James Weldon Johnson

(A Warning)'Simmons ripenin' in de fall,
You better run,
Brudder 'Possum, run
Mockin' bird commence to call,

Seems lak to me de stars don't shine so bright,
Seems lak to me de sun done loss his light,
Seems lak to me der's nothin' goin' right,
Sence you went away

I dreamed that I was a
That grew beside a lonely way,
Close by a path none ever chose,
And there I lingered day by day

Look heah
'Splain to me de
Why you said to Squire Lee,
Der wuz twelve ole chicken

O brothers mine, to-day we
Where half a century sweeps our ken,
Since God, through Lincoln's ready hand,
Struck off our bonds and made us men

Skin as black an' jes as sof' as a velvet dress,
Teeth as white as ivory —well dey is I guess
Eyes dat's jes as big an' bright as de evenin' star;
An' dat hol' some sort o' light lublier by far

"She's built of
From deck to keel,
And bolted strong and tight;
In scorn she'll

The hand of Fate cannot be stayed, The course of Fate cannot be steered, By all the gods that man has made, Nor all the devils he has feared, Not by the prayers that might be prayed In all the temples he has reared
See
In your very midst...

O black and unknown bards of long ago,
How came your lips to touch the sacred fire
How, in your darkness, did you come to
The power and beauty of the minstrel's lyre

(On an Incident at the Battle of San Juan Hill)Under a burning tropic sun,
With comrades around him lying,
A trooper of the sable
Lay wounded, bleeding, dying

I'm back down in ole Georgy w'ere de sun is shinin' hot,
W'ere de cawn it is a-tasslin', gittin' ready fu' de pot;
W'ere de cott'n is a-openin' an' a-w'itenin' in de sun,
An' de ripenin' o' de sugah-cane is mighty nigh begun

Twenty years go by on noiseless feet,    He returns, and once again they meet,    She exclaims, "Good heavens
and is that he
"    He mutters, "My God
and that is she