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Subject: AFRICAN AMERICANS
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UPDATE command denied to user 'poetryex_users'@'localhost' for table `poetryex_poems`.`subcnt` "BLACK SPIRITUAL: ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL", by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: My brudder sittin' on de tree of life
Last Line: "o my soul arise in heaven, lord, / for yearde when jordan roll"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


"BLACK SPIRITUAL: SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT (1)", by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "swing low, sweet chariot"
Last Line: Coming for to carry me home
Variant Title(s): "swing Low, Sweet Chariot;
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;american Civil War;black Songs;homecoming;u.s. - History; Negro Spirituals


"BLACK SPIRITUAL: SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT (2)", by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "oh, de good ole chariot swing so low"
Last Line: "swing low, sweet chariot, / I don't want to leave me behind"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


"BLOW YOU TRUMPET, GABRIEL", by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: De talles' trees in paradise
Last Line: And I hope dat trump might blow me home / to de new jerusalem
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


"DO DOWN, MOSES", by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: When israel was in egypt's land
Last Line: O let my people go
Variant Title(s): Jubilee Song;let My People Go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


"JIM CRACK CORN, OR THE BLUE TAIL FLY", by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: When I was young I us'd to wait / on massa and hand him de plate
Last Line: "I nebber forget till de day I die, / ole massa an' dat blue tail fly"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs;flies;slavery; Negro Spirituals;serfs


(WHAT DID I DO TO BE SO) BLACK AND BLUE, by THOMAS WALLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Out on the street, %shufflin feet
Last Line: They laugh at you and scorn you too. %what did I do to be so black and blue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


125TH STREET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Face like a chocolate bar
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


125TH STREET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Face like a chocolate bar
Last Line: Face like a melon, %grin that wide
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


1962: VETERANS' DAY: UCLA STUDY REGIMEN: SOME INDIANA (HOOSIER KLAN REFLECTIONS), by MICHAEL S. HARPER            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They are counting the names of the vietnam veterans names on the mall
Subject(s): Lin, Maya (b. 1959); Vietnam Veterans Memorial (washington, D.c.); African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


22-2-0 BLUES, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I send for my baby : and she don't come
Last Line: And my forty-four : laying up and down my breast
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


3 6 AND 9, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well hello there old gal : you sure looks fine
Last Line: Fine old boy : he was tight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


31ST STREET BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Railroad take me back : got the thirty-first street blues
Last Line: New york don't get me : chicago must
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


32-30 BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I send for my baby : and she don't come
Last Line: With this thirty-two twenty : laying up and down my breast
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


34 BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to tell nobody : thirty-four have done for me
Last Line: Oh lord oh lord : let me see your brand new year
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (mood); Blues (music); Depressions, Economic; Music And Musicians


403 BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You lucky to be a spider
Last Line: Must not of cared for me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


44 BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: And now I walked all night long : with my forty-four in my hand
Last Line: Lord I wake up every morning : the world be scratching on my door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


45 PISTOL BLUES, by WALTER ROLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going over to third alley : lord but I'm going to carry my forty-five
Last Line: Because you know I done got shot once over there : lord it's about three or four times
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


49 HIGHWAY BLUES, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'll get up in the morning : catch the highway forty-nine
Last Line: Malvina she's my sweet woman : she on highway forty-nine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


4A HIGHWAY, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby woke me up this morning : she told me she's joliet bound
Last Line: I'd get on that four-a highway : and god knows I'd roll that highway down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


50-50, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm all alone in this world, she said
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


50-50, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm all alone in this world, she said
Last Line: He said, share your bed %and your money, too
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


70'S, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Will be the days
Last Line: Having lost some %begun much
Subject(s): Abortion; African Americans - Women


8-AUG, by NORMAN JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: There is no break
Last Line: And this paper with you
Subject(s): African Americans


80 HIGHWAY BLUES, by SON BONDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sitting down here thinking : yes babe I believe I better go
Last Line: Baby now I just open up my chiffrobe : and you'll see where my dollar lies
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


A BLACK MAN TALKS OF REAPING, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have sown beside all waters in my day
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


A BLACK SOLDIER REMEMBERS, by HORACE COLEMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My saigon daughter I saw only once
Alternate Author Name(s): Shaka Aku Shango
Subject(s): African Americans; Soldiers; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975; Negroes; American Blacks


A BOY'S SUMMER SONG, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis fine to play
Last Line: Ha, ha!
Subject(s): African Americans; Summer; Negroes; American Blacks


A BRONZEVILLE MOTHER LOITERS IN MISSISSIPPI, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the first it had been like a / ballad
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


A BROWN GIRL DEAD, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: With two white roses on her breasts
Last Line: To see herself tonight
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


A CHRISTMAS GHOST, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The eve of christmas had arrived
Last Line: He merely saw a ghost.
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas; Ghosts; Supernatural; Negroes; American Blacks; Nativity, The


A COMMON OCCURRENCE, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lucindy, who you 'spose I seed
Last Line: "he's pintly changed fah wus."
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


A CONTRACT. (FOR THE DESTRUCTION AND REBUILDING OF PATERSON), by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Flesh, and cars, tar, dug holes beneath stone
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


A CORN SONG, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: On the wide veranda white
Last Line: Says de day is done.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Slavery; Serfs


A DEATH SONG, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass
Last Line: Ef I 's layin' 'mong de t'ings I 's allus knowed.
Subject(s): African Americans; Death; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The


A DOMESTIC STORM, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm going to whoop you, sammy taylor
Last Line: Guess you will, you rascal, you.
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


A DOUBLE STANDARD, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Do you blame me that I loved him?
Last Line: In man's cannot be right.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Hypocrisy


A FAR CRY FROM AFRICA, by DEREK WALCOTT    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A wind is ruffling the tawny pelt
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - History; Ancestors & Ancestry; Black Heritage; Heritage; Heredity


A FUNERAL POEM ON THE DEATH OF C.E., AN INFANT OF 12 MONTHS, by PHILLIS WHEATLEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Through airy roads he wings his instant flight
Last Line: In pleasures without measure, without end.
Alternate Author Name(s): Peters, Phillis
Variant Title(s): A Poem On The Death Of Charles Eliot, Aged 12 Months
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Death - Children; Love - Loss Of; Mortality; Death - Babies


A HERO OF SAN JUAN HILL, by OLIVA WARD BUSH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Among the sick and wounded ones
Last Line: Equality shall sit enthroned.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bush-banks, Oliva Ward
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Spanish-american War (1898)


A HOUSE IN TAOS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Rain / thunder of the rain god
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


A LITANY OF ATLANTA, by WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O silent god, thou whose voice in mist and mystery hath left our ears
Last Line: Selah!
Alternate Author Name(s): Du Bois, W. E. B.
Subject(s): African Americans; Lynching; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


A MONA LISA, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I should like to creep
Last Line: In their depths?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


A MULATTO SINGING, by GRADY MCCARTY LONG    Poem Text                    
First Line: Tall and lithe he stood there, swaying like a reed in the wind
Last Line: In the agony of death.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


A NEGRO LOVE SONG, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Seen my lady home las' night
Last Line: Jump back, honey, jump back.
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Negroes; American Blacks


A NEGRO SONG OF HOME, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tain't berry many people wat'll listen to a niggah
Last Line: Frough de singin' ob de kettle on de hob.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song & Music; Black Songs; Home; Negroes; American Blacks; Negro Spirituals


A NEW REALITY IS BETTER THAN A NEW MOVIE!, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How will it go, crumbling earthquake, towering inferno, juggernaut, volcano, smashup
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


A NOTE OF HUMILITY, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When all our hopes are sown on stony ground
Last Line: An hour or two, but it will not be soon
Subject(s): African Americans; Liberty; Time; Negroes; American Blacks


A PARTING HYMN, by CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When winter's royal robes of white
Last Line: Are blest and freed from every thrall.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Commencement; Farewell; Graduation; Parting


A PHOTOGRAPH, by NINA FARLEY WISHEK    Poem Text                    
First Line: Odd little, thin little brown little girl
Last Line: Ever wear pretty dresses, have a wave and a curl?
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Photography & Photographers


A PLANTATION MELODY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: De trees is bendin' in de st'om
Last Line: Lay low in de wildaness.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Slavery; Serfs


A PLANTATION SCENE, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now all you picaninnies dar, come stan' up in er row
Last Line: When I wuz onc't er little nig, en stood up in dat row.
Subject(s): African Americans; Plantation Life; Negroes; American Blacks


A POEM FOR BLACK HEARTS, by AMIRI BARAKA            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For malcolm's eyes, when they broke
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


A POEM FOR BLACK RELOCATION CENTERS, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Flukum couldn't stand the strain. Flukum
Last Line: The enemy far away on the other side of the sea
Subject(s): African Americans – Military; Negroes; American Blacks


A POEM FOR MYSELF, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was born in mississippi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


A POEM SOME PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, by AMIRI BARAKA            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dull unwashed windows of eyes
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Men; Negroes; American Blacks


A RAT TRAP, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Onct erbout de hour uv midnight, stealin' chick-/ens by de dim light
Last Line: En step on 'em—nebber more.
Subject(s): African Americans; Rats; Trapping & Trappers; Negroes; American Blacks; Traps; Snares; Trappers


A SEPTEMBER NIGHT, by GEORGE MARION MCCLELLAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The full september moon sheds floods of light
Last Line: I cannot sing, with loves I cannot speak.
Subject(s): African Americans; Night; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Bedtime; South (u.s.)


A SONG OF PRAISE, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You have not heard my love's dark throat
Last Line: Discovers one as fair
Subject(s): African Americans; Desire; Love; Negroes; American Blacks


A SOUTHERN SCENE, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Far in the land of sunny south
Last Line: On those who doth on thee believe?
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry; South (u.s.)


A SPIRITUAL, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: De 'cession's stahted on de gospel way
Last Line: But lif' up yo' haid w'en de king go by!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


A WINTER TWILIGHT, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A silence slipping around like death
Last Line: One star that I loved ere the fields went brown.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Evening; Sunset; Twilight


A WOMAN SPEAKS, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Moon marked and touched by sun
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


A WRONG INFERENCE, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why, old uncle abe, if your tidings are true
Last Line: "twas er ox an' er 'oman dat made de plow go."
Subject(s): African Americans; Farm Life; Plowing & Plowmen; Progress; Negroes; American Blacks; Agriculture; Farmers


A' WOULD BE' IMMIGRANT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Conjo celestine! Oh %he was going to panama
Last Line: Twenty cents for a cup of tea
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


A, B, C (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: You'd better come out an' wuk lak me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AARDVARK, by JULIA FIELDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Since %malcolm died
Last Line: We never thought about before
Subject(s): African Americans; Holidays; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


ABE LINCOLN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Well, I know %you had a hard time in your life
Last Line: Ain't just white %or black
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ABERDEEN MISSISSIPPI BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was over in aberdeen : on my way to new orleans
Last Line: They been had the poor boy : all hobbled down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ABOUT GOD & THINGS, by WANDA COLEMAN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I want to have your child
Alternate Author Name(s): Coleman-straus, Wanda
Subject(s): African Americans; Man-woman Relationships; Negroes; American Blacks; Male-female Relations


ACCEPTANCE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: God, in his infinite wisdom
Last Line: They hardly take god by surprise
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ACCOUNTING, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nights too warm for tv
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


ACCOUNTING, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nights too warm for tv
Last Line: The crawlspace filling up, packed solid %as any foundation
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


ADAM AND EVE, by TOMMIE BRADLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because adam said to eve : *you been cute so cute*
Last Line: You know by that : they must have shook that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ADAM AND EVE HAD THE BLUES, by HOCIEL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Eve called adam : and he got close to her side
Last Line: You two have bit some fruit : from that forbidden tree
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ADDITION (1), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: 7 x 7 + love =
Last Line: 7 x 7 - love
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ADDITION (2), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Put 5 and 5 together
Last Line: Come between -- %or men
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ADDRESS TO ETHIOPIA, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh ill-starred ethiopia
Last Line: He'd prize one 'bove the other?
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


ADMONITIONS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Boys / I don't promise you nothing
Last Line: She don't have no sense
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ADMONITIONS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Boys %I don't promise you nothing
Last Line: She is a poet %she don't have no sense
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE WALDORF-ASTORIA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Fine living...A la carte??
Last Line: Reservations: telephone el. 5-3000
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Come To The Waldorf-astori
Subject(s): African Americans; Waldorf-astoria Hotel, New York City


ADVICE, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You were a sophist
Last Line: Through the dusk softness %of my dream stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ADVICE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Folks, I'm telling you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


ADVICE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Folks, I'm telling you
Last Line: So get yourself a little loving %in between
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ADVICE TO YOUNG LADIES, by ANN PLATO    Poem Text                    
First Line: Day after day I sit and write
Last Line: Be ever our desires.
Subject(s): Advice; African Americans - Women; Human Behavior; Religion; Conduct Of Life; Human Nature; Theology


AESTHETE IN HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Strange, %that in this nigger place
Last Line: And found life - stepping on my feet!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AFRAID, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We cry among the skyscrapers
Last Line: It is night, %and we are afraid
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AFRICA, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thus she had lain
Last Line: Although she has lain
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Black Heritage


AFRICA, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Thus she had lain
Last Line: Although she had lain
Subject(s): African Americans - History


AFRICA, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Home / oh
Last Line: All of my bones / remember
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans; Home; Memory; Negroes; American Blacks


AFRICA, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Home %oh
Last Line: All of my bones %remember
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans; Home; Memory


AFRICA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sleepy giant, %you've been resting awhile
Last Line: The new stride %in your thighs
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AFRICAN SUNRUNNER, by WANDA WINBUSH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Run in warm sun
Last Line: Back to the sun
Subject(s): African Americans


AFRICAN VILLAGE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In our beginnings our blackness was not thought so
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - History


AFRICLAND, by OLIVER LAGRONE    Poem Source                    
First Line: From breasts %of africland
Last Line: To drink a new worlds %breaking light
Subject(s): African Americans - History


AFRIKAN FLAG, by DEIDRA SUWANEE DEES    Poem Source                    
First Line: When she was a child
Last Line: Making them accept their blame
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ethnic Identity


AFRIKAN POET, ARISE, by WANDA WINBUSH    Poem Source                    
First Line: African griot %disguised by the american ghetto
Last Line: To the ethereal ancestors %allegiance to afrika
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry And Poets


AFRIKAN REVOLUTION, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Afrikan people all over the world %suffering from white domination
Last Line: Work & study %struggle & victory
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


AFRO-AMERICAN FRAGMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So long, / so far away
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


AFRO-AMERICAN FRAGMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So long, %so far away
Last Line: So far away %is africa's %dark face
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AFTER MANY SPRINGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now, %in june
Last Line: I cannot find them any more
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AFTER READING BRYANT'S LINE TO A WATERFOWL, by ELOISE BIBB THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: No forward soul, ambition stung
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


AFTER THE JAPANESE, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Night turned over
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


AFTER THE QUARREL, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lindie, chile, fo' lawd sake, tell me
Last Line: An' jest trot on yo' own track.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


AFTER WHILE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walked around this world : ???
Last Line: I want you to let them know : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AFTER YOU'VE GONE, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen honey : while I say
Last Line: You'll miss the best pal : you ever had
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AFTERBLUES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON            Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


AFTERGLOW, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Through you, I entered heaven and hell
Last Line: To live it all again!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Memory


AFTERIMAGES, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: However the image enters
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Jackson, Mississippi; Till, Emmett (1941-1955); Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


AILEY, BALDWIN, FLOYD, KILLENS, AND MAYFIELD, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When great trees fall
Last Line: Better. For they existed
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


AILEY, BALDWIN, FLOYD, KILLENS, AND MAYFIELD, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When great trees fall
Last Line: We can be. Be and be %better. For they existed
Subject(s): African Americans


AIN'T GOIN' TO BE YOUR LOW DOWN DOG, by OLLIE RUPERT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to buy me a mansion : out on bunker hill
Last Line: When the north wind blows : blows news everywhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AIN'T GOING TO DO LIKE I USED TO DO, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I : ain't going to do like I used to do
Last Line: I will start being nice : and keep you on my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AIN'T GOT NO PLACE TO LAY MY HEAD, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AIN'T I A WOMAN, by SOJOURNER TRUTH    Poem Source                    
First Line: That man over there say %a woman needs to be helped into carriages
Last Line: Together women ought to be able to turn it rightside up again
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


AIN'T IT A PITY AND A SHAME, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well that a pity and a shame : ways the women treats the men
Last Line: Well now my little girl she quit me : mama now now shy did she run away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AIN'T NO TELLIN', by MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't you let : my good girl catch you here
Last Line: Going to turn over : try it on this side
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AIN'T NO USE IN TRYING TO TELL ON ME, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just as sure as this paper : sticks aside the wall
Last Line: You don't give it to me : want to make me mad
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AIN'T THAT BAD?, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dancin' the funky chicken
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


AIR RAID OVER HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who you gonna put in it?
Last Line: Look at me! %I'm harlem!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AIR RAID: BARCELONA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black smoke of sound
Last Line: Men uncover bodies %from ruins of stone
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Air Warfare; Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)


AIRPLANE BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to get in my airplane : I'm going to ride all over I'm going to ride.
Last Line: Now I will be your santa claus : even if my whiskers even if my whiskers is white
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AIRY MAN BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now *look here mr* ??? : *says you take a good drop*
Last Line: You can iron my shirts : you can bless my soul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALABAMA BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I tell you girls : and I'm going to tell you now
Last Line: She's crying to me son : please son don't you go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALABAMA BLUES--PART 1, by BILLY BIRD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now t for texas : and t for tennessee
Last Line: And I seen two monkeys : playing around after me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALABAMA BLUES--PART 2, by BILLY BIRD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went up on a mountain : just to see what I could see
Last Line: I looked in through the keyhole : there's another nigger in my stall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALABAMA EARTH (AT BOOKER WASHINGTON'S GRAVE), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Deep in alabama earth
Last Line: Love -- and chains are broken
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - History; Alabama; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915)


ALABAMA WAY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down yon'er 'in de alerbamer way'
Last Line: Niggers' legs hang down fer de chicken t' roost on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ALABAMA WOMAN BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you ever go down : on the mobile and k c line
Last Line: Don't my gal look good : when she's coming after me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALABAMA: 9/15/63, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Have you heard the one about
Last Line: Is still too bright to hear them play?
Subject(s): African Americans – Alabam


