

The mellow moon hangs golden in the sky,
 The vintage song is over, far and nigh
 A richer beauty Nature weareth now,
 And silently, in reverence we bow
 Before the forest altars, off’ring praise
 To Him who sweetness gives to all our days.

November

The leaves are sere,
 The woods are drear,
 The breeze, that erst so merrily did play,
 Naught giveth save a melancholy lay;
 Yet life’s great lessons do not fail
 E’en in November’s gale.

December

List! List! the sleigh bells peal across the snow;
 The frost’s sharp arrows touch the earth and lo!
 How diamond-bright the stars do scintillate
 When Night hath lit her lamps to Heaven’s gate.
 To the dim forest’s cloistered arches go,
 And seek the holly and the mistletoe;
 For soon the bells of Christmas-tide will ring
 To hail the Heavenly King!
 H. Cordelia Ray.

WHILE APRIL BREEZES BLOW

(A Song for Arbor Day.)

Come, let us plant a tree today—
 Forsake your book, forsake your play,
 Bring out the spade and hie away
 While April breezes blow.
Your life is young, and it should be
 As full of vigor as this tree,
 As fair, as upright and as free,
 While April breezes blow.
Come, let us plant a tree to stand
 Both fair and useful in the land,
 Supremely tall and nobly grand
 A strong and trusty oak.
Dig deep and let the long roots hold
 A firm embrace within the mold:
 And may your life in truth unfold
 A strong and trusty oak.
Come, let us plant a supple ash,
 A tree to bend when others crash,
 And stand when vivid lightnings flash,
 And clouds pour down the rain:
So while we plant we’ll learn to bend
 And hold our ground, tho’ storms descend
 Throughout our life, and lightnings rend,
 And clouds pour down the rain.
Then let us plant these trees between
 A graceful spruce in living green,
 That e’en in winter days is seen
 Like changeless springtime still:
And so may you as years go by,
 And winter comes and snowflakes fly,
 Be yet in heart, and mind and eye,
 Like changeless springtime still.
Bring out the spade and hie away,
 And let us plant a tree today
 While skies are bright and hearts are gay,
 And April breezes blow.
In other days ’neath April skies,
 Around this tree may joyful cries
 And happy children’s songs arise,
 While April breezes blow.
 D. T. Williamson.

A NATION’S GREATNESS

What makes a nation truly great?
 Not strength of arms, nor men of state,
 Nor vast domains, by conquest won,
 That knew not rise nor set of sun;
 Nor sophist’s schools, nor learned clan,
 Nor laws that bind the will of man,—
 For these have proved, in ages past,
 But futile dreams that could not last;
 And they that boast of such today,
 Are fallen, vanquished in the fray,
 Their glory mingled with the dust,
 Their archives stained with crime and lust;
 And all that breathed of pomp and pride,
 Like the untimely fig, has died.
 One thing, alone, restrains, exalts
 A nation and corrects its faults;
 One thing, alone, its life can crown
 And give its destiny renown.
 That nation, then, is truly great,
 That lives by love, and not by hate;
 That bends beneath the chastening rod,
 That owns the truth, and looks to God!
 Edwin Garnett Riley.

THANKSGIVING

My heart gives thanks for many things—
 For strength to labor day by day,
 For sleep that comes when darkness wings
 With evening up the eastern way.
 I give deep thanks that I’m at peace
 With kith and kin and neighbors, too;
 Dear Lord, for all last year’s increase,
 That helped me strive and hope and do.
My heart gives thanks for many things;
 I know not how to name them all.
 My soul is free from frets and stings,
 My mind from creed and doctrine’s thrall.
 For sun and stars, for flowers and streams,
 For work and hope and rest and play,
 For empty moments given to dreams—
 For these my heart gives thanks today.
 William Stanley Braithwaite.

