James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922.
Fifty Years
O
Where half a century sweeps our ken,
Since God, through Lincoln’s ready hand,
Struck off our bonds and made us men.
As runs the history of a race;
Yet, as we look back o’er the way,
How distant seems our starting place!
To where a naked, shivering score,
Snatched from their haunts across the seas,
Stood, wild-eyed, on Virginia’s shore.
This land is ours by right of toil;
We helped to turn its virgin earth,
Our sweat is in its fruitful soil.
Where flourished once rank weed and thorn,—
Behold the path-traced, peaceful wood,
The cotton white, the yellow corn.
To hold these fields that have been won,
Our arms have strained, our backs have burned,
Bent bare beneath a ruthless sun.
Of victory on field and flood—
Remember, its first crimson stripe
Was dyed by Attucks’ willing blood.
When that fair flag has been assailed—
For men to do, for men to die,
That we have faltered or have failed.
Through many a hot-breath’d battle breeze
Held in our hands, it has been borne
And planted far across the seas.
Let us, at least, for this be praised—
Has one black, treason-guided hand
Ever against that flag been raised.
Or shall we hang our heads in shame?
Stand back of new-come foreign hordes,
And fear our heritage to claim?
And for our foes let this suffice—
We’ve bought a rightful sonship here,
And we have more than paid the price.
The tethered feet, the pinioned wings,
The spirit bowed beneath the blow,
The heart grown faint from wounds and stings;
That strikes and leaves us stunned and dazed;
The long, vain waiting through the night
To hear some voice for justice raised.
Sinks dead, and ’round us everywhere
Hangs stifling darkness, and we grope
With hands uplifted in despair.
The far horizon’s beckoning span!
Faith in your God-known destiny!
We are a part of some great plan.
And Phillips now are cold in death,
Think you their work can be undone?
Or quenched the fires lit by their breath?
That Lovejoy was but idly slain?
Or do you think those precious drops
From Lincoln’s heart were shed in vain?
That for which tens of thousands fought,
For which so many freely died,
God cannot let it come to naught.