ALAIN LEROY LOCKE (TEACHER OF AESTHETICS), by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: He has gone from the tower
Last Line: So remembering, we vision the tower %urged by echoes of a learned man
Subject(s): African Americans; Locke, Alain Leroy (1886-1954)


ALBERTA, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh alberta oh alberta : don't you hear me calling you
Last Line: Because she know she can take him : and raise him to hang
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALBERTA (FACTORY POEM/VARIATION 2), by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When my grandmother alberta was a girl
Last Line: The smooth %straight %seam
Subject(s): African Americans


ALBERTA, LET YO' HAIR HANG LOW, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ALI, by JR. LLOYD M. CORBIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ali %is our prince
Last Line: A flower without rain %that never could die %ali %is our prince
Subject(s): African Americans; Ali, Muhammad (cassius Clay); Boxing And Boxers


ALL DAY WE'VE LONGED FOR NIGHT, by SARAH WEBSTER FABIO    Poem Source                    
First Line: In this room, holding hands
Last Line: May hope to be, locked in %our day-long longing for night
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ALL I WANT IS A SPOONFUL, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I told you once : this makes twice
Last Line: Ask that man : that run me last
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALL MY MONEY GONE BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: All my money gone : and there ain't no more to say
Last Line: Have all my money gone : I feel myself sinking down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALL NIGHT BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: All night blues : ever ever on my mind
Last Line: Ain't got nobody : to tell my troubles to
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALL NIGHT LONG BLUES, by LOUISE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : blues all around my bed
Last Line: Because the man that I'm loving : I swear he sure don't treat me right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALL NIGHT LONG BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stay out all night long : babe now to keep you off my mind
Last Line: Well well now you may need his help some day baby : oh well well you don't know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALL THE BROTHERS, by BETH BROWN PRESTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: All of you are scultpure in motion
Last Line: The eyes a woman like me can love
Subject(s): African Americans


ALL THE PRETTY LITTLE HORSES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you wake
Last Line: All the pretty horses
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Animals; Horses


ALL THINGS INSENSIBLE, by KATHLEEN TANKERSLEY YOUNG    Poem Source                    
First Line: I envy the sleep
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


ALLEY BOOGIE, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm doing something now : I ain't never done before
Last Line: I been doing my alley boogie : I been boogying all of my days
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALLIGATOR POND WENT DRY, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now old mr alligator : he got way back
Last Line: Wasn't a drop of water in the pond : a-when he got back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ALWAYS THE SAME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is the same everywhere for me
Last Line: Never will come down!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ALYCE LORRAINE HAMPTON BRYANT, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Half-this, half-that
Last Line: For you
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; U.s. - Race Relations


AM/TRAK, by AMIRI BARAKA            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Trane / trane, history love scream on
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Coltrane, John (1926-1967); Davis, Miles (1926-1991); Jazz; Music & Musicians


AM/TRAK, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Trane %trane, history love scream on
Last Line: As rightly %burning
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Coltrane, John (1926-1967); Davis, Miles (1926-1991); Jazz; Music And Musicians


AMATEUR FIGHTER, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Boxing & Boxers; Fathers; Housekeeping


AMATEUR FIGHTER, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What's left is the tiny gold glove
Last Line: Holding his body up to pain
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Boxing And Boxers; Fathers; Housekeeping


AMERICA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little dark baby, %little jew baby
Last Line: I am my one sole self, %america seeking the stars
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AMERICA, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Although she feeds me bread of bitterness
Last Line: Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Freedom; United States; Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty; America


AMERICA'S YOUNG BLACK JOE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: One tenth of the population
Last Line: I'm america's young black joe
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AMERICAN HEARTBREAK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the american heartbreak
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Hypocrisy; Negroes; American Blacks


AMERICAN HEARTBREAK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the american heartbreak
Last Line: The great mistake %that jamestown %made long ago
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Hypocrisy


AMERICAN HISTORY, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Those four black girls blown up
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


AMERICAN HISTORY, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Those four black girls blown up
Last Line: Can't find what you can't see %can you?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


AMERICAN SONNET (55), by WANDA COLEMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Down to the stingy stingy marrow of my mojo rant
Last Line: Inflames my vigilant soul denies it rest
Alternate Author Name(s): Coleman-straus, Wanda
Variant Title(s): Sonnet: 55
Subject(s): African Americans; Stock Exchange; Wylie, Elinor (1885-1928); Negroes; American Blacks


AMONG THE THINGS THAT USED TO BE, by WILLIE M. COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Used to be %ya could learn
Last Line: To ferment %a revolution
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


AN AFTERNOON GOSSIP, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Is that you sistah harris?
Last Line: To send abe's hatchet home.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Gossip


AN ANTE-BELLUM SERMON, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: We is gathered hyeah, my brothahs
Last Line: Huh uh! Chillun, let us pray!
Subject(s): African Americans; American Civil War; Freedom; United States - History; Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty


AN APPEAL TO MY COUNTRYWOMEN, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You can sigh o'er the sad-eyed armenian
Last Line: And sin is the consort of woe.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Southern States; South (u.s.)


AN ODE IN TIME OF HESITATION, by WILLIAM VAUGHN MOODY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Before the living bronze saint gaudens made
Last Line: Blindness we may forgive, but baseness we will smite.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Holidays; Memorial Day; Saint-gaudens, Augustus (1848-1907); Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers; Spanish-american War (1898); United States; War; Declaration Day; America


AN ODE ON THE UNVEILING OF THE SHAW MEMORIA BOSTON COMMON, MAY 31, 1897, by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Not with slow, funereal sound
Last Line: To him, to him, the dead that shall not die!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Holidays; Memorial Day; Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers; Declaration Day


ANCHOR LINE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se gwine out on de anchor line, dinah
Last Line: Come go wid me; I'll set you free, - dinah
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AND THE OLD WOMEN GATHERED (THE GOSPEL SINGERS), by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: The sound of it %stayed in our ears
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women


AND WHAT SHALL YOU SAY?, by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR.    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Brother, come! / and let us go unto our god
Last Line: And, brother, what shall you say?
Subject(s): African Americans; Brotherhood; God; Religion; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks; Theology


ANDRE, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had a dream last night. I dreamed
Last Line: They were the ones I always had!
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


ANDRE, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had a dream last night. I dreamed
Last Line: They were the ones I always had!
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


ANGEL FOR DONNA, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: She sat there at the end of the room
Last Line: And make them happy, too.'
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


ANGEL FOR MY FRIEND, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want my friend to have an angel
Last Line: Well, I want my friend to have an angel %just like him
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


ANGEL IN THE TREE HOUSE, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't stay back there hiding
Last Line: When the world is new
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


ANGEL OF KNOWLEDGE, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: She knows almost all there is to know
Last Line: But even she must wait %for answers
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


ANGEL'S LULLABY, by JOYCE CAROL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's time to say good night
Last Line: Let fade away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


ANGELA DAVIS, by ALICE S. COBB    Poem Source                    
Last Line: In the cause of freedom %the battle is yet to be won
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ANGELINA, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When de fiddle gits to singin' out a ol' vahginny reel
Last Line: When angelina johnson comes a-swingin' down de line.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ANGELS, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: We are older than %the oldest star
Last Line: Our love shines %ever bright
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


ANGELS (REPRISE), by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am older than %the oldest star
Last Line: My love glows forever %bright
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


ANGELS WINGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The angels wings is white as snow
Last Line: But the angels wings is white as snow, %white %as %snow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ANGOLA QUESTION MARK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Don't know why I
Last Line: For you and me %there's %woe
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ANIMAL ATTIRE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat coon, he w'ar a undershirt
Last Line: But dese don't stop no gun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ANIMAL FAIR (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Has you ever hearn tell 'bout de animal fair?
Last Line: Dat pleased all dem monkeys
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ANIMAL PERSECUTORS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went up on de mountain
Last Line: To see me runnin' 'bout
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ANNE SPENCER'S TABLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On anne spencer's table
Last Line: Many things she knows to write
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ANNIAD, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Think of sweet and chocolate
Last Line: Kissing in her kitchenette %the minuets of memory
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ANNOUNCEMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had a gal %she was driving alone
Last Line: That gal don't drive my car no more
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ANOTHER MAN DONE GONE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Another man done gone
Last Line: I'm going to walk your log
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


ANOTHER TIME AND FARTHER SOUTH, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In another time and farther south
Subject(s): African Americans


ANTEBELLUM COURTSHIP INQUIRY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Is you a flyin' lark or a settin' dove?
Last Line: To jine my fence to yo' plantation
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ANTEBELLUM MARRIAGE PROPOSAL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De ocean, it's wide; de sea, it's deep
Last Line: An' answer up 'greeable fer a s'prise
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ANTIGONE AND OEDIPUS, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Slow wand'ring came the sightless sire and she
Last Line: "oh! Let us hope a little ere we die!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mythology - Classical


ANTS IN MY PANTS, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: It makes no difference : baby where you go
Last Line: Now love me baby : like you done last night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ANYBODY HERE WANT TO TRY MY CABBAGE, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Anybody here want to try my cabbage : just step this way
Last Line: When I got through feeding him : he said gal you're free
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


APPENDIX TO THE ANNIAD: 1 ( THOUSANDS - KILLED IN ACTION ), by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You need the untranslatable ice to watch
Last Line: Why nothing exhausts you like this sympathy
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


APPENDIX TO THE ANNIAD: 2, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The certainty we two shall meet by god
Last Line: Bees in the stomach, sweat across the brow. Now
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


APPENDIX TO THE ANNIAD: 2, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The certainty we two shall meet by god
Last Line: Bees in the stomach, sweat across the brow. Now
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


APRIL 5, 1968- MARTIN LUTHER KING, by HANS JUERGENSEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: In sudden recognition
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


APRIL RAIN SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let the rain kiss you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; April; Spring; Negroes; American Blacks


APRIL RAIN SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let the rain kiss you
Last Line: And I love the rain
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; April; Spring


ARDELLA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would liken you
Last Line: To a sleep without dreams %were it not for your songs
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ARE YOU CAREFUL? (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Is you keerful; w'en you goes down de street
Last Line: An' think 'bout dem words dat you say?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ARGUING A BARGAIN (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ise a arg'in de bargain, my honey love
Last Line: I'll die and go to glory, it will be so
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ARGUMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: White is right, %yellow is mellow, %black get back
Last Line: Black is fine! %and, god knows, %it's mine!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ARGUMENT (1), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now lookahere, gal
Last Line: You bettah keep yo' freight train %off ma line
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ARK (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole nora hda a lots o' hands
Last Line: Ole ham, he sot an' knocked de chunes, %de happiest of de niggers
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ARKANSAS, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh little honey : don't you make me go
Last Line: And *yesterday* ??? : *was filled with ice and snow*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ARKANSAS ROAD BLUES, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to travel : this big road all by myself
Last Line: Daddy if you don't want me : had a-plenty more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ARMAGEDDON, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the silence and the dark
Last Line: Even now the dawn appears!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


ARMY CAMP HARMONEY BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man is leaving : crying won't make him stay
Last Line: *when I look down* : I'd find my old-time man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ARRANGEMENT FOR ME--BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I'll split your kindling : you know I'll bellow your fire
Last Line: So a woman like you : could take a little fish at me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ARTISTS' AND MODELS' BALL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wonders do not confuse. We call them that
Last Line: Our backs they alter. How were we to know
Subject(s): African Americans


AS BEFITS A MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't mind dying
Last Line: Please don't take him away! %ow-ooo-oo-o! %don't take daddy away!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AS I GREW OLDER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was a long time ago
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Aging; Negroes; American Blacks


AS I GREW OLDER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was a long time ago
Last Line: Into a thousand whirling dreams %of sun!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Aging


AS I RECOUNT MY LOVE, by NAOMI FLOWE FAUST    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you enter the house, I listen
Last Line: Interlace my thoughts ... %in utter bliss, I sleep serenely
Subject(s): African Americans


AS I WENT TO SHILOH, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: As I went down
Last Line: An' blowed dis nigger clear to thundergust
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AS SOON AS SHE IS UP, by ARNOLD ADOFF    Poem Source                    
First Line: Grandma is up %and %out side
Last Line: Cook %up %for %us %all
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


AS TRUE AS I'VE BEEN TO YOU, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here babe : is that the way you intend to do
Last Line: But I won't be around here : mama and let you have your way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ASANTE SANA, TE TE, by THADIOUS M. DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Laughing eyes followed
Last Line: And named me maree nage
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ASH TRAY BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't talking to one : I ain't talking to two
Last Line: You look for me : I'll be gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ASHES IN MY WHISKEY, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: They put ashes in my whiskey : they put strychnine in my glass
Last Line: Lord I believe some other good joker : trying to root me out of my place
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ASK YOUR MAMA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the shadows of the quarter %shouts are whispers carrying
Last Line: Their grass with unicorns
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ASPHALT, by JOHN MINCZESKI    Poem Source                    
First Line: At st. Stans, back in seventh grade
Last Line: Center of the earth
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Children; Race Awareness; Youth


ASPIRATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I wonder how it feels
Last Line: In this world %before I go
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ASPIRATION (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I wus de president
Last Line: An' swing on all de gates
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AT A UNITED NATIONS COCKTAIL PARTY, by BRUCE WRIGHT    Poem Source                    
First Line: In hand-crafted and tailored suits
Last Line: That it and the first are both absurd?
Subject(s): African Americans; United Nations


AT A UNITED NATIONS RECEPTION, by BRUCE WRIGHT    Poem Source                    
First Line: In too severly tailored suits
Last Line: That it and the first are both absurd?
Subject(s): African Americans; United Nations


AT APRIL, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Toss your gay heads
Last Line: At our hearts?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Gays & Lesbians; Homoeroticism; Lesbians; Gay Women; Gay Men


AT HOME IN DAKAR, by MARGARET DANNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: When the african arts
Last Line: Feeling neither too ill nor too old
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - History; Art And Artists


AT THE CARNIVAL, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Gay little girl-of-the-diving-tank
Last Line: I implore neptune to claim his child today!
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Carnivals; Negroes; American Blacks


AT THE CEMETERY, WALNUT GROVE PLANTATION, SOUTH CAROLINA, 1989, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Among the rocks / at walnut grove
Last Line: Here lies / hear
Subject(s): Americans; United States; African Americans; Slavery; Cemeteries; America


AT THE CLOSED GATE OF JUSTICE, by JAMES DAVID CORROTHERS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: To be a negro in a day like this
Last Line: "merely a negro"" - in a day like this!"
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Stock Exchange; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


AT THE GREYHOUND BUS STATION, by FRANCIS CLEARY WITTMEIER    Poem Source                    
First Line: She surely did nothing %to deserve
Last Line: She surely did nothing %to deserve
Subject(s): African Americans; Bus Terminals; Women


AT THE NEW JUMP STEADY HALL, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now the jump-steady club : they gave a ball
Last Line: *eat cake* with some raisins : and you're bound for jail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AT THE OWL CLUB, NORTH GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI, 1950, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What's left is the tiny gold glove hanging from his key chain. But, before that, he had come to boxi
Variant Title(s): At The Owl Club, North Gulfport, Mississippi 1950
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


AT THE OWL CLUB, NORTH GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI, 1950, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nothing idle here-the men
Last Line: Regal quarts in hand- %it's payday man
Variant Title(s): At The Owl Club, North Gulfport, Mississippi 195
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


AT THE SPRING DAWN, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I watched the dawn come
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


AT THE STATION, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The man, turning, moves away
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


AT THE STATION, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The man, turning, moves away
Last Line: No words. His mind on fire
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


ATLANTA BLUES, by CHASEY COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I find a town : that will satisfy my mind
Last Line: And I'm a motherless child : and I just can't keep from crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ATLANTA EXPOSITION ODE, by MARY WESTON FORDHAM    Poem Text                    
First Line: Cast down your bucket where you are
Last Line: For all one flag, one flag for all.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Exhibitions; Racial Equality; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915); Black Heritage; World's Fairs; Expositions


ATLANTA MAN, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh nobody knows : atlanta like I do
Last Line: Like you take her from me : somebody sure take her from you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ATLANTA STRUT, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Went up on kinnesaw mountain : gave my horn a blow
Last Line: Throwed them sweet arms around me : like a grape vine around a stump
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ATLAS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am used to the heft of it
Last Line: To carry everything.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Forests; Labor & Laborers; Strength; Black Heritage; Woods; Work; Workers


AUGUST, by ELINOR WYLIE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Why should this negro insolently stride
Last Line: Scarce warms the surface of the deepest pool?
Alternate Author Name(s): Benet, William Rose, Mrs.
Subject(s): African Americans; Flowers; Pain; Negroes; American Blacks; Suffering; Misery


AUGUST 19TH...A POEM FOR CLARENCE NORRIS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What flag will fly for me
Last Line: August 19th
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AUNT AGNES HATCHER TELLS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: After the war when rationing was over
Last Line: Slide out babies like payday from that %billion dollar behind
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Death; Family Life; Hunger; Slavery; War


AUNT CAROLINE DYER BLUES, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to newport news : just to see aunt caroline dyer
Last Line: I'm going back to newport news : and do what aunt caroline dyer told me to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AUNT DINAH DRUNK: 1, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole aunt dinah, she got drunk
Last Line: Way down on de ole plank road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AUNT DINAH DRUNK: 2, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old aunt dinah she got drunk
Last Line: Look here, mr. Negro, don't do that again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AUNT JANE ALLEN, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: State street is lonely today. Aunt jane allen has driven
Last Line: To each of the seed of ethiopia?
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


AUNT JANEY AND MABEL COOK SOUL FOOD, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aunt janey
Last Line: Boil and pickle them?' she said.'
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Aunts


AUNT JANEY MEETS SISTER CAUDHILL, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aunt janey would buy her hats from sister caudhill, the hat lady, who
Last Line: You at it!'
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Aunts


AUNT JEMIMA, by LUCILLE CLIFTON            Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


AUNT JEMIMA (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole aunt jemima grow so tall
Last Line: To de backwoods whar she stays
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AUNT SUE'S STORIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Aunt sue has a head full of stories
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


AUNT SUE'S STORIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Aunt sue has a head full of stories
Last Line: Of a summer night %listening to aunt sue's stories
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


AUTUMN, by MARJORIE MARSHALL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mellow sunlight, soothing, warm
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


AUTUMN IN NEW YORK, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Manhattan's skyline
Last Line: And I shall multiply my days as the phoenix
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


AUTUMN NOTE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The little flowers of yesterday
Last Line: The cold of winter comes apace %and you have gone away
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AUTUMN THOUGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Flowers are happy in summer
Last Line: Like little brown butterflies
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