I will conclude this anthology with a selection from our Madagascar poet, Andrea Razafkeriefo, which, in a happy strain, conveys a very good philosophy of life—which is especially the Afro-American’s:

RAINY DAYS

On rainy days I don’t despair,
 But slip into my rocking chair;
 With my old pipe and volume rare
 And wade in fiction deep.
 The pitter-patter of the rain
 Upon the roof and window pane
 Comes like a lullaby’s refrain,
 Till soon I’m fast asleep.
I’m grateful for the rainy days:
 ’Tis only then my fancy plays,
 And mem’ry wanders back and strays
 O’er paths I loved so dear.
 The lightning’s flash, the thunder’s peal
 Convinces me that God is real;
 And it’s a wondrous thing to feel
 That he is really near.

Of the manifold and immense significance of poetry as a form of spiritual expression the Negro American has lately become profoundly aware, as this presentation must amply reveal. Not only the industrial arts are the objects of his ambition, according to the far-looking doctrine of Tuskegee, but as well those arts which are born of and express the spiritual traits of mankind, the fine arts—music, painting, sculpture, dramatics, and poetry. In them all the Negro is winning distinction. In consequence it would seem that there must dawn upon us, shaped by the poems of this collection, a new vision of the Negro and a new appreciation of his spiritual qualities, his human character. A profounder human sympathy with a greatly hampered, handicapped, and humiliated people must also ensue from such considerations as these poems will induce. One of the poets here represented cries out, as if from a calvary, “We come slow-struggling up the hills of Hell.” Another, in milder but not less appealing tone, cries: “We climb the slopes of life with throbbing hearts.”

This appeal, expressed or implicit throughout the entire range of present-day Negro verse, an appeal sometimes angrily, sometimes plaintively uttered, an appeal to mankind for fundamental justice and for human fellowship on the broad basis of kinship of spirit, may fittingly be the final note of this anthology:

We climb the slopes of life with throbbing hearts.

 

 

INDEX OF AUTHORS

INDEX OF AUTHORS INDEX OF AUTHORS, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Allen, J. Mord.—Born, Montgomery, Ala., March 26, 1875. Schooling ceased in the middle of high-school. Since seventeen years of age a boiler-maker. Home, St. Louis, Mo. Authorship: Rhymes, Tales and Rhymed Tales, Crane and Company, Topeka, Kas., 1906. 48-50, 223-226.

Allen, Winston.—230.

Bailey, William Edgar.—Born, Salisbury, Mo. Educated in the Salisbury public schools. Authorship: The Firstling, 1914. 65-67, 213-214.

Bell, James Madison.—Born, Gallipolis, Ohio, 1826. Educated in night schools after reaching manhood. Prominent anti-slavery orator, friend of John Browne. Poetical Works, with biography by Bishop B. W. Arnett, 1901. 32-37.

Braithwaite, William Stanley.—Born, Boston, Mass., 1878. Mainly self-educated. His three books of original verse are: Lyrics of Life and Love, 1904; The House of Falling Leaves, 1908; Sandy Star and Willie Gee, 1922. In Who’s Who. 105-109, 263.

Burrell, Benjamin Ebenezer.—Born, Manchester Mountains, Jamaica, 1892. Descended from Mandingo kings on his father’s side, and on his mother’s from Cromantees and Scotch. Contributor to The Crusader and other magazines. 249-250.

Carmichael, Waverley Turner.—Born, Snow Hill, Ala. Educated in the Snow Hill Institute and Harvard Summer School. Authorship: From the Heart of a Folk, The Cornhill Company, Boston, 1918. 53 219-220.

Clifford, Carrie W.—Born, Chillicothe, Ohio. Educated at Columbus, O. Has done much editorial and club work. Authorship: The Widening Light, Walter Reid Co., Boston, 1922. 240.

Conner, Charles H.—Born, Grafton, N. Y., 1864. Father, a slave who found freedom by way of the underground railway. Mainly self-educated. Worker in the ship-yards, Philadelphia. Authorship: The Enchanted Valley, published by himself, 1016 S. Cleveland Ave., Philadelphia, 1917; contributor to magazines. 209-213.

