Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE NEGRO'S TRAGEDY, by CLAUDE MCKAY



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE NEGRO'S TRAGEDY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: It is the negro's tragedy I feel
Last Line: The negro laughs and prays to god for light!
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


It is the Negro's tragedy I feel
Which binds me like a heavy iron chain,
It is the Negro's wounds I want to heal
Because I know the keenness of his pain.
Only a thorn-crowned Negro, and no white
Can penetrate into the Negro's ken,
Or feel the thickness of the shroud of night
Which hides and buries him from the other men.
So what I write is urged out of my blood.
There is no white man who could write my book,
Though many think their story should be told
Of what the Negro people ought to brook.
Our statesmen roam the world to set things right.
The Negro laughs and prays to God for Light!





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