Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HERITAGE, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HERITAGE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I want to see the slim palm-trees
Last Line: Hidden by a minstrel-smile.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


I want to see the slim palm-trees,
Pulling at the clouds
With little pointed fingers . . .

I want to see lithe Negro girls,
Etched dark against the sky
While sunset lingers.

I want to hear the silent sands,
Singing to the moon
Before the Sphinx-still face . . .

I want to hear the chanting
Around a heathen fire
Of a strange black race.

I want to breathe the Lotus flow'r,
Sighing to the stars
With tendrils drinking at the Nile . . .

I want to feel the surging
Of my sad people's soul
Hidden by a minstrel-smile.




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