Corbett, Maurice Nathaniel.—Born, Yanceyville, N. C., 1859. Educated in the common schools and Shaw University. Served in North Carolina Legislature. Delegate to numerous political conventions. Clerk in Census Bureau, then in the Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., until stricken with paralysis in 1919. Authorship: The Harp of Ethiopia, Nashville, 1914. This is an epic poem of about 7,500 rhymed lines, narrating the entire history of the Negro in America. It is a noteworthy undertaking.

Corrothers, James David.—Born, Michigan, 1869. Educated at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., and at Bennett College, Greensboro, N. C., Minister of the Zion Methodist Episcopal Church. Died, 1919. Books: Selected Poems, 1907; The Dream and the Song, 1914. 37, 85-89.

Cotter, Joseph Seamon, Jr.—Born, Louisville, Ky., 1895. Died, 1919. Books: The Band of Gideon, Cornhill Company, 1918; another volume of poems now in press. 67-68, 70, 80-84.

Cotter, Joseph Seamon, Sr.—Born, Bardstown, Ky., 1861. Educated in Louisville night school (10 months). Now school principal in Louisville, member of many societies, author of several books: A Rhyming, 1895; Links of Friendship, 1898; Caleb, the Degenerate, 1903; A White Song and a Black One, 1909; Negro Tales, 1912. In Who’s Who. 52, 70-80, 220-221, 248-249.

Dandridge, Raymond Garfield.—Born, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1882. Educated in Cincinnati grammar and high schools. First devoted to drawing and painting until paralytic stroke, 1911. Authorship: The Poet and Other Poems, Cincinnati, 1920. 54, 169-173, 221-223.

Dett, R. Nathaniel.—Born of Virginia parents at Drummondsville, Ontario, Canada, October 11, 1882; studied in various colleges and conservatories in Canada and the United States. Director of music at Lane College, Mississippi, Lincoln Institute, Missouri, and at Hampton Institute, Virginia, his present position. 214-217.

DuBois, W. E. Burghardt.—Born, Great Barrington, Mass., 1868. Education: Fisk University, A. B.; Harvard, A. B., A. M., and Ph. D.; Berlin. Professor of economics and history in Atlanta University, 1896-1910. Now editor of The Crisis, New York, Books: The Souls of Black Folk, 1903; Darkwater, 1919, and numerous others. In Who’s Who. 201-205.

Dunbar, Paul Laurence.—1872-1906. 37, 38-48.

Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Ruth Moore (née).—Born, New Orleans, 1875. Education: in New Orleans public schools and Straight University, and later in several northern universities. Taught in New Orleans, Washington, and Brooklyn, and other cities. Married Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1898. At present Managing Editor of Philadelphia and Wilmington Advocate. Books: Violets and Other Tales, New Orleans, 1894; The Goodness of St. Rocque, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1899; Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence, 1913; The Dunbar Speaker and Entertainer, 1920. Contributor to numerous magazines. 144-148.

Dungee, Roscoe Riley.—58.

Este, Charles H.—57.

Fauset, Miss Jessie.—Born, Philadelphia. Education: A. B., Cornell, Phi Beta Kappa; A. M., University of Pennsylvania; student of the Guilde Internationale, Paris. Interpreter of the Second Pan-African Congress. Literary Editor of The Crisis. 160-162.

Fenner, John J., Jr.—245.

Fisher, Leland Milton.—Born, Humboldt, Tenn., 1875. Died, under thirty years of age, at Evansville, Ind., where he edited a newspaper. Left behind an unpublished volume of poems. 189-190.

Fleming, Mrs. Sarah Lee Brown.—Clouds and Sunshine, The Cornhill Company, Boston, 1920.

French, James Edgar.—Born in Kentucky, studied for the ministry, died young. 253-254.