AVALON BLUES, by MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been in new york this morning : just about half past nine
Last Line: Going back to avalon : stay there with pretty mama all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AWARD (A GOLD WATCH TO THE FBI MAN WHO HAS FOLLOWED ME), by RAY DUREM    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Well, old spy
Subject(s): African Americans; Federal Bureau Of Investigation; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks; Fbi


AWARD (A GOLD WATCH TO THE FBI MAN WHO HAS FOLLOWED ME), by RAY DUREM    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Well, old spy
Last Line: But she was my daughter, only three, %who had to pee
Subject(s): African Americans; Federal Bureau Of Investigation; Social Protest


AWARENESS, by HAKI R. MADHUBUTI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black people think
Last Line: Black people think- %think black
Alternate Author Name(s): Lee, Don L.
Subject(s): African Americans


AWAY FROM HOME, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Standing in the station
Last Line: I'm drinking muddy water : sleep in a hollow log
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AWFUL FIX BLUES, by WALTER BUDDY BOY HAWKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey mama : tell me what have I done
Last Line: Now your little daddy's gone : now who you going to get to chop your wood
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AWFUL HARBINGERS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'en de big owl whoops
Last Line: Caze de 'hants' is comin' 'round
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


AWFUL MOANING BLUES--PART 1, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm: mmm
Last Line: Says I'm going to moan going to moan: till I treat my baby right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


AZIKIWE IN JAIL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The british said to azikiwe
Last Line: If you cook me!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


B AND O BLUES NO.2, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to grab me a train : I'm going back to baltimore
Last Line: Because I got another hot mama : and she lives in baltimore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


B'Y SARA BURNED DOWN, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down the rivuh an' I couldn't stay long, b'y sara burned down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


B.B. KING, by SYBIL KEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know %people everywhere
Last Line: Lord, I really, really %have paid my dues!
Subject(s): African Americans; King, B. B. (b. 1925)


BAA! BAA! BLACK SHEEP (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Poor liddle black sheep's %got no mammy
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BABY COBINA, by GLADYS MAY CASELY HAYFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brown baby cobina, with his large black velvet eyes
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BABY DOLL, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to see the doctor the other day : he said I was well as well could be
Last Line: She say you in hard luck bessie : doggone your bad-luck soul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BABY GOT THE RICKETS, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And it's one of these mornings : honey and it won't be long
Last Line: ??? Tomorrow : sing them to yourself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BABY PLEASE DON'T GO, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now baby please don't go : now baby please don't go
Last Line: Trying to leave your daddy here they got me way down here : and you don't feel my care
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BABY PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME NO MORE, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been lonesome all day : I've been grieving all night long
Last Line: All I ask you baby : please don't leave me no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BABY PLEASE LOAN ME YOUR HEART, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you know baby : you know it's true
Last Line: All you got to do : is to lone me your heart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BABY WANTS CHERRIES (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De cherries, dey're red; de cherries, dey're ripe
Last Line: An' de pickaninny sholy won't cry
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BABY, DON'T YOU LOVE ME NO MORE?, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Mmm : baby why you have to go
Last Line: Go money baby : going to use it as I like
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BABY, DON'T YOU WANT TO GO?, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : baby don't you want to go
Last Line: To that land of california : sweet old chicago
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK BITING BEE BLUES, by LEOLA B. WILSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early this morning : heard someone calling me
Last Line: I know by that : some mule is kicking in my stall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK DOOR, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh tell me mama : who's that here awhile ago
Last Line: With one leg in his pants : and his shoes in his hand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK DOOR BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says the blues come down the alley: headed up to my back door
Last Line: If you think about that old black woman: lord that led you off astray
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK DOOR BLUES, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I left my baby : standing in the back door crying
Last Line: She will take your bad treatments : and do the best she can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK DOOR BLUES, by BO JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early one morning : I set down in my door
Last Line: So she can see my name : if she never see me no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK DOOR BLUES, by JOE STONE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to buy me a little red rooster mama : put it in my back door
Last Line: And I wonder why mama : that you can't get along with me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK GNAWING BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't never loved : but three womens in my life
Last Line: If you allow me a chance : I will gnaw your backbone half in two
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK HOME BLUES, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Not sure at first
Last Line: Promising: dig you %now, catch you later
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


BACK INTO THE GARDEN, by SARAH WEBSTER FABIO    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a hell
Last Line: Your prize and %genesis
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BACK ON THE JOB, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some of these days you're going to miss me : mama lord when I'm gone
Last Line: But the next time I go strolling : just try to find you someone else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK TO THE WOODS BLUES, by CHARLIE SPAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : clock was striking four
Last Line: How my train is waiting : baby and I got to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK WATER BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: When it rained five days : and the skies turned dark as night
Last Line: There ain't no place : for a poor old girl to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACK WOODS BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got the backwoods blues : but I don't want to go back home
Last Line: Yes I'm going down there : I'm going to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BACKLASH BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mister backlash, mister backlash
Last Line: Yes, you're the one %will have the blues
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BAD BOY, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been a bad boy : didn't treat nobody right
Last Line: I ain't going to sing no more : baby that is all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD FEATURES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Blue gums an' black eyes
Last Line: Make a hole in de groun'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BAD FEELING BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got the bad feeling blues : keeps me worried all the time
Last Line: I'm going to pack my grip : leave this lonesome town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD IN MIND BLUES, by LITTLE BUDDY DOYLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boys I ain't doing no good : this slow death is killing me
Last Line: She'll forever keep you working : working with your coffin on your back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD LUCK BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now there's rouble trouble : I been having all my days
Last Line: I'd kill my sister and my brother : not a woman *break my line*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD LUCK BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want to go home : and I ain't got sufficient clothes
Last Line: Be on my way : to what you call loving tennessee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD LUCK BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey people : listen while I sing my news
Last Line: You might as well die : give your soul to the man far above
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD LUCK BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now did you hear about this bad luck : the bad luck happened just about six mon
Last Line: Now but tell them if they be good they come to see me : people on resurrection day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD LUCK CARD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Cause you don't love me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Luck; Negroes; American Blacks


BAD LUCK CARD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Cause you don't love me
Last Line: Gypsy says I'd kill my self %if I was you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Luck


BAD LUCK DICE, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe I'll try : them bad-luck dice again
Last Line: But if I ever get lucky : I swear I'll have my diamonds on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD LUCK MOAN, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bad luck in my bed : bad luck's in my home
Last Line: Somebody better come here : pretty doggone soon
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD LUCK'S MY BUDDY, by NOAH LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And it's trouble here : it's trouble in the air
Last Line: I been in trouble : ever since I been
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAD MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm a bad, bad man
Last Line: I wouldn't go to heaben if I could
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BAD MORNING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here I sit / with my shoes mismated
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BAD MORNING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here I sit %with my shoes mismated
Last Line: Lawdy-mercy! %I's frustrated!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BAD NOTION BLUES, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh I woke up this morning : sure was feeling bad
Last Line: I wouldn't mistreat my woman : for to save nobody's soul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BADLY MISTREATED MAN, by CARL MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I worked hard baby : I worked hard every day
Last Line: I've been badly mistreated : I've been drove from door to door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAHIAN DAWN, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I eat blue sky blue of bahia
Last Line: It's all the freedom I know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Freedom


BAKER'S BOY, by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: The baker's boy delivers loaves
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BAKERSHOP BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm standing in front of the bakershop : and I'm feeling lowdown in mind
Last Line: If I don't get a break soon : I'll fall dead front of this bakershop
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAKING POWDER BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got up this morning : by the rising sun
Last Line: Because I'm going to give you some more money : and I'm going to give it to you sure
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BALKY MULE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got up this morning : sure was feeling fine
Last Line: Now here come my bad cat mama : to run me away with them bad cat blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BALL AND CHAIN BLUES, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm laying in jail : my back turned to the wall
Last Line: This ball and chain : about to kill me dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BALLAD FOR PHILLIS WHEATLEY, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pretty little black girl
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Wheatley, Phillis (1753-1784)


BALLAD OF A MAN WHO'S GONE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: No money to bury him
Last Line: A poor man ain't got %no business to die
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF BOOKER T., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Booker t. %was a practical man
Last Line: Let down your bucket %where you are
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF GIN MARY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Carried me to de court
Last Line: Till licker'll let you be
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF HARRY MOORE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Florida means land of flowers
Last Line: Freedom never dies
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF JOE MEEK, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You cain't never tell
Last Line: When you see him a-sleeping, %in the sun
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF LADIES LOST AND FOUND, by MARILYN HACKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where are the women who, entre deux guerres
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Anthony, Susan Brownell (1820-1906); Blues (music); Bonheur, Rosa (1822-1899); Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle (1873-1954); De La Cruz, Juana Ines (1648-1695); Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886); Doolittle, Hilda (1886-1961); Eleanor Of A


BALLAD OF LADIES LOST AND FOUND, by MARILYN HACKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where are the women who, entre deux guerres
Last Line: And truncated a woman's chronicle, %and plain old margaret fuller died as well
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Anthony, Susan Brownell (1820-1906); Blues (music); Bonheur, Rosa (1822-1899); Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle (1873-1954); De La Cruz, Juana Ines (1648-1695); Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886); Doolittle, Hilda (1886-1961); Eleanor Of A


BALLAD OF LENIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Comrade lenin of russia
Last Line: The world is our room
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich (1870-1924); Russia


BALLAD OF LITTLE SALLIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little sallie, little sallie
Last Line: That's what we'll do
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF MARGIE POLITE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If margie polite
Last Line: It were %margie's day
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF MARY'S SON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was in the spring
Last Line: His body and his blood %redeem mine
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF NEGRO HISTORY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is so much to write about
Last Line: My race! My race!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF OZIE POWELL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Red is the alabama road
Last Line: But redder now where your life's blood flowed, %ozie! Ozie powell!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF ROOSEVELT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The pot was empty
Last Line: What's the matter here?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945)


BALLAD OF SAM SOLOMON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sam solomon said
Last Line: A negro is a man
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE BLACK SHEEP, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My brother, %he never left the old fireside
Last Line: Help me, jesus
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE FOOL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poor, poor fool! %no sense at all
Last Line: Was a fool that way
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE FORTUNE TELLER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Madam could look in your hand
Last Line: What your future meant, %couldn't tell, to save her, %where dave went
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE GIRL WHOSE NAME IS MUD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A girl with all that raising
Last Line: That if she had a chance %she'd do it again!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Pride


BALLAD OF THE GYPSY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went to the gypsy's
Last Line: But if I was a gypsy %I would take your money, too
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE HOPPY-TOAD, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ain't been on market street for nothing / with my regular washing load
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BALLAD OF THE HOPPY-TOAD, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ain't been on market street for nothing %with my regular washing load
Last Line: O hoppy-toad,' he cried
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BALLAD OF THE KILLER BOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bernice said she wanted
Last Line: Ask that woman -- %she knows why
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE LANDLORD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Landlord, landlord. / my roof has sprung a leak
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Landlords & Tenants; Negroes; American Blacks


BALLAD OF THE LANDLORD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Landlord, landlord. %my roof has sprung a leak
Last Line: Judge gives negro 90 days in county jail
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Landlords And Tenants


BALLAD OF THE MISER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He took all his money
Last Line: To a miser saving money's %too much fun
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE PAWNBROKER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This gold watch and chain
Last Line: Life! %what'll you lend
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE SEVEN SONGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Seven letters, %seven songs
Last Line: And go home to my lord %and be free
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF THE SINNER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went down the road
Last Line: Pray for me, mama
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLAD OF WALTER WHITE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now walter white
Last Line: That can pass for white
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BALLADE DES BELLES MILATRAISSES; NEW ORLEANS, 1840-1850, by ROSALIE M. JONAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tis the octoroon ball! And the halls are alight
Last Line: Are these black-hooded ghosts of the dancers we knew %on their knees at last? 'c'est pas zaffaire a
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BAMALONG BLUES, by JIM BAXTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Who's going to be : in the second bamalong
Last Line: I got the one : that I love the best
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BANJO PICKING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hush boys! Hush boys! Don't make a noise
Last Line: Sweep dat kittle wid a bran' new broom
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BANKER'S BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you got money in the bank : don't let your woman draw it out
Last Line: When I get down to the bank : and draw my money out
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BANTY ROOSTER BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to buy me a banty : put him in my back door
Last Line: I can tell my rider : if I feel her in the dark
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BANTY TIM, by JOHN MILTON HAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I reckon I git your drift, gents
Last Line: Or my name's not tilmon joy!
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks


BAPTISM, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Into the furnace let me go alone
Last Line: A stronger soul within a finer frame.
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That whiskey will cook the egg %say not so
Last Line: Maybe the egg %will cook the whiskey. %you ought to know!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BARBECUE BESS, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you come to my house : come down behind the jail
Last Line: And you can get my meat : any night at twelve
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARBECUE BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning gal : 'twixt midnight and day
Last Line: Some brownskin woman : going to be the death of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARBECUE BOB HICKS, by SYBIL KEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Could cook up a
Last Line: Cinch I don't want you
Subject(s): African Americans


BAREFOOT BILL'S HARD LUCK BLUES, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I been working : all this blasted year
Last Line: Barefooted hungry and raggedy : doggone my hard-luck soul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAREFOOT BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Papa, don't you see my shoes?
Last Line: Papa, is your money gone?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BAREFOOT BLUES, by JAYDEE SHORT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let's get stomp barefoot mama : and get drunk and run
Last Line: You're a no-good woman : you don't feel in your hard-workingman's care
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARREL HOUSE BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got the barrelhousing blues : feeling awfully dry
Last Line: Papa likes his outside women : mama likes the outside men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARREL HOUSE FLAT BLUES, by MARY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a barrelhouse flat in *eastport* : and one I st louis too
Last Line: If you women want a good time : stop by this barrlhouse flat of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARREL HOUSE WOMAN, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: My woman so lowdown : she barrelhouse all the time
Last Line: Gets her head full of whiskey : and wants to start a fight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARREL HOUSE WOMAN NO. 2, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well this barrelhouse woman : waht makes you so mean
Last Line: If you got to get drunk baby : mama please just let me be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARREL OF WHISKEY BLUES, by JAMES STUMP JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to marry : and I ain't going to settle down
Last Line: If we don't today : we will tomorrow night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BARS FIGHT, AUGUST 28, 1746, by LUCY TERRY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: August 'twas the twenty-fifth
Last Line: Was taken and carried to canada.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BASEMENT BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: The man I love : got lowdown ways for two
Last Line: But my eye is at the ??? : in the basement blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BAT! BAT! (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: If you don't want to git fersaken
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BATTERY, by JEAN COCTEAU    Poem Text                    
First Line: Sun, as the savages I adore
Last Line: Sun, delightful fire of hell.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BATTLE GROUND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The soldier said to the general
Last Line: Cause I'm the general! See?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BE MY KID BLUES, by ELIZABETH JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you be my kid : I'll be your teddy bear
Last Line: Sleep with my man : if it kills me dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BE-BOP BOYS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Imploring mecca
Last Line: With decca.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


BEALE STREET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The dream is vague
Last Line: The loss %of the dream %leaves nothing %the same
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BEALE STREET LOVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Love %is a brown man's fist
Last Line: Hit me again, %says corinda
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BEALE STREET MESS AROUND, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up early this morning : blues around my bed
Last Line: ??? : sing them to yourself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEALE TOWN BOUND, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said I'm [leaving mama, going away] : I'm going to leave you now
Last Line: You didn't have no business mama : starting this deal with me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEANS, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want no more navy beans : boys I don't want no more
Last Line: Run to the little house in the back : couldn't shut the door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Beans; Blues (music)


BEAT IT RIGHT, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some got both queens : some got both kings
Last Line: Keep on beating : it's going to take your life
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEAT YOU DOING IT, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've have the blues about my money : had the blues because I'm feeling bad
Last Line: Because there's always been some good man : to beat you doing what you're trying to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEAUMONT TO DETROIT: 1943, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Looky here, america
Last Line: Both hitler -- and jim crow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BEAUTIFUL BLACK MEN, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I wanta say just gotta say something
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BEAUTIFUL BLACK MEN, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I wanta say just gotta say something
Last Line: Black men with outasight afros
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans


BEAUTIFUL BLACK WOMEN, by AMIRI BARAKA            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Beautiful black women, fail, they act. Stop them, raining
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BEAUTIFUL BLACK WOMEN, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Beautiful black women, fail, they act. Stop them, raining
Last Line: Will you let me help you, daughter, wife-lover, will you
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BEAUTIFUL SLAVE, by GIAMBATTISTA MARINI    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Black, yes, but beautiful. Sweet paradox
Last Line: But whose dark eyes shine brighter than your day
Alternate Author Name(s): Marino, Giambattista; Marino, Giovanni Battista
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Beauty; Love - Cultural Differences; Slavery


BEAUTIFUL THE BLACK, by DEVERY C. LANDRAM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've known from all the folklore I've learned
Last Line: Shared pieces of you %- black the beautiful
Subject(s): African Americans


BEAUTY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They give to beauty here --
Last Line: Adulation, but no care
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BEAUTY, by OCTAVIA BEATRICE WYNBUSH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tis' wondrous strange in what things men find beauty
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BEAUTY SHOPPE, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Yes, girl. He was fine. All night he'd groan I love you
Last Line: He's not worth it. Girl, that nigger broke my heart
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans; Love – Unrequited; Deception; Grief


BEAUTY-LAND, by RUTH MCENERY STUART    Poem Text                    
First Line: Kiver up yo' eye, my baby, wid yo' mammy's sleeve
Last Line: Never leave 'er sleepin' baby 't all.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BEBOP, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of bebop
Last Line: The new attitude- %bebop
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


BED SLATS, by UNKNOWN+215    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I went upstairs : about four o'clock
Last Line: The gait she's carrying me : is most too fast
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BED SPRINGS BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got something to tell you : make the hair rise on your head
Last Line: I'm worried about the movements you got : and those springs trembling on your bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEDBUG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De june-bug's got de golden wing
Last Line: Good-bye, miss lize jane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BEDROOM BLUES, by SIPPIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: My room sure looks lonesome : since my good man been gone
Last Line: I thinks about my sweet man : all night long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEDSIDE BLUES, by JIM THOMPKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to be : your lowdown dog no more
Last Line: And then these women : sure take care of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEDTIME BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now when you lay down at night : call your good friend by name
Last Line: The last time I seen you : trying to make your get-away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEEDLE UM BUM, by BOB ROBINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It'll make a dumb man speak : make a lame man run
Last Line: You get a little taste : you'll want some more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEEFSTEAK WHEN I'M HONGRY, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BEEN ALL AROUN' THE WHOLE ROUN' WORL', by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BEEN MISTREATED BLUES, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a sweet woman : she done turned sour on me
Last Line: But the good lord knows : that the women don't treat me right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEER DRINKING WOMAN, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walked into a bar tavern : to give a girl a nice time
Last Line: She said daddy buy me a small bottle of beer : so I can concentrate my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEER DROPS, by MELBA JOYCE BOYD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because beer tingles
Last Line: Crushing a dandelion %skull
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BEFORE I DRESS AND SOAR AGAIN, by DONNA ALLEGRA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have a question for all the sisters
Last Line: How can your daughters grow?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


