Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922.

The Band of Gideon

THE BAND of Gideon roam the sky,

The howling wind is their war-cry,

The thunder’s roll is their trump’s peal,

And the lightning’s flash their vengeful steel.

Each black cloud

Is a fiery steed.

And they cry aloud

With each strong deed,

“The sword of the Lord and Gideon.”

And men below rear temples high

And mock their God with reasons why,

And live in arrogance, sin and shame,

And rape their souls for the world’s good name.

Each black cloud

Is a fiery steed.

And they cry aloud

With each strong deed,

“The sword of the Lord and Gideon.”

The band of Gideon roam the sky

And view the earth with baleful eye;

In holy wrath they scourge the land

With earth-quake, storm and burning brand.

Each black cloud

Is a fiery steed.

And they cry aloud

With each strong deed,

“The sword of the Lord and Gideon.”

The lightnings flash and the thunders roll,

And “Lord have mercy on my soul,”

Cry men as they fall on the stricken sod,

In agony searching for their God.

Each black cloud

Is a fiery steed.

And they cry aloud

With each strong deed,

“The sword of the Lord and Gideon.”

And men repent and then forget

That heavenly wrath they ever met,

The band of Gideon yet will come

And strike their tongues of blasphemy dumb.

Each black cloud

Is a fiery steed.

And they cry aloud

With each strong deed,

“The sword of the Lord and Gideon.”