Grimké, Miss Angelina Weld.—Born, Boston, Mass., 1880. Educated in various schools of several states, including the Girls’ Latin School of Boston and the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics. Now teacher of English in the Dunbar High School, Washington, D. C. Authorship: Rachel, a prose drama, Cornhill Co., Boston, 1921; poems and short stories uncollected. 152-156.

Grimké, Mrs. Charlotte Forten.—Born, Philadelphia, 1837 (née Forten). Educated in the Normal School at Salem, Mass. She was a contributor to various magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly and The New England Magazine. Poems uncollected. 155-156.

Hammon, Jupiter.—Born, c. 1720. “The first member of the Negro race to write and publish poetry in this country.” Extant poems: An Evening Thought, 1760; An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley, 1778; A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death, 1782; The Kind Master and the Dutiful Servant (date unknown.) These are included in Oscar Wegelin’s Jupiter Hammon, American Negro Poet, New York, 1915. 20-21, 23.

Hammond, Mrs. J. W.—Home, Omaha, Neb. Occupation: Trained nurse. 142-144.

Harper, Mrs. Frances Ellen Watkins (née).—Born, Baltimore, Md., of free parents, 1825. Died, Philadelphia, 1911. Educated in a school in Baltimore for free colored children, and by her uncle, William Watkins. Married Fenton Harper, 1860. From about 1851 devoted herself to the cause of freedom for the slaves. Authorship: Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, Philadelphia, 1857; Poems, Philadelphia, 1900. 26-32.

Harris, Leon R.—Born, Cambridge, Ohio, 1886. First years spent in an orphanage, where he got the rudiments of education. Then was farmed out in Kentucky. Running off, he made his way to Berea College and later to Tuskegee, getting two or three terms at each. Now editor of the Richmond (Indiana) Blade. Authorship: numerous short stories in magazines; The Steel Makers and Other War Poems (pamphlet), 1918. 63-64, 180-184.

Hawkins, Walter Everette.—Born, Warrenton, N. C., 1886. Educated in public schools. Since 1913 in the city post-office of Washington D. C. Authorship: Chords and Discords, Richard G. Badger, Boston, 1920. 62, 119, 126, 234-235, 240.

Hill, Leslie Pinckney.—Born, Lynchburg, Va., 1880. B. A. and M. A. of Harvard. Teacher at Tuskegee; formerly principal of Manassas (Va.) Industrial School; now principal of Cheyney (Pa.) State Normal School. Authorship: The Wings of Oppression, The Stratford Company, Boston, 1921. 52, 131-138.

Horton, George M.—Born, North Carolina. Authorship: Poems by a Slave, 1829. Poetical Works, 1845. Several volumes from 1829 to 1865. 25.

Hughes, James C.—187-189.

Hughes, Langston.—Born, Joplin, Mo., February 1, 1902. Ancestry, Negro and Indian; grand-nephew of Congressman John M. Langston. Education: High School, Cleveland, O., one year at Columbia University; traveled in Mexico and Central America. Contributor to magazines. Home, Jones’s Point, N. Y. Contributor to The Crisis. 199-201.

Jamison, Roscoe C.—Born, Winchester, Tenn., 1886; died at Phœnix, Ariz., 1918. Educated at Fisk University. Authorship: Negro Soldiers and Other Poems, William F. McNeil, South St. Joseph, Mo., 1918. 191-195.

Jessye, Miss Eva Alberta.—Born, Coffeyville, Kan., 1897. Educated in the public schools of several western states; graduated from Western University, 1914. Director of music in Morgan College, Baltimore, 1919. Now teacher of piano, Muskogee, Okla. 68-69, 139-142.

Johnson, Adolphus.—The Silver Chord, Philadelphia, 1915. 104-105.