BEFORE LONG, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I had money baby : you was good to me
Last Line: Look like it *do you good somebody* : the day they saw me crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEFORE MAKING LOVE, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I move my hands over your face
Last Line: That all the bloody kingdoms rest on
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BEFORE MAKING LOVE, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I move my hands over your face
Subject(s): African Americans


BEFORE THE FEAST OF SHUSHAN, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Garden of shushan %after eden, all terrace, pool, and flower recollect thee
Last Line: Love is but desire and thy purpose fulfillment %I, thy king,so say
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BEG LEG MAMA, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now it's mama mama mama : please keep you big legs down
Last Line: When I load this carload of coal captain : I sure ain't going load no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEGGAR BOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What is there within this beggar lad
Last Line: As if fate had not bled him with her knife
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BEGGIN' BACK, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here mama : I'll be good
Last Line: Take you back : in the wintertime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BEGINNING OF A LONG POEM ON WHY I BURNED THE CITY, by LAURENCE BENFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: My city slept %through my growing up in hate
Last Line: And I went off to college %with a gasoline can
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Protest


BEING OLD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's because you are so young
Last Line: You do not understand
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BELIEVE I'LL GO BACK HOME, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe I believe : I believe I'll go back home
Last Line: And it took my baby : and it left me standing here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BELL STREET BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I live down in bell street alley : just as drunk as I can be
Last Line: Got me laying back here on my bunk : nobody in the world to go my bail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BELLS TOLL KINDLY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Many clocks in many towers
Last Line: The final hour drawing near
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BENEDICTION, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Go forth, my son
Last Line: Thy star-ways must be won!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


BENT TONES, by CAROLYN D. WRIGHT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There was a dance at the black school
Last Line: She could see floyd little %changing his shirt for the umpteenth time
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, C. D.
Subject(s): African Americans; Heat; Poverty


BEORGIA BARREL HOUSE, by BILL GAITHER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know you from georgia : but you are all right with me
Last Line: You know what I mean : give me back everything I bought
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BERTHA LEE BLUES, by ROBERT PETWAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bertha lee : you sure have been good to me
Last Line: If you do bertha lee : please lay my money down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BESSEMER BOUND BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : looking for my darn old shoes
Last Line: But I'd rather be in memphis : reading by a candle light
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BESSIE, by ALVIN BERNARD AUBERT    Poem Source                    
First Line: My gloriana
Last Line: Of our most common need
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


BESSIE SMITH'S FUNERAL, by ALVIN BERNARD AUBERT    Poem Source                    
First Line: The brief procession
Last Line: Her song is news, begins the dispensation %of the blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Funerals; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


BESSIE'S BOIL, by ROBERT WILLIAM SERVICE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Says I to my missis: 'ba goom, lass!'
Last Line: Us fellers is only the pynters, a-pyntin' the 'alls and the stairs
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


BESSIE'S MOAN, by BESSIE TUCKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey : hey hey hey hey
Last Line: Just like you found me : you can put me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BETTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Better in the quiet night
Last Line: To listen to no song at all %than hear another voice
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BETTER LEAVE THAT STUFF ALONE, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: People across the water : they're crying for meat and bread
Last Line: She's only hustling them people : to get that stuff they call that old canned heat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BETTY SUE BLUES, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Betty sue betty sue : is the sweetest girl I know
Last Line: Giving away my luggage : and trying to love me too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And one morning while in the woods I stumbled suddenly
Last Line: Now I am dry bones and my face a stony skull staring in yellow %surprise at the sun
Subject(s): African Americans


BIBLE BELT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It would be too bad if jesus
Last Line: You may be %crucified
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BIDDLE STREET BLUES, by HENRY SPAULDING    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say some strange something : is easing down on me
Last Line: Because I know my baby's there : she will take my loving on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG APPLE BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know you got some good apples : right down on mr rudolph's farm
Last Line: Now if somebody don't give me *any* something to eat pretty soon : I just as swear we won't be here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG BALL DOWN TOWN (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BIG BILL BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord my hair is a-rising : my flesh begin to crawl
Last Line: I ain't going to fix up your black *tarnation* : I ain't going to be your doggone fool
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG BOAT WHISTLE, by JOHNNIE TEMPLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I heard a mighty rumbling : and it [sound, looks] just like a passenger tra
Last Line: Now that's only this darling : ooo will you love me baby when I'm old
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG BUDDY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Big buddy, big buddy
Last Line: Don't you hear this hammer ring?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BIG CHIEF BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going away baby : take me seven long months to ride
Last Line: Big chief lord : be my daddy-in-law
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG FAT MAMA BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Crying big fat mama : meat shaking on her bones
Last Line: Mmm big fat mama : meat shaking on her bones
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG FOUR BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Big four blowed this morning : at the break of day
Last Line: I'm just trying to make it : back to that gal who is worrying my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG FOUR BLUES, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And that big four the big four : is a mean old train to ride
Last Line: You going to reach for your boiler : and your plate will be gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG HOUSE BOUND, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I never will forget the day ; they transferred me to the county jail
Last Line: I says mmm : I mean come and go my bail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG LEG BLUES, by MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Raise up baby : get your big leg off of mine
Last Line: I seen you faro : going up the right of way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG MAMA, by WALTER ROLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: She got them great big legs : she got the walking size
Last Line: But you know I never told her : she could not shake that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG NIGHT BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My feets is so cold : can't hardly wear my shoes
Last Line: Well I needs my daddy : because my clock is run down at home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG ROAD BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Crying I ain't going down : this big road by myself
Last Line: Now you think you going to do me : like you done poor cherry red
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG ROCK JAIL, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said high sheriff been here : got my girl and gone
Last Line: I don't get nothing : but the mean old high sheriff blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG SHIP BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now this big ship was a-rocking : and my body's filled with aches and pains
Last Line: Soon as we make a few more lurches : I will be right back in new york town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG SISTER, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: My sister is such an angel
Last Line: But she's an angel, too
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


BIG SISTER AND BIG BROTHER, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ziza plays her guitar
Last Line: His running shoes
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


BIG SISTER TELLS ME THAT I'M BLACK, by ARNOLD ADOFF    Poem Source                    
Last Line: That we are proud %we shout out loud
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


BIG SUR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Great lonely hills
Last Line: Mighty touchstones of song
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BIG WOMAN, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got a little bitty mama : and a big mama too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIG-TIMER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who am I? It ain't so deep:
Last Line: That's...All...I...Am
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BILLIE HOLIDAY, by ANNEMARIE EWING    Poem Source                    
First Line: She was known as lady
Last Line: Out of ginger...Hot tar...Pistachio...Gall
Alternate Author Name(s): Towner, John H., Mrs.; Towner, Annemarie Ewing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


BILLIE HOLIDAY, by LAWSON FUSAO INADA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wouldn't you know it? -- the lady has her name
Last Line: This is the lady's home %she never had
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


BILLIE HOLIDAY, by STERLING D. PLUMPP    Poem Source                    
First Line: Feel and hear.
Last Line: Major in kneeling %with my ears
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


BILLIE HOLIDAY, by HANS R. VLEK    Poem Source                    
First Line: A woman a lady
Last Line: She knows %sings
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


BILLIE IN SILK, by ANGELA JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have nothing to say to you, billie holiday
Last Line: My mouth is on fire. Let it burn
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Popular Culture - United States; Singing And Singers


BILLIKEN'S WEARY BLUES, by TEXAS BILL DAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't the moon look pretty : shining through the trees
Last Line: So when my good girl gets worried : she can sit down and talk to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BILLY DE LYE WAS A RECKLESS GAMBLER, by DEIDRE MCCALLA    Poem Source                    
Last Line: He dropped his gun and I grabbed %for my last chance
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


BILLY GOAT BLUES, by JOHN BYRD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord that harlem goat mama : sure was feeling fine
Last Line: With my head on a pillow : where my goat lord used to lay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIRD FEATHERS: WHY'D THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Piggy, stop!
Last Line: Yeah, charlie yardbird
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


BIRD IN ORBIT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: De -- %delight -- %delighted! Introduce me to eartha
Last Line: Soaking up the music %music
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BIRD IN THE CAGE, by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am not better than my brother over the way
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BIRD NEST BOUND, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come on mama : out to the edge of town
Last Line: You don't need no telling : mama take me in your car
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BIRMINGHAM 1963, by RAYMOND RICHARD PATTERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sunday morning and her mother's hands
Last Line: Alone amid the rubble, amid the people %who perish, being innocent
Alternate Author Name(s): Patterson, Ray
Subject(s): African Americans; Birmingham, Alabama; Social Protest


BIRMINGHAM SUNDAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Four little girls %who went to sunday school that day
Last Line: As yet unfelt among magnolia trees
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BIRTH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, fields of wonder
Last Line: To make %some word %to tell
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Life Change Events


BIRTH IN A NARROW ROOM, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Weeps out of western country something new
Last Line: And where the bugs buzz by in private cars %across old peach cans and old jelly jars
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Birth


BIRTH OF THE BLUES, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of the blues
Last Line: I see the birth of the blues %in people emancipated but not yet free
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


BIRTHDAY, by HILDA VEST    Poem Source                    
First Line: Born %on the winds
Last Line: Your warmth gusting %like forced blooms
Subject(s): African Americans


BITTER FRUIT OF THE TREE, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They said to my grandmother: 'please do not be bitter.'
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


BITTER FRUIT OF THE TREE, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They said to my grandmother: 'please do not be bitter.'
Last Line: All you need to know is: you must not be bitter
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism


BITTER LOVERS' QUARREL - ONE SIDE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: You nasty dog. You dirty dog
Last Line: I thinks myse'f above you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BITTER RIVER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a bitter river
Last Line: I'm tired of the bitter river! %tired of the bars!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Lynching


BLACK ACE, by BUCK TURNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am the black ace : I'm the boss card in your hand
Last Line: Because I'd be a good fellow : mama if you would please let me stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK ANACHRONISM, by LINWOOD M. ROSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jamal was %a starving, black poet
Last Line: Deep in throws of %a gherri curl town
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK AND EVIL BLUES, by ALICE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm black and I'm evil : and I did not make myself
Last Line: As you wish on every *no-good* star : *bring here your baby to me*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK ANGEL BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a sweet black angel : I like the way he spread his wings
Last Line: He's got a new way of getting goose : and he sure can shake that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK ANIMA, by NORMAN J. LOFTIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Spiked cadillacs with silver teeth
Last Line: The void jetting in
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music And Musicians


BLACK ANNIE, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I stood on the corner mama: and I looked for two blocks and a half
Last Line: Lord if you don't live with me mama: well you ain't going to live with nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK ART, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poems are bullshit unless they are
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


BLACK ART, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poems are bullshit unless they are
Last Line: And let all black people speak this poem %silently %or loud
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


BLACK ARTS, by JAN LEE ANDE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I adore the pitch black nature of life
Last Line: How still the waters are in the dark wine %of the womb
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Art And Artists; Nature; Paintings And Painters


BLACK BABY, by ANITA SCOTT COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The baby I hold in my arms is a black baby
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BLACK BACK-UPS, by KATE RUSHIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: This is dedicated to merry clayton, fontella bass, vonetta
Last Line: Do - do %do
Alternate Author Name(s): Rushin, Donna Kate
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; African Americans - Women; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Popular Culture - United States; Singing And Singers; Women's Rights


BLACK BOTTOM HOP, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: First you get over *town* : ???
Last Line: They'll break up the dance : with a battle royal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK BOURGEOISIE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Has a gold tooth, sits long hours
Last Line: Him black self
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BLACK BOURGEOISIE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Has a gold tooth, sits long hours
Last Line: Hates, instead, him self %him black self
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK CAT BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a big black cat : sitting in my back door
Last Line: I got one-eyed cats : everywhere I go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK CAT SWING, by UNKNOWN+208    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes you is one black rat : some day I'll find your trail
Last Line: Trapped in ??? : I'm going to catch him some day soon
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK CHRISTMAS, by DUBOSE HEYWARD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is cruel for a woman with her man gone
Last Line: "an' the younguns allas hungry, an' winter comin' on."
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas; Negroes; American Blacks; Nativity, The


BLACK CHURCHES BURNING, by SALVATORE GALIOTO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Patriotic, family oriented %religious, angry white men
Last Line: Hey mom, pass me the bottle %and the gasoline
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Churches; Fire


BLACK CLOWN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You laugh %because I'm poor and black and funny --
Last Line: But now -- %I'm a man
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK DADA NIHILISMUS, by AMIRI BARAKA            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Against what light / is false what breath
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BLACK DADA NIHILISMUS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Against what light %is false what breath
Last Line: Against his lost white children %black dada nihilismus
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK DANCERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We %who have nothing to lose
Last Line: Lest our laughter %goes from %us
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK DANDY, by ELIAS MIGUEL MUNOZ    Poem Source                    
First Line: He collects hats
Last Line: Can hear his voice, his wolf bites, the %grinding of his teeth. The applause
Subject(s): African Americans; California; Entertainers


BLACK DOG BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me tell you mama : what my black dog done done to me
Last Line: Because you got the nerve : to leave my good woman to cry
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK DRAFTEE FROM DIXIE, by CARRIE WILLIAMS CLIFFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Upon his dull ear fell the stern command
Last Line: Where from the hell of war he never flinched %because he cried, 'democracy' was lynched
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BLACK EVIL BLUES, by ALICE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I'm black and I'm evil : and I did not make *myself*
Last Line: You will turn over and hug a pillow : where your daddy used to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK EYE BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take all my money : blacken both my eyes
Last Line: Give it to another man : come home and tell me lies
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK FACES, by ANITA SCOTT COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love black faces
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BLACK GAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I's always been a workin' girl
Last Line: Oh, god, I wants him back
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK GAL SWING, by SON BONDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now a yellow gal rides in an automobile : a brownskin gal rides the same
Last Line: But a black girl spit bacca juice *shoo* snuff all on your lips : oh loving you just the same
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK GAL WHAT MAKES YOUR HEAD SO HARD?--NO.2, by JOE PULLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : couldn't even get out of my bed
Last Line: And if I see you with another woman : I would rather kill myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK GIRL FULO, by JORGE MATEUS DE LIMA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now it so happened she came
Last Line: That black girl fulo!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Brazil; Rape; Slavery


BLACK GODDESS, by KATE RUSHIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am not a black goddess
Last Line: Do you know what I mean?
Alternate Author Name(s): Rushin, Donna Kate
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


BLACK GYPSY BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My woman must be a black gypsy : she knows every place I go
Last Line: I asked her for water : and she brought me gasoline
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK HEARSE BLUES, by MONETTE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old death wagon : don't you dare stop at my door
Last Line: I'm just using him up : on the old ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK HORSE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: [tell me, I want to know] what time : do the trains come through your town
Last Line: Sugar the blues ain't on me : but things ain't getting on right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK IS BEST, by LARRY THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
Last Line: But I keep saying: %black is best
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK JAM FOR DR. NEGRO, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pullin me in off the corner to wash my face an
Last Line: Puked an rotten %waitin' to be defended
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK JESS, by PETER KANE DUFAULT    Poem Source                    
First Line: He was no good. Somewhere
Last Line: One day in the marine atlases of the world to designate %a dot on long island sound
Subject(s): African Americans; Long Island (n.y.); Wanderers And Wandering


BLACK MAMMY'S LULLABY, 1855, by WIGHTMAN FLETCHER MELTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Go t' sleep, li'l honey, white chile
Last Line: Good-night, white chile, good-night.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BLACK MAN IS MAKING NEW GODS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Atheist jews double crossers stole our secrets crossed
Last Line: In a cold box
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism


BLACK MAN SPEAKS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I swear to the lord
Last Line: Old jim crow's sorrow?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK MAN TALKS OF REAPING, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have sown beside all waters in my day
Last Line: They have not sown, and feed on bitter fruit
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK MARE BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hitch up my buggy : saddle up my black mare
Last Line: Says you going to have : a rounder for your own
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK MARIA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Must be the black maria
Last Line: And a new day, %yes a new day's %done begun!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK MATTIE BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh black mattie : where did you stay last night
Last Line: Now the day that you quit me : I won't be mad with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK MEN, by LUCIA TRENT    Poem Text                    
First Line: Swift gusts of hollow night wind clatter by
Last Line: A bitter scorn for those who hung them there.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cheyney, Mrs. Ralph; Glass, Mrs. Ernest
Subject(s): African Americans; Justice; Lynching; Negroes; American Blacks


BLACK MEN SINGING, by ELMO RUSS    Poem Text                    
First Line: I have known nights made wonderful with song
Last Line: Is lost forever, song born out of fright!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Labor & Laborers; Work; Workers


BLACK MINNIE, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black minnie black minnie : you know you ain't doing me right
Last Line: And if you don't do : I'm going to break your neck a-trying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK MOTHER PRAYING, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My great god. You been a tenderness to me
Last Line: Touch the fulness and the hallelujah together
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK MOTHER WOMAN, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I cannot recall you gentle
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers & Daughters; Women


BLACK MOTHER WOMAN, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I cannot recall you gentle
Last Line: To define myself %through your denials
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers And Daughters; Women


BLACK MOUNTAIN BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Back in black mountain %a child will smack your face
Last Line: I'm out here for trouble %I've got the black mountain blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK PANTER BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby thinks she's a black panther : she want to climb up in a tree and jump
Last Line: Now but some day she going to meet the lion : she ain't going to even have no place to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK PANTHER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pushed into the corner
Last Line: Of the oldest %lies
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK PARENT TO CHILD, by NAOMI FLOWE FAUST    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your world's wide open
Last Line: The world's wide open, child; %walk right in
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


BLACK PEOPLE, by THEODORE JOANS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see black people
Last Line: We the black people should be glad
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK POET, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How we are nourished by
Last Line: From thorn trees %that were supposed to die
Subject(s): African Americans; Hughes, Langston (1902-1967)


