Oh,
My black one,
Thou art not good
Yet thou hast
A purity
Surpassing goodness.
Ah,
My black one,
Thou art not luminous
Yet an altar of jewels,
An altar of shimmering jewels,
Would pale in the light
Of thy darkness,
Pale in the light
Of thy nightness.
My old man’s a white old man
And my old mother’s black.
If ever I cursed my white old man
I take my curses back.
If ever I cursed my black old mother
And wished she were in hell,
I’m sorry for that evil wish
And now I wish her well.
My old man died in a fine big house.
My ma died in a shack.
I wonder where I’m gonna die,
Being neither white nor black?
The sounds
Of the Harlem night
Drop one by one into stillness.
The last player-piano is closed.
The last victrola ceases with the
“Jazz Boy Blues.”
The last crying baby sleeps
And the night becomes
Still as a whispering heartbeat.
I toss
Without rest in the darkness,
Weary as the tired night,
My soul
Empty as the silence,
Empty with a vague,
Aching emptiness,
Desiring,
Needing someone,
Something.
I toss without rest
In the darkness
Until the new dawn,
Wan and pale,
Descends like a white mist
Into the court-yard.
I would be simple again,
Simple and clean
Like the earth,
Like the rain,
Nor ever know,
Dark Harlem,
The wild laughter
Of your mirth
Nor the salt tears
Of your pain.
Be kind to me,
Oh, great dark city.
Let me forget.
I will not come
To you again.
Play that thing,
Jazz band!
Play it for the lords and ladies,
For the dukes and counts,
For the whores and gigolos,
For the American millionaires,
And the school teachers
Out for a spree.
Play it,
Jazz band!
You know that tune
That laughs and cries at the same time.
You know it.
May I?
Mais oui.
Mein Gott!
Parece una rumba.
Play it, jazz band!
You’ve got seven languages to speak in
And then some,
Even if you do come from Georgia.
Can I go home wid yuh, sweetie?
Sure.
Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think
I suffer after
I have held my pain
So long.
Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter,
You do not hear
My inner cry,
Because my feet
Are gay with dancing,
You do not know
I die.
What jungle tree have you slept under,
Midnight dancer of the jazzy hour?
What great forest has hung its perfume
Like a sweet veil about your bower?
What jungle tree have you slept under,
Night-dark girl of the swaying hips?
What star-white moon has been your mother?
To what clean boy have you offered your lips?
I
Would
That I were a jewel,
A shattered jewel,
That all my shining brilliants
Might fall at thy feet,
Thou dark one.
II
Would
That I were a garment,
A shimmering, silken garment,
That all my folds
Might wrap about thy body,
Absorb thy body,
Hold and hide thy body,
Thou dark one.
III
Would
That I were a flame,
But one sharp, leaping flame
To annihilate thy body,
Thou dark one.
He carries
His own strength
And his own laughter,
His own today
And his own hereafter—
This strong young sailor
Of the wide seas.
What is money for?
To spend, he says.
And wine?
To drink.
And women?
To love.
And today?
For joy.
And tomorrow?
For joy.
And the green sea
For strength,
And the brown land
For laughter.
And nothing hereafter.
I went to look for Joy,
Slim, dancing Joy,
Gay, laughing Joy,
Bright-eyed Joy—
And I found her
Driving the butcher’s cart
In the arms of the butcher boy!
Such company, such company,
As keeps this young nymph, Joy!
In times of stormy weather
She felt queer pain
That said,
“You’ll find rain better
Than shelter from the rain.”
Days filled with fiery sunshine
Strange hurt she knew
That made
Her seek the burning sunlight
Rather than the shade.
In months of snowy winter
When cozy houses hold,
She’d break
Down doors to wander
Naked through the cold.
I have been a seeker
Seeking a flaming star,
And the flame-white star
Has burned my hands
Even from afar.
Walking in a dream-dead world
Circled by iron bars
I sought a singing star’s
Wild beauty.—
Now behold my scars.
My little dark baby,
My little earth-thing,
My little love-one,
What shall I sing
For your lullaby?
Stars,
Stars,
A necklace of stars
Winding the night.
My little black baby,
My dark body’s baby,
What shall I sing
For your lullaby?
Moon,
Moon,
Great diamond moon,
Kissing the night.
Oh, little dark baby,
Night black baby,
Stars, stars,
Moon,
Night stars,
Moon,
For your sleep-song lullaby.
There
Is no sweetness
In the kiss
Of a mouth
Unwarm and dead,
And even passion’s
Flaming bliss
Turns ashen
In a charnel bed.
Salome
Of the wine-red lips,
What would you with death’s head?
Love is the master of the ring
And life a circus tent.
What is this silly song you sing?
Love is the master of the ring.
I am afraid!
Afraid of Love
And of Love’s bitter whip!
Afraid,
Afraid of Love
And Love’s sharp, stinging whip.
What is this silly song you sing?
Love is the master of the ring.
In de middle of de winter,
Snow all over de ground.
In de middle of de winter,
Snow all over de ground—
’Twas de night befo’ Christmas
Ma good man turned me down.
Don’ know’s I’d mind his goin’
But he left me when de coal was low.
Don’ know’s I’d mind his goin’
But he left when de coal was low.
Now, if a man loves a woman
That ain’t no time to go.
He told me that he loved me
But he must a been tellin’ a lie.
He told me that he loved me.
He must a been tellin’ a lie.
But he’s the only man I’ll
Love till de day I die.
I’m gonna buy me a rose bud
An’ plant it at ma back door.
Gonna buy me a rose bud
And plant it at ma back door,
So when I’m dead they
Won’t need no flowers from de store.
Ma man’s a gypsy
Cause he never does come home.
Ma man’s a gypsy—
He never does come home.
I’m gonna be a gypsy woman
Fer I can’t stay here alone.
Once I was in Memphis,
I mean Tennessee.
Once I was in Memphis,
Said Tennessee.
But I had to leave cause
Nobody there was good to me.
I met a yellow papa,
He took ma last thin dime.
Met a yellow papa,
He took ma last thin dime.
I give it to him cause