Johnson, Charles Bertram.—Born, Callao, Mo., 1880. Educated at Western College, Macon, Mo.; two summers at Lincoln Institute; correspondence courses, and a term in the University of Chicago. Educator and preacher. Authorship: Wind Whisperings (a pamphlet), 1900; The Mantle of Dunbar and Other Poems (a pamphlet), 1918; Songs of My People, 1918. Home, Moberly, Mo. 52, 63, 95-99.

Johnson, Fenton.—Born, Chicago, 1888. Educated in the public schools and University of Chicago. Authorship: A Little Dreaming, Chicago, 1914; Visions of the Dusk, New York, 1915. Songs of the Soil, New York, 1916. Editor of The Favorite Magazine, Chicago. 64-65, 99-103.

Johnson, Mrs. Georgia Douglas.—Born, Atlanta, Ga. Educated at Atlanta University, and in music at Oberlin. Home, Washington, D. C. Books: The Heart of a Woman, the Cornhill Co., Boston, 1918; Bronze, B. J. Brimmer Co., Boston, 1922. 61, 148-152, 232-233, 249.

Johnson, James Weldon.—Born, Jacksonville, Fla., 1871. Educated at Atlanta and Columbia Universities. United States consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Author of numerous works. Original verse: Fifty Years and Other Poems, the Cornhill Company, Boston, 1917. In Who’s Who. 54, 90-95, 226-227, 235-236.

Johnson, Mrs. Mae Smith (née).—Born, Alexandria, Va., 1890. Now Secretary at the Good Samaritan Orphanage, Newark, N. J. Contributor of verse to papers and magazines. The grandmother of the poet escaped from slavery in Virginia. She lived to be ninety-two years old. 57, 251-252.

Jones, Edward Smythe.—Authorship: The Sylvan Cabin and Other Verse, Sherman, French & Co., Boston, 1911. 163-169.

Jones, Joshua Henry, Jr.—Born, Orangeburg, S. C., 1876. Educated Central High School, Columbus, O., Ohio State University, Yale, and Brown. Has served on the editorial staffs of the Providence News, The Worcester Evening Post, Boston Daily Advertiser and Boston Post. At present he is on the staff of the Boston Telegram. Authorship: The Heart of the World, the Stratford Company, Boston, 1919; Poems of the Four Seas, the Cornhill Company, Boston, 1921. 113-119, 234, 256-257.

Jones, Tilford.—231-232.

Jordan, W. Clarence.—190-191.

Jordan, Winifred Virginia.—Contributor to The Crisis. 56.

Lee, Mary Effie.—Contributor to The Crisis. 56.

Lewis, Corinne E.—Student in the Dunbar High School, Washington, D. C. 255.

Lewis, Ethyl.—60-61.

McClellan, George Marion.—Born, Belfast, Tenn., 1860. Educated at Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., of which he became financial agent. Later, principal of the Paul Dunbar School, Louisville, Ky. Authorship: The Path of Dreams, John P. Morton, Louisville, Ky., 1916. 55, 173-179, 246-247.

McKay, Claude.—Born, Jamaica, 1889. Has resided in the United States ten or eleven years. Till lately on the editorial staff of the Liberator. Books: Constab Ballads, London, 1912; Spring in New Hampshire, London, 1920. 126-131, 241-242, 244.

Margetson, George Reginald.—Born, 1877, at St. Kitts, B. W. I. 109-111.

Means, Sterling M.—Authorship: The Deserted Cabin and Other Poems, A. B. Caldwell, publisher, Atlanta, 1915. 222-223.

Miller, Kelly.—Born, Winsboro, S. C., 1863. Educated at Howard and Johns Hopkins Universities. Degrees: A. M. and LL. D. Professor and dean in Howard University. Books: Race Adjustment, 1904; Out of the House of Bondage, Neale Publishing Co., New York, 1914. In Who’s Who. 206-209.

Moore, William.—Contributor to The Favorite Magazine. 111-112.

Ray, H. Cordelia.—Authorship: Poems, The Grafton Press, New York, 1910. 257-260.