BLACK PONY BLUES, by ARTHUR BIG BOY CRUDUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a coal-black mare : but lord how that horse can run
Last Line: Well I'll follow that horse : man in any land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK PRIDE, by MARGARET GOSS BURROUGHS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black pride, black pride, we remember well %how beautiful you used to be
Last Line: Like moses, you will lead our people over %and through
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BLACK ROCK, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of rock 'n' roll
Last Line: I see the rhythm of rock 'n' roll %in the energy of the age of aquarius
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


BLACK SATIN STALLION, by PHAVIA KUGICHAGULIA    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Onyx jewel %you
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK SEED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: World-wide dusk
Last Line: Tell them to leave you alone!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK SISTER, by KATTIE M. CUMBO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black skin against bright green
Last Line: And boy, you have now become a man. So brother, %proclaim the beauty that you see, in your black sis
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BLACK SKUNK BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I caught a pretty little animal : it was striped black and white
Last Line: He as pretty as a white dog : but he ain't worth a doggone dime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK SNAKE BLUES, by LOUIS WASHINGTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm crying oh : where in the world my black snake gone
Last Line: I'm crying oh now : black snake crawling all on my room
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK SNAKE DREAM BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black snake is deceitful : crawling in all in my bed
Last Line: But I'm getting tired of that black snake : lying in my baby's arms
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK SNAKE MOAN, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey : ain't got no mama now
Last Line: Lord that black snake mama : done run my darling home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK SNAKE SWING, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: That is some black snake : trying to get the best of me
Last Line: Mmm : baby you really made me sore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK SOLDIER REMEMBERS, by HORACE COLEMAN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My saigon daughter I saw only once
Last Line: Silly hats she sells americans and %I have nothing she needs but the %sad smile she already has
Alternate Author Name(s): Shaka Aku Shango
Subject(s): African Americans; Soldiers; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975


BLACK SOUL OF THE LAND, by LANCE JEFFERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw an old black men walk down the road
Last Line: One day the nation's soul shall turn black like yours %and america shall cease to be its name
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK TRAIN BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: My heart is filled with pain : I believe I can't be trained
Last Line: That's the same black train : that left me in this pain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK WOMAN, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
Last Line: I must not give you birth!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


BLACK WOMAN, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: My hair is springy like the forest grasses
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BLACK WOMAN, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My hair is springy like the forest grasses
Last Line: Where %are my beautiful %black men?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BLACK WOMAN IS LIKE A BLACK SNAKE, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: A black woman is like a black snake : she will strike and run
Last Line: Because a black girl's evil : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLACK WORKERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The bees work
Last Line: But it won't last %forever
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR LUCK (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One time I went a-huntin'
Last Line: An' 'possum come your way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BLACKBERRY SWEET, by DUDLEY RANDALL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Black girl black girl %lips as curved as cherries
Last Line: The heart in my breast %jump - stop - shake
Variant Title(s): Black Magi
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BLACKSMITH, by MONIFA ATUNGAYE    Poem Source                    
First Line: In chambers filled with bluenote hieroglyphics
Last Line: Flowering in melting nights of love
Subject(s): African Americans


BLACKSTONE RANGERS: 2. THE LEADERS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jeff. Gene. Geronimo. And bop
Last Line: Construct, strangely, a monstrous pearl or grace
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


BLACKSTONE RANGERS: 3. GANG GIRLS; A RANGERETTE, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gang girls are sweet exotics
Last Line: The rhymes of leaning
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BLACKWOMAN POEMS, SELS., by HAKI R. MADHUBUTI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Soft: the way her eyes view her children
Last Line: Sure: as yesterday, she's tomorrow's tomorrow
Alternate Author Name(s): Lee, Don L.
Variant Title(s): Blackwoman Poems: Soft, Hard, Warm, Sur
Subject(s): African Americans


BLAKE'S WORRIED BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : worried in my mind
Last Line: That's a bow-legged woman : crazy about a cross-eyed man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLESSING WITH COMPANY PRESENT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh lawd now bless an' bin' us
Last Line: Don't let none hongry fin' us
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BLESSING WITHOUT COMPANY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh lawd have mussy now upon us
Last Line: Dey eats mos' all our victuals from us
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BLIND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am blind. %I cannot see
Last Line: Of one like me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLIND LEMON'S PENITENTIARY BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take fort worth for you dressing : and dallas all for your sal
Last Line: They got walls at the state penitentiary : you can't jump man as hard as you try
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLIND MAN BLUES, by SARA MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to marry : I ain't going to settle down
Last Line: Every time she shimmies : a skinny woman leaves her home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLIND PIG BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me in please charlie : no one here but me
Last Line: I'm loaded down with bootleg : like to make them yammies bawl
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLINDFOLD PLAY CHANT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh blin' man! Oh blin' man!
Last Line: Did you thought dat you'd cotch us, %mistah blin' man?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BLOCK AND TACKLE, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: My babe got a block and tackle : and I swear I can't get away
Last Line: But if you don't want your good gal : ooo well now she will put a block and tackle on you too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLOOD RHYTHMS - BLOOD CURRENTS - BLACK N' BLUE STYLIN, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Fragrant breezes in the south
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans; Freedom; Conduct Of Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty


BLOODKNOT, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Maybe you knew before
Last Line: Through memories window
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors And Ancestry; Death; Memory


BLUE BAYOU, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went walkin'
Last Line: Down, %down, %lawd, I saw the sun go down!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUE BIRD BLUES--PART 1, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I wonder where is my bluebird : wonder where is my bluebird gone
Last Line: Now because a good bluebird now babe : peoples I just do swear they's hard to find
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUE COAT BLUES, by BLUE COAT TOM NELSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey baby : see what you have done
Last Line: For I believe : some dirty rascal stole my jellyroll
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUE EYE, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: So many are trying to get what you
Last Line: And raw, unpolished gem of my desire
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Slavery


BLUE GHOST BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : something cold is creeping around
Last Line: My lover's ghost has got me : and I know my time won't be long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUE GHOST BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : I feel myself sinking down
Last Line: They worry me so in this haunted house : I wish I was dead and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUE GOOSE BLUES, by JESSIE BABYFACE THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I lose : I'm going get some more
Last Line: You find blue goose : happen to carry you down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUE ISLAND, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: The snow blew
Last Line: Yards of blue island
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Culture Conflict; Ku Klux Klan; Racism; U.s. - Race Relations


BLUE KENTUCKY BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can always tell : when your best man don't want you around
Last Line: Tell her the folks up here : won't let my kentucky man alone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT, by PEARL CLEAGE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Flashback! Flashback! Flashback! %in high school we used to say
Last Line: And wondering what possible sweetness life had to offer %that could be finer than this
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUE MONDAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: No use in my going
Last Line: That old blue monday %will surely get you down
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUE SPIRIT BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Had a dream last night : that I was dead
Last Line: Run so fast : till someone woke me up
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUEBIRD BLUES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bluebird bluebird : please fly down south for me
Last Line: If I can't see you today : it'll be all right tomorrow night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When the shoe strings break
Last Line: That's the blues, too, and bad!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUES AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT...???, by GEORGIA+(2) WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh the blues ain't nothing : but a woman want to see her man
Last Line: Falling out with your man : you feel like leaving town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES ALABAMA, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She's blacker
Last Line: A blessing of hatred
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; African Americans - Women


BLUES AND BITTERNESS, by JR. LERONE BENNETT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ice tinkled in glasses
Last Line: I wondered why mama begat me- %and I started to give god his ticket back
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUES AT DAWN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't dare start thinking in the morning
Last Line: If I recall the day before, %I wouldn't get up no more %so I don't dare start remembering in the mor
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUES BEFORE SUNRISE, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had the blues before sunrise : with tears standing in my eyes
Last Line: I'm going to buy me a hard-shooting pistol : and put her in her grave
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES EVERYWHERE I GO, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well well it's blues : it's blues everywhere I go
Last Line: And the blues in my bed : because I'm sleeping by myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES FANTASY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hey! Hey! %that's what the %blues singers say
Last Line: Hey! ... Hey! %laugh a loud, %hey! Hey!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUES FOR BESSIE, by MYRON O'HIGGINS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Let de peoples known (unnh) / what they did in dat southern town
Last Line: Wid de blood (lawd) a-streamin' down
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Racism; Singing & Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937); Social Protest; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


BLUES FOR HAROLD, by RAY BREMSER    Poem Source                    
First Line: You took
Last Line: Blow now / harold; %take yr/solo ...
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Drugs And Drug Abuse; Jazz; Music And Musicians


BLUES HARVEST BLUES, by MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Standing on the mountain : far as I can see
Last Line: With my heavy burden : lord I wished I was dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES IN D, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I'm going and I'm going : and your crying won't make me stay
Last Line: ??? Shoulders : nice and cute through the waist
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES IN STEREO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your number's coming out!
Last Line: My tv keeps on snowing
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUES IS ALL WRONG, by LEOLA MANNING    Poem Source                    
First Line: *feel like voting* : fall in line
Last Line: You got the *train* : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES NOTE, by BOB KAUFMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ray charles is the black wind of kilimanjaro
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Charles, Ray (b. 1930)


BLUES NOTE, by BOB KAUFMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ray charles is the black wind of kilimanjaro
Last Line: Ray charles is a dangerous man ('way cross town), %and I love him
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Charles, Ray (b. 1930)


BLUES ON A BOX, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Play your guitar, boy
Last Line: Ain't no more!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BLUES ON CENTRAL AVENUE, by JOE TURNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm in the land of sunshine : standing on central avenue
Last Line: I'll always remember : I met you on central avenue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BLUES WITHOUT A DIME, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bad luck and trouble : and the blues without a dime
Last Line: Because every day's like sunday : I mean she's always got a dollar in her hand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BO BO STOMP, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come on boy : let's go down on tenth street
Last Line: Boy you liable to slip up : and fall on your yas yas yas
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BO CARTER SPECIAL, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bo carter is a man : broadcasts all over this land
Last Line: But to that broadcasting bo carter : their women they are bound to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BO CARTER'S ADVICE, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here men : what bo carter say for you to do
Last Line: Just learn to live a bachelor : then you play safe the first
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BO-WEAVIL BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey boll weevil : don't sing the blues no more
Last Line: That bug is so evil : I'm afraid it might poison me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOARDING HOUSE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The graveyard is the
Last Line: Let the graveyard be the %cheapest boarding house
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BOB LEE JUNIOR BLUES, by JENNIE CLAYTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can't sleep for dreaming : and I can't stay awake for crying
Last Line: But the same train carried him : going to bring him back some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOB MCKINNEY, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: One of these mornings : won't be long
Last Line: I'm looking for that bully : and that bully can't be found
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOB-WHITE'S SONG (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: At can -! Dle -! Light!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BODY & SOUL, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: A band of men: clan
Last Line: His splendorous cape
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


BODY AND SOUL (TAKE 1), by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: 29-aug
Last Line: Live, she said, for him
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


BODY AND SOUL (TAKE 2), by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Abandon all hype
Last Line: Not inductee, but goat. Butt %altar meat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


BOLLY-O (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down in de hills an' a 'bolly-o'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BOMBINGS IN DIXIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's not enough to mourn
Last Line: That men be burned to death - %and bless the fire
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BONDS FOR ALL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Buy a bond for grandma --
Last Line: With war bonds for all
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; War Bonds


BONDS: IN MEMORIAM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Eddie and charlie and jack and ted
Last Line: Keep looking that way
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BOODIE BUM BUM, by CHARLIE BURSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh tell me baby : where did you stay last night
Last Line: You don't know how to boodle-bum-bum : I know you didn't do it nohow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOODLE-DE-BUM BUM, by BLIND BOGUS BEN COVINGTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down in the alley : trying to sell my coke today
Last Line: And jackson got down like a raindeer : and he runned her some
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOOGER BOOGER BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I drived to the station : woman I bid you all adieu
Last Line: If you ever shift that habit : now I can't keep my business straight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOOGIE: 1 A.M., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Good evening, daddy! / I know you've heard
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BOOGIE: 1 A.M., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Good evening, daddy! %I know you've heard
Last Line: And twining the bass %into midnight ruffles %of cat-gut lace
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BOOKER T. AND W.E.B., by DUDLEY RANDALL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It seems to me,' said booker t
Last Line: I don't agree,' %said w.E.B.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - History; Du Bois, William Edward B. (1868-1963); Reform And Reformers; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915); Writing And Writers


BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: The word is writ that he who runs may read
Last Line: Like the keen prow of some on-forging ship.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915); Black Heritage


BOOKER T. WASHINGTON'S METAPHOR ABOUT SPRING, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: The house will clear out and the sun will flood over
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Spring; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915)


BOOSTER BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My right foot itches : something going on wrong
Last Line: I'm fixing to leave town : and hang crepe on your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOOTIN' ME 'BOUT, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a brownskin mama : she built right to the ground
Last Line: Because I'm a fool about that woman : don't want nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOOTLEG RUM DUM BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love my whiskey : crazy about it as I can be
Last Line: If you see me reeling : mama go hide in your trunk
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOOTLEGGING BLUES, by JIM JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: This corn liquor ??? : there's plenty more to be made
Last Line: I haven't nothing so long as corn liquor lasts : and I got no money to spend
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BORDER LINE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I used to wonder / about living and dying
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BORDER LINE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I used to wonder %about living and dying
Last Line: I think the distance %is nowhere
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BOSTON YEAR, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: My first week in cambridge a car full of white boys
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Alienation (social Psychology); Americans; Boston; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dissenters; Exiles; Marginality, Social; United States; Estrangement; Outcasts; America


BOSTON YEAR, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My first week in cambridge a car full of white boys
Last Line: No one. Red notes sounding in a grey trolley town
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Alienation (social Psychology); Americans; Boston; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dissenters; Exiles; Marginality, Social; United States


BOTHER BEN AND SISTER SAL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole br'er ben's a mighty ole man
Last Line: Don't you see dat ole gray goose %a-smilin' at de gander?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BOTHERIN' THAT THING, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to my window : my window was *cracked*
Last Line: Bothering that thing : is going to kill you dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOTTLED, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Upstairs on the third floor / of the 135th street library / in harlem
Last Line: Gee, that poor shine!
Variant Title(s): Bottled: New York
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BOUGHT ME A WIFE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bought me a wife an' de wife please me
Last Line: My cat go: 'fiddle-toe! Fiddle-toe!'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BOUND NO'TH BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Goin' down the road, lawd
Last Line: Fit fer a hoppin' toad.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (mood); Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


BOUND TO PUT ON AIRS (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love dat gal dat deey call suze ann
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BOUQUET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gather quickly
Last Line: Before they melt %like snow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BOX CAR BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every time : I see a railroad track
Last Line: Ride me ride me : sooth my boxcar blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BOY FRIEND BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm alone : traveling by myself
Last Line: Ever since you been gone : you sure is worrying me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BRAG AND BOAST, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brag is a big dog
Last Line: He hain't never no worker
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BRAND NEW CLOTHES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My mama told me
Last Line: With my brand new %clothes on
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BRASS SPITTOONS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Clean the spittoons, boy
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BRASS SPITTOONS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Clean the spittoons, boy
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BREAD BAKER, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: She's got a bed in her bedroom : it shines like a morning star
Last Line: Because in your kitchen baby : it's where the good stuff can be found
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BREAK 'EM ON DOWN, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes I'm a gambling man : still gambling yet
Last Line: Take them down boys : because you know this stuff is here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BREATH OF A ROSE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Love is like dew
Last Line: Than the breath of a rose
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BRIDGE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have forgotten the head
Last Line: (when you have let the song run out) will be sliding through %unmentionable black
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


BRIDLE UP A RAT (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Down go de baby wid 'is big straw hat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BRIDWELL BLUES, by NOLAN WELSH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was standing on the corner : did not mean no harm
Last Line: I said don't do me this a-way people : you know I been here before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BRIEF ENCOUNTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was lookin' for a sandwich, judge
Last Line: She was de wrongest thing, judge, %that I ever had
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BRING ON YOUR HOT CORN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bring along yo hot co'n
Last Line: I loves dat jimmy-john
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BRING THEM HOME, by ANEB KGOSITSILE    Poem Source                    
First Line: 350 thousand gone
Last Line: Father, brother, son, prisoners of war - %bring them home
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


BROADCAST ON ETHIOPIA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The little fox is still
Last Line: In headlines all year long %ethiopia -- tragi-song
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BROADCAST TO THE WEST INDIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hello, jamaica! %hello, haiti!
Last Line: Hello,! Hello! %hello, west indies
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BROADWAY ST. WOMAN BLUES, by ALICE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was standing on the corner : just between broadway and main
Last Line: And the judge said hold you head up : for you are bound to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Uh! I sho am tired
Last Line: Yes, um-hum! You sho is sweet! Can you pay fo de license, dear? %'cause I'm broke
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BROKE AND HUNGRY, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am broke and hungry : ragged and dirty too
Last Line: So I can leave at once : and hunt me somewhere else to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKE DOWN ENGINE, by LONNIE CLARK    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you ever been down mama : you know just how I feel
Last Line: Go out on some railroad track : and rob your daddy a passenger train
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKE DOWN ENGINE, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Feel like a broke down engine : mama ain't got no driving-wheel
Last Line: Can I get off *sneak living and tapping* : playing tip light across your floor
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKE DOWN ENGINE BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Feel like a broke down engine : ain't got no driving-wheel
Last Line: If you's a real hot mama : drive away daddy's weeping spell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKE MAN BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I dreamed last night now : that my old shack was falling down
Last Line: And a since I been a broke man : nobody seems to want to go my way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKE MAN BLUES, by SYLVESTER PALMER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know just how baby : lord a broke man feels
Last Line: Because I been broke baby : and I got these broke man blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKE MAN'S BLUES, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just another evening : wasted away
Last Line: If I could get you back : mama I wouldn't need nothing more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKEN BUSTED BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got those broken busted blues : I feel bad
Last Line: I've got those can't be treated blues : gee I'm sad
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKEN HEARTED BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm broke and I'm hungry : ragged and I'm dirty too
Last Line: Now when your big dog comes : I want you to tell him what your little dog done done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKEN-HEARTED MAN, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Minutes seem like hours : and hours seem like years
Last Line: Now I ain't never loved no woman : like I loved you yet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROKEN-HEARTED, RAGGED AND DIRTY TOO, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm broken-hearted : ragged and dirty too
Last Line: You know I'm bound to ??? : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BRONZE LEGACY (TO A BROWN BOY), by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tis a noble gift to be brown, all brown
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BRONZEVILLE MOTHER LOITERS IN MISSISSIPPI, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the first it had been like a %ballad
Last Line: The rest of the rugged music. %the last quatrain
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BRONZEVILLE WOMAN IN A RED HAT, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They had never had one in the house before
Last Line: Child, big black woman, pretty kitchen towels
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Household Employees; Servants; Domestics; Maids