Razafkeriefo, Andrea.—Born, Washington, D. C., 1895, of Afro-American mother and Madagascaran father. Educated only in public elementary school. Regular verse contributor to The Crusader and The Negro World. 197-198, 247-248, 263-264.

Reason, Charles L.—Born in New York in 1818. Professor at New York Central College in New York and head of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia. Authorship: Freedom, New York, 1847. 23-24.

Riley, Edwin Garnett.—Contributor to many newspapers and magazines. 262.

Sexton, Will.—Contributor to magazines. 197, 233-234.

Shackelford, Otis.—Educated at Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City, Mo. Authorship: Seeking the Best (prose and verse). The verse part of this volume contains a poem of some 500 lines entitled “Bits of History in Verse, or A Dream of Freedom Realized,” modeled on Hiawatha.

Shackelford, Theodore Henry.—Born, Windsor Canada, 1888. Grandparents were slaves in southern states. At twelve years of age had had only three terms of school. At twenty-one entered the Industrial Training School, Downington, Pa., and graduated four years later. Studied a while at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Authorship: My Country and Other Poems, Philadelphia, 1918. Died, Jamaica, N. Y., February 5, 1923. 228.

Spencer, Mrs. Anne.—Born, Bramwell, W. Va., 1882. Educated at the Virginia Seminary, Lynchburg, Va. Contributor to The Crisis. 156-159.

Underhill, Irvin W.—Born, Port Clinton, Pa., May 1, 1868. In boyhood, with irregular schooling, assisted his father, who was captain of a canal boat. At the age of 37 suddenly lost his sight. Author of Daddy’s Love and Other Poems, Philadelphia. Home, Philadelphia. 184-187.

Watkins, Lucian B.—Born, Chesterfield, Virginia, 1879. Educated in public schools of Chesterfield, and at the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute, Petersburg. First teacher, then soldier. Books: Voices of Solitude, 1907, Donohue & Co., Chicago; Whispering Winds, in manuscript. Died, 1921. 59, 236-239, 252-253.

Watson, Adeline Carter.—232.

Wheatley, Phillis.—Born in Africa, 1753. Brought as a slave to Boston, where she died in 1784. Many editions of her poems in her lifetime. Poems and Letters, New York, 1916. 23-24.

Wiggins, Lida Keck.—Authorship: The Life and Works of Paul Laurence Dunbar, J. L. Nichols & Company, Naperville, Ill. 41.

Whitman, Albery A.—Born in Kentucky in 1857. Began life as a Methodist minister. Authorship: The Rape of Florida, Not a Man and Yet a Man, and Twasnita’s Seminoles. 32, 35-36.

Williamson, D. T.—260-261.

Wilson, Charles P.—Born in Iowa of Kentucky parents, 1885. Printer and theatrical performer. 179-180.

 

 

INDEX OF TITLES

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, V, W, Y.

 PAGE
Apology for Wayward Jim.—James C. Hughes,188
Ask Me Why I Love You.—W. E. Hawkins,125
A Song.—Roscoe C. Jamison,193
As the Old Year Passed.—William Moore,112
At the Closed Gate of Justice.—J. D. Corrothers,88
At the Carnival.—Mrs. Anne Spencer,158
At Niagara.—R. Nathaniel Dett,216
At the Spring Dawn.—Miss Angelina W. Grimké,154
Autumn Sadness.—W. S. Braithwaite,108
Band of Gideon, The.—Joseph S. Cotter, Jr.,83
Black Mammy, The.—J. W. Johnson,236
Black Violinist, The.—Winston Allen,230
Bomb Thrower, The.—Will Sexton,197
Boy and the Ideal, The.—Joseph S. Cotter, Sr.,74
Brothers.—J. H. Jones, Jr.,118
Castles in the Air.—Roscoe C. Jamison,193
Christmas Cheer.—Miss Corinne E. Lewis,255
Chicken in the Bread Tray.—Folk Song,15
Compensation.—Joseph S. Cotter, Jr.,82
Counting Out.—J. Mord Allen,48
Credo.—W. E. Hawkins,119
Dawn.—Miss Angelina W. Grimké,153
Daybreak.—G. M. McClellan,246
Death of Justice, The.—W. E. Hawkins,123
De Innah Part.—R. G. Dandridge,221
Don’t-Care Negro, The.—Joseph S. Cotter, Sr.,220
Dream and the Song, The.—J. D. Corrothers,85
Dreams of the Dreamer, The.—Mrs. Georgia Douglas Johnson,148
Dunbar.—J. D. Corrothers,37
Dunbar and Cotter.—J. E. French,253
Easter Message, An.—Mrs. Carrie W. Clifford,240
Ebon Maid.—L. B. Watkins,252
Edict, The.—Roscoe C. Jamison,194
El Beso.—Miss Angelina W. Grimké,154
Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes.—Paul Laurence Dunbar,41
Eternity.—R. G. Dandridge,172
Expectancy.—William Moore,112
Facts.—R. G. Dandridge,172
Fattening Frogs for Snakes.—Folk Song,117
Feet of Judas, The.—G. M. McClellan,177
Flag of the Free.—E. W. Jones,167
For You Sweetheart.—L. M. Fisher,189
Foscati.—W. S. Braithwaite,108
Goodbye, Old Year.—J. H. Jones, Jr.,256
Harlem Dancer, The.—Claude McKay,128
Heart of the World, The.—J. H. Jones, Jr.,117
Hero of the Road.—W. E. Hawkins,122
Hills of Sewanee, The.—G. M. McClellan,176
Hopelessness.—Roscoe C. Jamison,195
If We Must Die.—Claude McKay,241
In Bondage.—Claude McKay,129
In Memory of Katie Reynolds.—G. M. McClellan,178
In Spite of Death.—W. E. Hawkins,62
In the Heart of a Rose.—G. M. McClellan,54
I Played on David’s Harp.—Fenton Johnson,65
I See and Am Satisfied.—Kelly Miller,207
I Sit and Sew.—Mrs. Alice Dunbar-Nelson,145
It’s All Through Life.—W. T. Carmichael,53
It’s a Long Way.—W. S. Braithwaite,106
I’ve Loved and Lost.—L. B. Watkins,237
Juba.—Folk Song,16
Life.—Paul Laurence Dunbar,43
Life of the Spirit, The.—Charles H. Conner,210
Light of Victory.—George Reginald Margetson,110
Lights at Carney’s Point, The.—Mrs. Alice Dunbar-Nelson,146
Litany of Atlanta, A.—W. E. B. DuBois,202
Loneliness.—Miss Winifred Virginia Jordan,56
Lynching, The.—Claude McKay,128
Mammy’s Baby Scared.—W. T. Carmichael,219
Mater Dolorosa.—L. P. Hill,134
Message to the Modern Pharaohs.—L. B. Watkins,239
Months, The.—Miss H. Cordelia Ray,257
Mother, The.—Mrs. Georgia Douglas Johnson,249
My Lady’s Lips.—J. W. Johnson,226
My People.—C. B. Johnson,95
Mulatto’s Song, The.—Fenton Johnson,101
Mulatto to His Critics, The.—Joseph S. Cotter, Jr.,67
Nation’s Greatness, A.—Edwin G. Riley,262