BRONZEVILLE WOMAN IN A RED HAT, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They had never had one in the house before
Last Line: Child, big black woman, pretty kitchen towels
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Household Employees


BROOKLYN BLUES, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Since we been apart : ??? Seems strange to me
Last Line: You going to want me baby : just for company
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROOKLYN ELDER, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bones bent and curled
Last Line: A three legged bop, over rugged ice
Subject(s): African Americans; Memory; Old Age


BROTHER BAPTIS' ON WOMAN SUFFRAGE, by ROSALIE M. JONAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When hit come ter de question er de female vote
Last Line: Case de tears er de mudder, nur de sign, er da cross %ain't shame all de debbil yit, outen de boss!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


BROTHER JAMES, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brother james went out riding : riding in that twenty-nine ford
Last Line: I will be at the *official table* : ooo well when *they send* brother james *my way*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROTHERLY LOVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In line of what my folks say in montgomery
Last Line: I'm gonna love you -- yes, I will! Or bust!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BROTHERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We're related you and I
Last Line: You from africa, %I from the u.S.A. %brothers you and I
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BROWN AESTHETE SPEAKS, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: No: I am neither seeking to change nor keep myself
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


BROWN AND YELLOW WOMAN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to get me a brownskin woman : lord and let all the yellow ones go
Last Line: I was so glad of that : ooo well I didn't like her lowdown ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROWN BABY, by JR. OSCAR BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brown baby, brown baby, as you grow up I
Last Line: Live in a better world %brown baby
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


BROWN BOMBER, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fist: joe louis the brown
Last Line: Fighting from radio to radio
Subject(s): African Americans; Boxing And Boxers; Louis, Joe (1914-1981); Sports


BROWN GIRL DEAD, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: With two white roses on her breasts
Last Line: To see herself tonight
Subject(s): African Americans


BROWN RIVER, SMILE, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is a new america
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


BROWN RIVER, SMILE, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is a new america
Last Line: It is a new america, %to be spiritualized by each new american
Subject(s): African Americans


BROWN SKIN GIRL, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I got a brownskin [girl, woman] : with her front tooth crowned with gold
Last Line: Just a little bit of loving : and then you can be gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROWN SKIN GIRLS, by CRIPPLE CLARENCE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got a gang of brownskin womens : bunch of high yellows too
Last Line: She wears a bearcat skin : she got a suit of navy blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROWN-SKIN, by CHARLES ELMER HUBER    Poem Text                    
First Line: Everywhere a black face beams
Last Line: Is that brown skin.
Subject(s): African Americans; Culture Conflict; Negroes; American Blacks


BROWNSKIN MAMA BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brownskin mama : what in the world you want me to do
Last Line: That's the reason why : I'm moaning these brownskin mama blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BROWNSVILLE BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I can straighten your wires : you know poor vasser can grind your valves
Last Line: Because I'm acquainted with john law : and they won't let me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUCK AND BERRY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Buck an' berry run a race
Last Line: So he died wid choleree
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BUCK-EYED RABBIT! WHOOPEE! (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat squir'l, he's a cunnin' thing
Last Line: Squir'l's got a long way to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BUCKET'S GOT A HOLE IN IT, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you walking down thirty-first street : you had better look around
Last Line: Going to drink good liquor : and let all women be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUDDIE BROWN BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Captain rung the bell this morning : just at the break of day
Last Line: Says I'm going to eat my breakfast : please and lay back down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUDDY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That kid's my buddy
Last Line: Anything he wants out of it
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BUDGET, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I lives to see nex' spring
Last Line: I'se gwineter spen' my money on myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BUG JUICE BLUES, by KID PRINCE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Love my bug juice : just as crazy about it as I can be
Last Line: ??? : mama I'm going to hide in your trunk
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUILT RIGHT ON THE GROUND, by BLIND DARBY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I never cried : till my baby got on the train
Last Line: Little babe done quit me : and I'll give on up to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUKKA'S JITTERBUG SWING, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey come on you women : let's a-do the jitterbug swing
Last Line: Hey : please ma'am don't say uh-oh
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BULL COW, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: If you got you a bullcow : *feed her morning grass*
Last Line: I been all out in the country : with my big bell on
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BULL COW BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you got a good bullcow : better feed him every day
Last Line: Lord at daybreak call me baby : you'll find your bullcow gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BULL DOZE BLUES, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going away babe : and it won't be long
Last Line: If you don't believe I'm sinking : look what a fool I've been
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BULL FROG BLUES, by WILLIE HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Have you ever woke up with them bullfrogs on your mind
Last Line: The sun going to shine : in my back door some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BULL FROG BLUES, by JENNY POPE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey hey hey : bullfrog blues is really on my mind
Last Line: And you can cook a breakfast : right on my brand new stove
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BULLFROG PUT ON THE SOLDIER CLOTHES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: An' de bullfrog shoot at 'em all nex' day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BUMBLE BEE, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bumblebee bumblebee : where is you been so long
Last Line: It's all I want now : my bumblebee just to stay at home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUMBLE BEE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bumblebee bumblebee : won't you please come back to me
Last Line: He had me to the place : where I wish to god that I could die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUNKER HILL BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now old bunker hill : place that I [long, wants] to stay
Last Line: If you don't treat me right mama : you can't *treat* nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BURDEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is not weariness
Last Line: To song without sound
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


BURY THEM, by HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Bury the dragon's teeth!
Last Line: Fighting against great god.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Fort Wagner, Battle Of (1863); Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers; United States - History


BURYING GROUND BLUES, by MOOCH RICHARDSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I went up on the mountain : give my horn a blow
Last Line: Lord these ain't like the shoes I got on the gutter : hole right in the bottom
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUS RIDER BLUES, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going the catch that old greyhound : going to ride from town going to ride from
Last Line: Then I will be your santy claus : says even if my whiskers says even if my whiskers ain't white
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUSCHER GARDEN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: All a night, me da watch a brother wayrum
Last Line: Me a beg a me buscher a pardon
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BUSHMAN, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It is a long night, I have
Last Line: Black, %triple %vision %never leaves
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Basquiat, Jean-michel (1960-1988); Freedom; Paintings And Painters; Puerto Rico; Slavery


BUSINESS OF PURSUIT: SAN MALO'S PRAYER: 1, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You walk the high road
Last Line: Your dying prayer, %brother
Subject(s): African Americans


BUSINESS OF PURSUIT: SAN MALO'S PRAYER: 2, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The night is a bastard gleaming
Last Line: I call my prayers about me and I act
Subject(s): African Americans


BUSINESS OF PURSUIT: SAN MALO'S PRAYER: 3, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The night is long
Last Line: A-slashing and a-hacking through the dark
Subject(s): African Americans


BUSINESS OF PURSUIT: SAN MALO'S PRAYER: 4, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Big river %big muddy
Last Line: And black as night
Subject(s): African Americans


BUSINESS OF PURSUIT: SAN MALO'S PRAYER: 5, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I say it is all the same
Last Line: I set my light on the altar of san malo
Subject(s): African Americans


BUST UP BLUES, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : couldn't even walk in my shoes
Last Line: Now that's the thanks you give me : you left me with those bust up blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUSY BOOTIN', by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Busy bootin : and you can't come in
Last Line: You tell what you see : don't you call my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUTTER AND EGG MAN BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody in town : got a butter and egg man but me
Last Line: Because my weakness is pretty women : keep me with the butter and egg blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BUTTERFLY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pretty liddle butterfly, yaller as de gold
Last Line: But you know I'se bound to git you, yet, my liddle butterfly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BUY FLOWERS FOR ME, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: When but a small lad, I had a bad dad
Last Line: Til death came and carried him away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BY THE MOON AND STARS, by LOUISE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: ??? : I saw the moon go down
Last Line: Now I just want to tell you : black man how you have treated me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BYANSWAH-BYANSWAHN OR A BOAT SONG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh boat, come back to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


BYE BYE BABY BLUES, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Which a-way which a-way : do that blood red river run
Last Line: There's one in my bosom : t'other one in my heart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BYE BYE BABY BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'm leaving sweet baby : can't carry you
Last Line: But I know she realized the trouble : since she met another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BYE-BYE BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Crying by-and-by : baby by-and-by
Last Line: You got my woman : babe I know you're satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


BYE-O (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bye oh, bye oh
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


C AND A BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a little train leaving out of here : they call the c and a
Last Line: Why did I leave you baby : because I'm tired of taking you dogging
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


C AND A BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well now let me tell you people : what the c and a will do for you
Last Line: Well well well going to send it up the country : mama now to see if my little girl there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


C AND O BLUES, by BLIND JOE AMOS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you ever wake up: between midnight and day
Last Line: I love you baby: don't care what you do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


C. C. RIDER, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: See see rider : see what you done done
Last Line: Let me be your sidetrack : till your mainline comes
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CABARET, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Rich, flashy, puffy-faced / hebrew and anglo-saxon
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Jazz; Music & Musicians


CABARET, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Rich, flashy, puffy-faced %hebrew and anglo-saxon
Last Line: Is a bitter reminder of death %dee da dee daaaah
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


CABARET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Does a jazz-band ever sob
Last Line: When the little dawn was grey
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CAFE: 3 A.M., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Detectives from the vice squad
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Gays & Lesbians; Negroes; American Blacks; Homoeroticism; Lesbians; Gay Women; Gay Men


CAFE: 3 A.M., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Detectives from the vice squad
Last Line: Police lady or lesbian %over there? %where?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Homosexuality


CAIRO BLUES, by HENRY SPAULDING    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cairo : cairo is my baby's home
Last Line: I'm going home : and I swear and it won't be long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CALEDONIA, by COLLEEN JOHNSON MCELROY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The way I hear tell aunt jennie
Last Line: Until I've learned that love, like hate %is always acted out
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


CALIFORNIA BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: How long how long : how long my train been gone
Last Line: Honey I'm from missouri : you have to *side* me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CALIFORNIA DESERT BLUES, by LANE HARDIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I was just sitting here wondering : where I would go get some ease
Last Line: Now the people in los angeles : they didn't know what it's all about
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CALL IN THE MIDST OF THE CROWD: APRIL. BILLIE'S BLUES, by ALFRED DEWITT CORN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Their red lamps make a childlike stab
Last Line: Him. Sounds universal to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; New York City; Singing And Singers


CALL OF ETHIOPIA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ethiopia %lift your night-dark face
Last Line: All you black peoples, %be free! Be free!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CALL TO CREATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen! %all you beauty-makers
Last Line: Let beauty be
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CALL YOUR NAME, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Have you ever been low in spirits : mama and you didn't know what was on your m
Last Line: Lord you know the way that you left me : mama it almost broke my heart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CALL-TO-ACTION POEM, by JENNIFER E. SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I watch you walk a funny kinda
Last Line: Believe in black %believe in power
Subject(s): African Americans; Brutus, Dennis


CALLIN' CORRINE, by FRANKIE HALF PINT JAXON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ain't you getting tired : of [trying to cheat, cheating] on your papa hon'
Last Line: Got a corrine in harlem : make a rabbit hug a hound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CALLING, by FORREST HAMER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: 1. Text: a slave ship sinks in the atlantic, 1749
Last Line: Because his own body sometimes bends, %voices beckoning
Subject(s): African Americans - History


CALLING DREAMS, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The right to make my dreams come true
Last Line: And stride into the morning-break!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Dreams; Negroes; American Blacks; Nightmares


CAMEO, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As a child, I would awaken dark mornings
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


CAMEO, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As a child, I would awaken dark mornings
Last Line: Of her throat, hard enough to bruise.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


CAN'T BE TRUSTED BLUES, by SYLVESTER WEAVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't love nobody : that's my policy
Last Line: Got ways like the devil : papa's *sneaking* on all fours
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CAN'T MAKE ANOTHER DAY, by EDITH NORTH JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: All this world's against me : I believe my baby is too
Last Line: That's what it takes to ease my mind : and stop all my tears
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CAN'T SEE YOUR FACE, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your picture has faded : mama that hangs up on the wall
Last Line: But now you gone and left me : and I can't see your face at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CAN'T YOU LINE IT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I get in illinois
Last Line: How do he know that the time is right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


CANARY, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Billie holiday's burned voice
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Drugs & Drug Abuse; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Narcotics; Opium; Cocaine; Crack; Heroin; Songs


CANARY, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Billie holiday's burned voice
Last Line: If you can't be free, be a mystery
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Drugs And Drug Abuse; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


CANDY BLUES, by LEM JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I left my baby : standing in the doorway crying
Last Line: When one pretty woman quits me : I'll have three
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CANDY MAN BLUES, by MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Want all you ladies : all gather around
Last Line: It just gets better : so the ladies say
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CANNED HEAT BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Crying canned heat mama : sure lord killing me
Last Line: Believe to my soul : lord it going to kill me dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CAPE COAST CASTLE REVISITED, by JO ANN HALL-EVANS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Though you are a continent and two seasons away
Last Line: To face the still shackling ways of this strange, distant land
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


CAPTAIN COON: 1 (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Captain coon's a mighty man
Last Line: Till he's feared ole rober'll bite
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CAPTAIN COON: 2 (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Raccoon is a mighty man
Last Line: Until he hears old beaver bark
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CAPTAIN JIM REES AN' THE KATIE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CARE IN BREAD-MAKING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'en you sees dat gal o' mine
Last Line: To roll up 'er dirty sleeves
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CARELESS LOVE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Love, oh love, oh careless love, love, oh love
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CARIBBEAN SUNSET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: God having a hemorrhage
Last Line: That is sunset in the caribbean
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CAROL OF THE BROWN KING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Of the three wise men
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas; Negroes; American Blacks; Nativity, The


CAROL OF THE BROWN KING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Of the three wise men
Last Line: Part of his %nativity
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas


CAROLINA CABIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There's hanging moss %and holly
Last Line: Where two people %make a home
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CARP POEM, by TERRANCE HAYES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: After I have parked below the spray paint caked in the granite
Last Line: Packed so close they might have eaten each other had there been nothing else to eat
Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; African Americans; Youth; Poetry & Poets; Convicts; Negroes; American Blacks


CARPENTER BEE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All winter long I have passed
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


CARPENTER BEE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All winter long I have passed
Last Line: Each in its separate cell-snug, ordered, certain
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


CARRY IT RIGHT BACK HOME, by ED BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look here woman : making me mad
Last Line: You left a man on the doorstep : hollering and crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINNY', by ELMA EHRLICH LEVINGER    Poem Source                    
First Line: That's right: keep on singing, 'carry me back to old virginny'
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


CARRYIN' SACKS, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm goin' up the rivuh to carry them sacks
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CARVIN' THE BIRD, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Taking good care your
Last Line: Listen at you blow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


CASCADES FOR SCOTT JOPLIN, by BARON JAMES ASHANTI    Poem Source                    
First Line: When an ivory moon deals aces
Last Line: Be he is more - so much more %than rancor and the north wind's sterile ear
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Joplin, Scott (1668-1917)


CASUAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Death don't ring no doorbells
Last Line: And don't ring no bell
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CAT AND THE SAXOPHONE (2 A.M.), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Everybody %half-pint, -- gin
Last Line: Sweet me. %charleston, %mamma
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CAT MAN BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cat man cat man : stay away from my house at night
Last Line: If the cat man is got nine lives : he going to need them when I get through
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CATCH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Big boy came
Last Line: To carry - %half fish, %half girl %to marry
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CATFISH BLUES, by ROBERT PETWAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I lay down last night : well I tried to take my rest
Last Line: See if my baby my baby : do she thinking of little old thing of me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CATS GOT THE MEASLES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now the cat's got the measles : dog's got the whooping cough
Last Line: But the women cry papa : just because I take my time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CAUGHT BY THE WITCH PLAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Molly, molly, molly-bright
Last Line: Or de witches'll git yer
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CAUGHT THE OLD COON AT LAST, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here I am : head over heels in love again
Last Line: Woman I don't believe I could be any happier : if I were living in heaven above
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CAVE MAN BLUES, by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr caveman : doggone your caving soul
Last Line: And I'll dig and dig : till my good gal comes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CELEBRATION, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Summer days disrupted by trickster's
Last Line: Dies in full view, while they celebrate
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Churches; Worship


CELL BOUND BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey jailor : tell me what I have done
Last Line: That's what I said : I got those cell bound blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CENTRAL AVENUE BLUES, by WILL DAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to build me a little mansion : on central avenue
Last Line: Some little brownskin woman : *stepping* in my way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CENTRAL TRACKS BLUES, by WILLIAM MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : what's the matter now
Last Line: Oh just hand me my suitcase : I'll leave your dallas town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CEREMONY, by KATTIE M. CUMBO    Poem Source                    
First Line: At the ceremony of emobo
Last Line: As muslims in the north %fast for ramadan %I wait for the new year
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


CEREMONY, by JOHARI M. KUNJUFU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Libation %hey sisters, we the color of our men
Last Line: We the %libation
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


CHAIN, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Faces surround me that have no smell or color no time
Last Line: How do I learn to love her %as you have loved me?
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Child Molesting; Incest


CHAIN GANG TROUBLE, by CHARLEY LINCOLN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I asked my captain : for the time of day
Last Line: Nothing I can get : but bad news
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHALK-DUST, by LILLIAN BYRNES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am tired of chalk-dust
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


CHAMP VS. COOPMAN, by BETH BROWN PRESTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here comes the champ muhammad ali
Last Line: He really does his thing when it comes to the ring
Subject(s): African Americans; Ali, Muhammad (cassius Clay); Boxing And Boxers


CHANGE MY LUCK BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey mama : that rider's done and gone
Last Line: I'm going to be gone mama : so I can change my luck
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHANGE MY MIND BLUES, by CRIPPLE CLARENCE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I change my mind jane : I'll change my mind once again
Last Line: Good as I have been to you darling : now I can't get the things I need
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHANT FOR MAY DAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The first of may:
Last Line: Till the forces of the earth are yours %from this hour
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CHANT FOR TOM MOONEY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tom mooney! %tom mooney!
Last Line: Will be the name %tom mooney
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CHARLIE PARKER, 1989, by WILLIAM WITHERUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: Art is labor; art is rage
Last Line: Scoot your butts in the dirt
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Blacks; Labor And Laborers


CHARMIN' BETSY, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going around the mountain charming betsy : going around the mountain to lea
Last Line: Black gal rides in an old airship : but she riding just the same
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHEIK ANTA DIOP: POEM FOR THE LIVING, by MWATABU OKANTAH    Poem Source                    
First Line: To who do I say
Last Line: For the living. Africa
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - History; Ancestors And Ancestry


CHERRY BALL, by MISSISSIPPI BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to give my baby : no more cherry ball
Last Line: Ain't got nobody to love me : nobody to feel my care
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHERRY BALL BLUES, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love my cherry ball : better than I love myself
Last Line: I'm going to ride and ramble : till cherry come back to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHERRY BALL BLUES, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ain't going to give you : no more cherry ball
Last Line: I can do your driving : till that driver comes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHERRY STREET BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just as sure as the train comes in san antone : then ease up in the yard
Last Line: Well I'll tell you men something : know you ain't going to think it's so
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHICAGO BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Chicago is a town
Last Line: How good the ground feels
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CHICAGO DEFENDER SENDS A MAN TO LITTLE ROCK, FALL, 1957, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In little rock the people bear %babes, and comb and part their hair
Last Line: The loveliest lynchee was our lord
Variant Title(s): The Chicago Defender Sends A Man To Little Roc
Subject(s): African Americans; Civil Rights Movement


CHICAGO'S CONGO, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Chicago is an overgrown woman
Subject(s): Chicago; African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


CHICKASAW TRAIN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I might tell everybody : what that chicksaw have done done for me
Last Line: And she start picking up men : all up and down this line
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHICKEN IN THE BREAD TRAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Auntie, will yo' dog bite?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CHICKEN PIE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you wants to make an ole nigger feel good
Last Line: Dat I gits be bigges' slice
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CHILD OF MYSELF, by PATRICIA PARKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: From cavities of bones
Last Line: The child of myself
Alternate Author Name(s): Parker, Pat
Subject(s): African American Lesbians; African Americans - Women; Homosexuality


CHILDHOOD, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I was a child I knew red miners
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Mines & Miners; Southern States; South (u.s.)