Negro, The.—Langston Hughes,200
Negro, The.—Claude McKay,244
Negro Child, The.—Joseph S. Cotter, Sr.,248
Negro Church, The.—Andrea Razafkeriefo,198
Negro Woman, The.—Andrea Razafkeriefo,247
Negro Singer, The.—J. D. Corrothers,89
New Day, The.—Fenton Johnson,102
New Negro, The.—Will Sexton,197
New Negro, The.—L. B. Watkins,236
Octoroon, The.—Mrs. Georgia Douglas Johnson,151
Ode to Ethiopia.—Paul Laurence Dunbar,44
Oh, My Way and Thy Way.—Joseph S. Cotter, Sr.,81
Old Plantation Grave, The.—S. M. Means,222
Ole Deserted Cabin, De.—S. M. Means,223
Old Friends.—C. B. Johnson,97
Old Jim Crow.—Anonymous,231
Optimist, The.—Mrs. J. W. Hammond,143
Oriflamme.—Miss Jessie Fauset,162
O Southland.—J. W. Johnson,92
Peace.—Mrs. Georgia Douglas Johnson,61
Plaint of the Factory Child, The.—Fenton Johnson,101
Poet, The.—R. G. Dandridge,170
Prayer of the Race That God Made Black, A.—L. B. Watkins,59
Psalm of the Uplift, The.—J. Mord Allen,50
Puppet-Player, The.—Miss Angelina W. Grimké,153
Rain Song, A.—C. B. Johnson,99
Rainy Days.—Andrea Razafkeriefo,263
Rain Music.—Joseph S. Cotter, Jr.,81
Rise! Young Negro—Rise!—John J. Fenner, Jr.,245
Sandy Star.—W. S. Braithwaite,106
Self-Determination.—L. P. Hill,137
She Hugged Me.—Folk Song,17
Singer, The.—Miss Eva A. Jessye,69
Slump, The.—W. E. Bailey,65
Smothered Fires.—Mrs. Georgia Douglas Johnson,150
Somebody’s Child.—Charles P. Wilson,179
So Much.—C. B. Johnson,98
Soul and Star.—C. B. Johnson,96
Southern Love Song, A.—J. H. Jones, Jr.,115
Spring in New Hampshire.—Claude McKay,127
Spring with the Teacher.—Miss Eva A. Jessye,139
Steel Makers, The.—Leon R. Harris,182
Sunset.—Miss Mary Effie Lee,56
Thanking God.—W. S. Braithwaite,109
Thanksgiving.—W. S. Braithwaite,262
The Flowers Take the Tears.—Joseph S. Cotter, Sr.,76
The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face.—J. W. Johnson,226
These Are My People.—Fenton Johnson,100
Threshing Floor, The.—Joseph S. Cotter, Sr.,75
Time to Die.—R. G. Dandridge,171
To——.—R. G. Dandridge,171
To a Negro Mother.—Ben E. Burrell,249
To America.—J. W. Johnson,53
To a Caged Canary....—L. P. Hill,136
To a Nobly-Gifted Singer.—L. P. Hill,137
To a Rosebud.—Miss Eva A. Jessye,141
To a Wild Rose.—W. E. Bailey,213
To Hollyhocks.—G. M. McClellan,176
To My Grandmother.—Mrs. Mae Smith Johnson,251
To My Lost Child.—Will Sexton,233
To My Neighbor Boy.—Mrs. J. W. Hammond,143
To My Son.—Mrs. Georgia Douglas Johnson,232
To Keep the Memory of Charlotte Forten Grimké.—Miss Angelina W. Grimké,155
To Our Boys.—Irvin W. Underhill,185
Truth.—Mrs. Frances E. W. Harper,28
Turn Out the Light.—J. H. Jones, Jr.,114
Vashti.—Mrs. Frances E. W. Harper,30
Victim of Microbes, A.—J. Mord Allen,224
Violets.—Mrs. Alice Dunbar-Nelson,55
Want of You, The.—Miss Angelina W. Grimké,154
We Wear the Mask.—Paul Laurence Dunbar,47
What Is the Negro Doing?—W. Clarence Jordan,190
What Need Have I for Memory?—Mrs. Georgia Douglas Johnson,149
While April Breezes Blow.—D. T. Williamson,260
Winter Twilight, A.—Miss Angelina W. Grimké,153
With the Lark.—Paul Laurence Dunbar,46
Young Warrior, The.—J. W. Johnson,94
Zalka Peetruza.—R. G. Dandridge,180