CHILDHOOD, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I was a child I knew red miners
Last Line: Where sentiment and hatred still held sway %and only bitter land was washed away
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Mines And Miners; Southern States


CHILDREN COMING HOME, SELS., by GWENDOLYN BROOKS            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Alphabet Verse; Ancestors And Ancestry


CHILDREN OF THE POOR, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: People who have no children can be hard
Last Line: But reaching is his rule
Variant Title(s): People Who Have No Children Can Be Har
Subject(s): African Americans


CHILDREN'S RHYMES (1), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I was a chile we used to play
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Children's Hymns
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


CHILDREN'S RHYMES (1), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I was a chile we used to play
Last Line: Oop-pop-a-da! %be-bop! %salt'peanuts! %de-bop!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Children's Hymn
Subject(s): African Americans


CHILDREN'S SEATING RHYME, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: You set outside, an' ketch de cow-hide
Last Line: You set 'round about, an' git scrouged out
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CHILLEN GET SHOES, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hush little lily
Last Line: You'll be like moll, too, %bye and bye
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


CHINCH BUG BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I never feel uneasy : I know how you love your tricks
Last Line: All of ??? *lord* : here with the chinch bug blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHIPPY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Rose of neon darkness
Last Line: Facing a two-bit %december
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CHOCK HOUSE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: So many wagons : they have cut that good road down
Last Line: She's a fine looking fair brown : but she ain't never learned from lemon's rule
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHOCOLATE TO THE BONE, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: So glad I'm brownskin : chocolate to the bone
Last Line: But that brownskin gal : with her coal-black dreamy eyes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHOO CHOO BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: The sound of a train : fills my heart with misery
Last Line: I'm going back to dixie : if I have to crawl all the way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHORD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Shadow faces %in the shadow night
Last Line: Before the early dawn, bops bright
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CHRIST IN ALABAMA (GRAPHIC INTERPRETATION), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Christ is a nigger
Last Line: On the cross of the south
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Christ In Alabam
Subject(s): African Americans


CHRISTIAN COUNTRY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: God slumbers in a back alley
Last Line: Come on, god, get up and fight %like a man
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CHRISTMAS EVE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now it's the day before christmas : mama won't you hear me moan
Last Line: I'm going to be your santa claus : even if my whiskers ain't white
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHRISTMAS EVE: NEARING MIDNIGHT IN NEW YORK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The christmas trees are almost all sold
Last Line: Awaits the morning of the child
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CHRISTMAS MORNING BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well it was on one christmas morning : *t-bird's* christmas coming back again
Last Line: Well now be sure to do what I told you : santa claus before I tell you goodbye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHRISTMAS STORY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell again the christmas story
Last Line: Mary's son in straw and glory: %wonder of the christmas story!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas


CHRISTMAS TIME BLUES, by BUCK TURNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Santa claus: what is you going to bring
Last Line: And teach him to follow my baby : everywhere she goes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHRISTMAS TURKEY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I prayed to de lawd for tucky-o
Last Line: An' I brung my tucky home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CHRISTMAS VALENTINE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I asked mama
Last Line: Merry christmas, mama
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas; Love; Mothers


CHUCK WILL'S WIDOW SONG (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh nimber, nimber will-o!
Last Line: Don't hurt de liddle babies; dey is too sweet to kill-o
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CHURCH BELL BLUES, by LUKE JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Children's in the pulpit : mama trying to learn the psalms
Last Line: She had a nerve to ask me : would a matchbox hold my clothes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHURCH BELLS BLUES, by LUKE JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Children's in the pulpit : mama trying to learn the psalms
Last Line: You going to run over some of these mornings : papa swear you can't get in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CHURCH BURNING, by RICHARD FOERSTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Already it is almost nothing, a darkness
Last Line: With a guttural spark: niggers, niggers. %his ancient prayer flares
Subject(s): African Americans; Churches; Fire; Georgia (state)


CIGARETTE BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says now come over here sweet baby : because I'm all alone
Last Line: My cigarette ain't too big : and you know it ain't too long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CINDERELLA, by RUBY C. SAUNDERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I will be patient while my lord
Last Line: All praises are due to allah for the lamb
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Sin


CIRCLES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The circles spin round
Last Line: Ourselves upside down
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CITIZEN CAIN, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the great northwest, always, my grandfather warned me
Last Line: Roi, baby, you blew the whole thing
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


CLAN MEETING: BIRTH AND NATIONS: A BLOOD SING, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We reconstruct lives in the intensive
Last Line: We take our bundle and go home
Subject(s): African Americans; Klu Klux Klan; Negroes; American Blacks


CLANDESTINE LETTER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kind miss: if I sent you a letter
Last Line: Fer dat's mo' secretter
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CLARA, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: She was music whole note
Last Line: Melody and lyric in one
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


CLASS ROOM, by VIRGINIA A. HOUSTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Behind him a picture
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


CLAY, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Killed %by a white woman
Last Line: What he is %today
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


CLEAN UP AT HOME, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I washed my clothes : I hanged them by the fire
Last Line: All you got to do : act kind of nice
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CLEARING HOUSE BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: It seems to me : as if I'm all broke down
Last Line: Since I lost all my change : I lost my sealskin brown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CLOSING TIME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Starter! %her face is pale
Last Line: To a little drowned girl
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CLOTHES YOU COLOR, by (MALIKA) ODESSA DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Man, you sure look good in that black!
Last Line: But your heart be another matter, %a thing of mystery
Subject(s): African Americans


CLOUDY SKY BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: It seem cloudy brown : I believe it's going to rain
Last Line: You can hunt you another home : because she don't want you no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COACH, by SATIAFA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Magical roles you played
Last Line: I will dance my tributes %'on the sunny side of the street'
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


COAL, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I / is the total black, being spoken / from the earth's inside
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Language; Words; Vocabulary


COAL, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I %is the total black, being spoken %from the earth's inside
Last Line: Now take my word for jewel in the open light
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Language


COAL MAN BLUES, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : about five o'clock
Last Line: Don't believe I'm leaving : count the day I'm gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COAL MAN BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I get up early in the morning : sweet mama and I comb and currymy horse
Last Line: Some standing on the corner : trying to get themselves in jail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COAL OIL BLUES, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up early this morning : got out of my bed
Last Line: Before the rising sun come : sure won't *scarcely know*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COAL RIVER BLUES, by UNKNOWN+204    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going up coal river : coming down no more
Last Line: I got the blues so bad pretty mama : I can't *gee* away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COCAINE BLUES, by LUKE JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going gal : don't you take me for no fool
Last Line: The doctors say it'll kill you : but they didn't say when
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COCAINE HABIT BLUES, by BEN RAMEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cocaine habit : is mighty bad
Last Line: Strut your stuff : long as you please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COCKEYED WORLD, by MINNIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : feeling mighty sad
Last Line: I tell the cockeyed world : I'll follow you to your grave
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COCKTAIL MAN BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good morning people : just got back from cocktail land
Last Line: But now when it comes to mixing cocktails : ooo well here's the little cocktail man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COFFEE GRINDER BLUES, by JAYBIRD COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to grind my coffee : two or three dollars a pound
Last Line: I'm a coffee=grinding fool : now let me grind you some
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COFFEE GRINDIN' BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: It ain't nobody in town : can grind their coffee like mine
Last Line: And I'm a coffee-grinding mama : won't you let me grind you some
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COFFEE GROWS ON WHITE FOLKS' TREES (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: So dat yeller gal loves dat high-hat dandy
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COFFEE POT BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can always tell : when your good gal don't want to be seen
Last Line: Because my throat's got dry : swear my tonsil's sore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COFFIN BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daddy oh daddy : won't you answer me please
Last Line: And it hurts me so bad : to tell the man I love goodbye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COLD IN HAND BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I've tried hard : to treat him kind
Last Line: Because the one I've got : have done gone cold in hand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COLD IRON BED, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby take me upstairs : baby won't you lay me down in your cooliron bed
Last Line: If I don't see you tomorrow : I'll see you tomorrow night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COLD WINTER DAY, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I did everything baby : that I could do
Last Line: Soon as you got on your feet : you wouldn't pay me no mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COLDEST STUFF IN TOWN, by HATTIE HART    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I go out singing : I goes out all alone
Last Line: I thought slim was working : and he wasn't doing a doggone thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COLDEST STUFF IN TOWN, by ALLEN SHAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hattie hattie hattie : what have you done to me
Last Line: Because that jive you and willie b's shooting : coldest stuff in town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COLERIDGE JACKSON, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Coleridge jackson had nothing to fear
Last Line: Away, lurking at something else
Subject(s): Racism; African Americans; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


COLLECTION DAY, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Saturday morning, motown / forty-fives and thick seventy-eights
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Baby Boom Generation; Housekeeping; Women


COLLECTION DAY, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Saturday morning, motown %forty-fives and thick seventy-eights
Last Line: Something to last: patch of earth, %view of sky
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Baby Boom Generation; Housekeeping; Women


COLLECTOR MAN BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now go open the door : here comes the collector man
Last Line: Well now you can tell him watch and see old sonny boy getting some money : oh lord know it's some of
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COLLEGE FORMAL: RENAISSANCE CASINO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Golden girl / in a golden gown
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


COLLEGE FORMAL: RENAISSANCE CASINO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Golden girl %in a golden gown
Last Line: Till they're the heart of the whole big town %gold and brown
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COLLEGE OX, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole ox! Ole ox! How'd you come up here?
Last Line: Now! Now, you comes up here for some sort o' college use
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COLOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wear it %like a banner
Last Line: Soaring high -- not moan or cry
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COLORED SOLDIER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My brother died in france -- but I came back
Last Line: Can't see! And don't know! And won't ever care!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COLUMBIA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Columbia, %my dear girl
Last Line: Don't shoot! I'll kiss you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COME ALONG LITTLE CHILDREN, by UNKNOWN+211    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now some folks say : a preacher won't steal
Last Line: I'll *drop* my way : to the promised land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COME HOME FROM THE MOVIES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: They already know how to dance
Subject(s): African Americans; Motion Pictures


COME HOME FROM THE MOVIES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Show our fathers how to walk like men, %they already know how to dance
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


COME ON AROUND TO MY HOUSE MAMA, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come on around to my house mama : ain't nobody there but me
Last Line: Think my baby : done quit poor me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COME ON BOYS LET'S DO THAT MESSIN' AROUND, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm feeling blue : lowdown as I can be
Last Line: But don't let me catch you : messing around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COME ON IN, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh set right down : and let's have some fun
Last Line: If you want to : you can pull off your underwear
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COME ON IN, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sit right down : have some fun
Last Line: Why don't you : put on your underwear
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COME ON IN MY KITCHEN, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : mmm
Last Line: You can't make the winter babe : just dry long so
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COME ON, MAMA, DO THAT DANCE, by FRANKIE HALF PINT JAXON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come on and let me know : who you are
Last Line: Some day : this thing's going to happen to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COME ON, MY PINK, AN' TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COME, LOVE, COME, THE BOAT LIES LOW, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COMET, by EMIL MAKAI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cast out, amid so many companions
Last Line: And nobody is left behind %and there is no goal to reach
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Comets; Women's Rights


COMING OF KALI, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is the black god, kali
Last Line: She knows I know them well. %she knows. She knows
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


COMMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Spiral death %the snake must be
Last Line: For strife, for sport, %or just a stew
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COMMENT ON CURB, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You talk like %they don't kick %dreams around %downtown
Last Line: I expect they do %but I'm talking about %harlem to you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COMMENT ON WAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let us kill off youth
Last Line: For the sake of %truth
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COMMITMENT 2, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Paul robeson stood out in his passport
Last Line: Never never selling out
Subject(s): African Americans; Robeson, Paul (1898-1976)


COMMON DUST, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: And who shall separate the dust
Last Line: The same as from the start?
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; Mankind; Negroes; American Blacks; Human Race


COMMUNION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was trying to figure out
Last Line: It felt good to shout
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COMMUNIQUE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm sorry for you
Last Line: You're still %not so hot
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COMPETITION BED BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Competition worrying me : you been having a competition with me
Last Line: Now there's so much competition : I believe I'll leave your town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CONDITIONS XXI, by ESSEX HEMPHILL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You judge a woman
Last Line: The way america / loves us
Subject(s): African Americans; Man-woman Relationships; Negroes; American Blacks; Male-female Relations


CONFESSION TO J. EDGAR HOOVER, by JAMES WRIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hiding in the church of an abandoned stone
Last Line: I did not know what I was doing
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, James A.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


CONFESSION TO J. EDGAR HOOVER, by JAMES WRIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hiding in the church of an abandoned stone
Last Line: I did not know what I was doing
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, James A.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


CONJURED, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She done put huh little hands
Last Line: So long %alone
Subject(s): African Americans


CONSERVATORY STUDENT STRUGGLES WITH HIGHER INSTRUMENTATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The saxophone %has a vulgar tone
Last Line: I'd never been %sent
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CONSIDER ME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Consider me, %a colored boy
Last Line: Consider me, %descended also %from the mystery
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CONSTRUCTION GANG, by JOE EDWARDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now here's all I ask of you : kind man
Last Line: So you bring me all your money : when they pay your check
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CONSTRUCTION GANG, by JOE EDWARDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now there is something : you say that you expect
Last Line: I want you to come back from work : looking just like first one thing and then another
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CONSUMPTIVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All day in the sun %that he loved so
Last Line: And burning the dark
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CONVENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell me, %is there peace
Last Line: With a challenge %that appalls?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COOKING DINNER (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bile dem cabbage down
Last Line: Gwineter eat 'em skins an' all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COOL DRINK OF WATER BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I asked for water : and she gave me gasoline
Last Line: Son buy your ticket buy your ticket : because the train ain't none of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COOL JAZZ, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of cool jazz
Last Line: I see the cool tones of modern jazz %escape the city heat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


COON CAN SHORTY, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well now they call me cooncan shorty : the man from cooncan land
Last Line: But now you know I got a chump : ooo well well if he come in this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COON CRAP GAME, by BIG BOY GEORGE OWENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I went down to a coon crap game : although it went against my will
Last Line: Well I heard the ??? : ??? Be no friend of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COONIE IN DE HOLLER, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Coonie in de holler hidin' hin' de logs,
Last Line: Hyar dat distant thundah; guess dat spring am sprung.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans; Blacks; Spring; Negroes; American Blacks


CORA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I broke my heart this mornin'
Last Line: The ones I love %they always treat me mean
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CORINNA BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: See see rider : you see what you done done
Last Line: I ain't had no true love : since corinna been gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CORN LICKER BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I love my good corn liquor : and I really mean I do
Last Line: I ain't going to bother nobody : just let the good times baby roll on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CORN LIQUOR BLUES, by LEWIS BLACK    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey hey : corn liquor in my bones
Last Line: If you catch me out drinking : I'm not drinking just keep to keep from crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CORN WHISKEY BLUES, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now bring me that bottle : and let's have another drink of booze
Last Line: And on account of moonshine : her people don't allow me around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CORN-BREAD BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a brownskin woman: she lives up on that hill
Last Line: They cook corn bread for their husbands: and biscuits for their men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CORNER MEETING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ladder, flag, and amplifier
Last Line: His words, %jump down to stand %in listeners' places
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CORPUS BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I remember one time people : oh it is in nineteen and twenty-four
Last Line: Oh you want to be mean to me woman : give me a good word all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CORRINE CORRINA BLUES, by JAMES BOODLE IT WIGGINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Corrine corrina : where you been so long
Last Line: When I'm coming back babe : can't nobody tell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COSMOPOLITE, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Not wholly this or that
Last Line: Contains me.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


COTTON EYED JOE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hol' my fiddle an' hol' my bow
Last Line: Dey say he's been sol' down to guinea gall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COTTON PICKIN' BLUES, by ROBERT PETWAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: She's a cotton-picking woman : lord she does it all the time
Last Line: Pick so much cotton now partner : will you forgive me if you please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COTTON SONG, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Come, brother, come. Lets lift it
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


COTTON SONG, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Come, brother, come. Lets lift it
Last Line: Come, brother, roll, roll!
Subject(s): African Americans


COTTONFIELD BLUES, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to texas : have to ride to rods
Last Line: You going to call me : and I'll be gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COTTONFIELD BLUES--PART 1, by GARFIELD AKERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said look a-here mama:what in the world are you trying to do
Last Line: And it's trouble here mama: baby good gal I don't know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COTTONFIELD BLUES--PART 2, by GARFIELD AKERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got something I'm going to tell you: mama keep it all to yourself
Last Line: And I just can't remember: babe last old words you said
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COULD BE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Could be hastings street
Last Line: Any place is dreary %without my watch and you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COUNTERS, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My uncle fred has a slash
Last Line: It made him
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


COUNTRY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My mother said
Last Line: I love to coast %I love to climb
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


COUNTRY BOY BLUES, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a man : a real handsome one
Last Line: There's no need to explain : because they really wouldn't understand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COUNTRY FOOL, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I says he's a country man : but that fool done moved to town
Last Line: Know he'll say going back to the country : going to sow some more cotton seed down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COUNTRY GIRL, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Had this cousin that was a black
Last Line: Could be mad as hell with the world
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


COUNTRY WOMAN, by WILL BATTS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm got two women in the country : I'm got two women stays in town
Last Line: And she puts *straw* in your mattress : makes you wish you was dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COUNTY JAIL BLUES, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here I am judge this morning : and here is my forty-five
Last Line: May be a good luck to you : because I haven't forgot you yet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COURT HOUSE BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I give him beer : then a glass of ale
Last Line: And it all on account : of one trifling man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COURT STREET BLUES, by UNKNOWN+215    Poem Source                    
First Line: Thought I'd get me a picket : off a graveyard fence
Last Line: Reason I asks you browny : you about to run me blind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


COURTING BOY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'en I wus a liddle boy
Last Line: I'se gwine now to see ole sal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COURTSHIP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kind miss: I'se on de stage o' action
Last Line: We never would part
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


COUSIN GEORGE, by A. WANJIKU REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cousin george %kept his piano
Last Line: Its fleece - its fleece - was buhlaack as coal
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song And Music


COVENTRY, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a thin wall
Last Line: Aloneness %stands looking up
Subject(s): African Americans


COVERS, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Glass covers windows %to keep the cold away
Last Line: Blankets cover me %when I'm asleep
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


COW NEEDS A TAIL IN FLY-TIME, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat ole black sow, she can root in de mud
Last Line: Den de cow'd need a tail in fly-time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CRACK, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You're more jive than pigmeat
Last Line: Sky, but there's no one left %to love you back to earth
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans; Cities


CRAP GAME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lemme roll 'em, boy
Last Line: Hit 'em, bones
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CRAPSHOOTER'S BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby's a crapshooter : and she shoots them like a man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CRAVING BLUES, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some people crave for loving : some people crave for gold
Last Line: When I want to love him : he wants to fuss and fight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CRAWLIN' KING SNAKE, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes I'm a crawling king snake : baby I'm going to ??? All around your door
Last Line: I'm going to throw my poison : on every pretty woman in town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CRAZY, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You'd have to be
Last Line: Crazy
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


CRAZY 'BOUT MY BLACK GAL, by CHARLIE PICKETT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now tell me little black gal : what are you going to do
Last Line: She was *breaking* and bumming : every man she meet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CRAZY CRYIN' BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been going crazy : I just can't help myself
Last Line: I'm just as crazy crazy : as a poor girl can be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CRAZY WITH THE BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wake up this morning : just crazy with the blues
Last Line: I'm going to the railroad then to the river : oh well well but I don't know which one that I will ch
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CREED, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: If my garden oak spares one bare ledge
Last Line: I may challenge god when we meet that day, %and he dare not be silent or send me away
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


CREEPER'S BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : and I looked up against the wall
Last Line: You done taken all my money : and now you want to take my life
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CRISPUS ATTUCKS, by OLIVA WARD BUSH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The nation's heart beat wildly
Last Line: That attucks died for liberty.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bush-banks, Oliva Ward
Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre; Stock Exchange; Negroes; American Blacks


CRISPUS ATTUCKS, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Name in a footnote. Faceless name
Last Line: By bayonets, forever falling
Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre


CRISPUS ATTUCKS, by JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Where shall we seek for a hero
Last Line: And so great a boon, by a brave man's death, is never dearly bought!
Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre; U.s. - Colonial Period; Negroes; American Blacks


CRISPUS ATTUCKS, by JAY WRIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When we speak
Last Line: Another season drums your intense, communal daring
Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre; Negroes; American Blacks


CRISPUS ATTUCKS, by JAY WRIGHT    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When we speak
Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre


CROATAN, by CHAPMAN JAMES MILLING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Addressed as mister; neither white nor red
Last Line: That day the man from hartsville called him nigger.
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; Racial Equality


CROOKED NOSE JANE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I courted a gal down de lane
Last Line: An' she look jes as lean as a weasel half-fed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CROOKED WOMAN BLUES, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man gets down : the trouble lasts always
Last Line: That 's s the monday morning : I broke my mama's
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROOKED WOMAN BLUES, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can always tell : when your woman don't want you around
Last Line: By the great long hair : and the same little dress she wore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROOKED WOMAN BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh the way my wife treats me : it sure is a sin
Last Line: I got them blues : and I'm sure lord got to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't give a damn
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Alabama; Negroes; American Blacks


CROON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't give a damn
Last Line: For alabam' %even if it is my home
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Alabama


CROSS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My old man's a white old man
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Intermarriage; Negroes; American Blacks


CROSS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My old man's a white old man
Last Line: I wonder where I'm gonna die, %being neither white nor black?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Intermarriage


CROSS CUT SAW BLUES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm a crosscut saw : drive me across your log
Last Line: You you's a good girl : but you ain't been out long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROSS ROAD BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to the crossroads : fell down on my knees
Last Line: Lord that I'm standing at the crossroad baby : I believe I'm sinking in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROSS THE RIVER, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Harriet tubman %coming down the river
Last Line: There is a home - somewhere
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Tubman, Harriet (1820-1913)


CROSS THE WATER BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I say you got a sweet woman : man which you just don't understand
Last Line: I want you talk baby-talk to me : and then suck my tongue cherry red
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROSSING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was that lonely day, folks
Last Line: My friends was right there with me %but was just as if they'd left
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CROSSING A FOOT-LOG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Me an' my wife an' my bobtail dog
Last Line: But I helt to my liddle brown jug, you bet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


CROSSTOWN, by ALICIA SUSKIN OSTRIKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Back in new york I grab a taxi at port authority
Last Line: X-rays, so it’s cancer
Subject(s): New York City; City Traffic; Taxis; Buses; Democracy; War; Politics & Politicians; African Americans; Racism; Nightmares


CROW GOES, TOO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Uncle sam -- %and old jim crow
Last Line: That's the way %to win
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CROWDED OUT, by ROSALIE M. JONAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nobody ain't christmas shoppin'
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Christmas


CROWIN' ROOSTER BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: What makes the rooster : crow every morning before day
Last Line: They're not satisfied with a good husband : they want some other woman's man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROWING HEN BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was setting on the hen-house steps
Last Line: Till they burn the licker store
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CROWING ROOSTER, by WALTER RHODES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going to buy me a rooster : put him in my back door
Last Line: I can tell my baby : if I see her in the dark
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CROWNS AND GARLANDS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Make a garland of leontynes and lenas
Last Line: But I can't eat him for lunch
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CRUELTY, by STEPHEN ORLEN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Because we were all sweaty
Alternate Author Name(s): Orlen, Steve
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Cruelty; Death; Drugs & Drug Abuse; Impotence; Dead, The


CRYIN' FOR THE BLUES, by SAMMY HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you ever wake up in the morning baby : same thing all on your mind
Last Line: Sweet mama I haven't my right mind baby : lord since you been gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CRYING MOTHER BLUES, by UNKNOWN+212    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dear mother dead and gone to glory : my old dad done strayed away
Last Line: If you can't stay with me mother : it must have been your time to leave from here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CUBES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the days of the broken cubes of picasso
Last Line: From the city of the broken cubes of picasso %disease
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973)


CULTURAL EXCHANGE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the quarter of the negroes
Last Line: Hand me my mint julep, mammy. %hurry up! %make haste!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Mint Juleps; Southern States


CURIOUS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I can see your house, babe
Last Line: Tell me, what do you do
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


CURTIS MICHAEL, by STELLA CREWS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Four boys, a girl & one wife
Last Line: And a whole bunch of chuck holes %in the parking lot
Subject(s): African Americans


CUT OUT BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to cut out my way of living : and I'm going to change my ways
Last Line: And when my *toby* tells me : ooo well I'm going to cut in with some good jane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


CUTTING GREENS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Curling them around / I hold their bodies in obscene embrace
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


CUTTING GREENS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Curling them around %I hold their bodies in obscene embrace
Last Line: And I taste in my natural appetite %the bond of live things evrywhere
Subject(s): African Americans


CYPRESS GROVE BLUES, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I would rather be buried : in some cypress grove
Last Line: Well you just getting ready : honey for the cypress grove
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


D B BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Who is that coming : hey with a motor so strong
Last Line: Ever since I was old enough to catch a brown : give me the automobile
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DABNEY'S WIFE; SPRING 1863, by JOANNE LOWERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was all their idea, not hooker's
Last Line: And rinsed and did not miss a thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; American Civil War; Blood; Slavery; Soldiers; U.s. - History; War Injuries; Women And War


DADDY DON'T CARE, by BUDDY MOSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: She goes out lord : and stays all day
Last Line: Said I know my babe : she ain't treating me right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DALLAS BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got the dallas blues : and the main street heart disease
Last Line: Maybe someone else : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DAMNED, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The drawers of my mother's bedroom
Last Line: Though it is not clear %if either of us can be saved
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


DANCER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Two or three things in the past
Last Line: Even a great dancer %can't c.P.T. A show
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Dancing And Dancers


DANCERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Stealing from the night
Last Line: Desperate days %of life
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DANCING GIRL, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black and tan - yeah, black and tan
Last Line: Is this what your belly craves?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Dancing & Dancers


DANCING GIRL, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black and tan - yeah, black and tan
Last Line: Drenched in the jazz of a swingtime band %is this what your belly craves?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Dancing And Dancers


DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Me and kesha cousins used to dance to hip-hop music
Last Line: More than once heaven was closed to her
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


DANGEROUS BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm like a red-hot stove : I'm burning down
Last Line: I'm red-hot : and dangerous as can be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DANIEL IN SNOW, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: The snow world had called him
Last Line: And listened to the magical call %of snow
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


DANSE AFRICAINE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The low beating of the tom-toms
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): African Dance
Subject(s): African Americans; Dancing & Dancers; Negroes; American Blacks


DANSE AFRICAINE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The low beating of the tom-toms
Last Line: And the low beating of the tom-toms %stirs in your blood
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): African Danc
Subject(s): African Americans; Dancing And Dancers


DARE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let darkness %gather up its roses
Last Line: Dares the dark %to stand
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DARK ACTRESS - SOMEWHERE, by BLANCHE TAYLOR DICKINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: They watched her glide across the stage
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


DARK DREAMING, by DOROTHY KRUGER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Arrows of rain
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


DARK LOVELY FRUIT, by HELEN BRYANT    Poem Text                    
First Line: Black girl, standing in your yellow dress
Last Line: Heart of your storm?
Subject(s): African Americans; Barns; Girls; Negroes; American Blacks


DARK PHASES OF WOMANHOOD', by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: That you like the best %you're it
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DARK PROPHECY: I SING OF SHINE, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: And, yeah, brothers / while white/america sings about the unsink-
Subject(s): African Americans; Disasters; Ships & Shipping; Shipwrecks; Titanic (ship); Negroes; American Blacks


DARK PROPHECY: I SING OF SHINE, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And, yeah, brothers %while white/america sings about the unsink-
Last Line: And when the news hit shore that the titanic had sunk %shinewas up in harlem damn near drunk
Subject(s): African Americans; Disasters; Ships And Shipping; Shipwrecks; Titanic (ship)


DARK ROAD BLUES, by WILLIE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Crying I ain't going down : that dark road by myself
Last Line: Crying I was standing right there : police had me barred
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DARK SHADOWS. TAKE 2, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bird pats his foot
Last Line: Hums a funky blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


DARK SHADOWS: (TAKE 3) NIGHTHAWKS, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jelly roll morton laid claim
Last Line: His feet, and hugs him %self against the cold
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


DARK SYMPHONY: 1. ALLEGRO MODERATO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black crispus attucks taught / us how to die
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DARK SYMPHONY: 1. ALLEGRO MODERATO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black crispus attucks taught %us how to die
Last Line: Garroted lands and carted off the loot
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


DARK SYMPHONY: 2. LENTO GRAVE, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The centuries-old pathos in our voices
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DARK SYMPHONY: 2. LENTO GRAVE, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The centuries-old pathos in our voices
Last Line: In the canebrakes of the southern pharaohs
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


DARK SYMPHONY: 3. ANDANTE SOSTENUTO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They tell us to forget
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DARK SYMPHONY: 3. ANDANTE SOSTENUTO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They tell us to forget
Last Line: Oh, how can we forget?
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


DARK SYMPHONY: 4. TEMPO PRIMO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The new negro strides upon the continent
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DARK SYMPHONY: 4. TEMPO PRIMO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The new negro strides upon the continent
Last Line: Toward the promised land of tomorrow!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


DARK SYMPHONY: 5. LARGHETTO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: None in the land can say
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DARK SYMPHONY: 5. LARGHETTO, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: None in the land can say
Last Line: A vast sahara with a fascist brand
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


DARK SYMPHONY: 6. TEMPO DI MARCIA, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Out of abysses of illiteracy
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DARK SYMPHONY: 6. TEMPO DI MARCIA, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Out of abysses of illiteracy
Last Line: With the peoples of the world... %we advance!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


DARK TESTAMENT, by PAULI MURRAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Freedom is a dream
Last Line: Friend and brother to every other man
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DARK YOUTH OF THE U.S.A., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sturdy I stand, books in my hand --
Last Line: The american youth of today
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DARKEY FISHERMAN'S RAINY DAY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: W'en I git up in de mo'nin' an' de clouds is big an' black
Last Line: Dough I knows dat lizy 's waitin' wid de skillet w'en I 's done.
Variant Title(s): Fishing
Subject(s): African Americans; Fish & Fishing; Negroes; American Blacks; Anglers


DAT GAL O' MINE, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Skin as black an' jes as sof' as a velvet dress
Last Line: O' mine.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Love; Religion; Sabbath; Theology; Sunday


DAUFUSKIE (FOUR MOVEMENTS), by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ebb %with the flow
Last Line: Be %unbroken
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DAUGHTER - BAHIA, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am caught in the roar of the ocean
Last Line: As I walk on the land of the daughter
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Angola; Fear; Slavery


DAWN, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: An angel, robed in spotless white
Last Line: Men saw the blush and called it dawn.
Subject(s): African Americans; Dawn; Negroes; American Blacks; Sunrise


DAWN, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Grey trees, grey skies, and not a star
Last Line: A hermit-thrush
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


DAWN OF LOVE, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Within my casement came one night
Last Line: And on my lips there fell a kiss - %speak! Fairy moon, interpret this!
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where most surely comes a day
Last Line: Only your single selves together %facing a single doom
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DAY'S CATCH, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I remember you back
Last Line: The truth of our hands
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Love; Memory


DAY'S HAPPINESS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went out to milk an' I didn't know how
Last Line: Dat ole goose laid, an' de gander sot
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DAY-BREAKERS, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are not come to wage a strife
Last Line: Yet would we die as some have done: %beating a way for the rising sun
Subject(s): African Americans


DAYBREAK IN ALABAMA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I get to be a composer
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DAYBREAK IN ALABAMA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I get to be a composer
Last Line: And write about daybreak %in alabama
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DE 'LECTION SURE, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: De white folks low dat dey's de race
Last Line: You saf't th'ough peter's gate.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DE CUNJAH MAN, by JAMES EDWIN CAMPBELL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O chillen run, de cunjah man
Last Line: O chillen run, de cunjah man!
Subject(s): African Americans; Gullahs; Witchcraft & Witches; Negroes; American Blacks


DE KALB CHAIN BLUES, by FRED MCMULLEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I'll tell all you people : that ain't no place to go
Last Line: Well I believe to the lord : these going to kill me dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DE NIGGER'S GOT TO GO, by DANIEL WEBSTER DAVIS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Dear liza, I is bin down town
Last Line: "wez not a gwine to go."
Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


DE OLE SEXTON, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Brudder amos is de sexton
Last Line: It am nebber gwine ter fail.
Subject(s): African Americans; Future Life; Sin; Negroes; American Blacks; Retribution; Eternity; After Life


DE SPRING-HOUSE, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Down to de spring-house am whar I long to wandah
Last Line: Down in de spring-house am good enuff fo' me.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans; Blacks; Spring; Negroes; American Blacks


DE WATAH MELLEN SPLOSHUN, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dar's one fing dat hi wouldn't do
Last Line: Dat's shuah.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans; Watermelons; Negroes; American Blacks


DEACON MORGAN, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: His artificial feet calumped in holy rhythm
Last Line: Was welcome still in the abundant household %of a loving father
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DEAD DRUNK BLUES, by LILLIAN MILLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: You knowed I was drunk : when I lay down across your bed
Last Line: Because when I'm drunk : nothing don't worry my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEAD DRUNK BLUES, by SIPPIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Give me houston : dallas is not my crave
Last Line: Because when I'm drunk : nothing don't worry my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEAD IN THERE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes %a night funeral
Last Line: Plant him now %out were it makes %no diff' no how
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEAD SHRIMP BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : and all my shrimps was dead and gone
Last Line: I couldn't do nothing : until I got myself unwound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEAR MR. PRESIDENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: President roosevelt, you
Last Line: I await your reply
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Democracy


DEAR OLD DICK, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Said dear old dick
Last Line: "to wait on st. Peter world without end."
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Waiters & Waitresses; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


DEATH BELL BLUES, by TOM DICKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey : death bells in my ear
Last Line: That leaves no one : to love and care for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEATH CELL BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : chained down in this dark cell by myself
Last Line: Inside my breast felt lonely : my baby left my heart in pain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEATH CHEST, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Last year, in the last field out of shorter
Last Line: I always lock the bathroom doors in hotels though
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


DEATH IN AFRICA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To die %and never know what killed you
Last Line: Dambella, %helpless, too
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEATH IN HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Arabella johnson and the texas kid
Last Line: Picked up another woman and %went to bed
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEATH IN YORKVILLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How many bullets does it take
Last Line: When the long hot summers come %death ain't %no jive
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEATH LETTER BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I received a letter : that my man was dying
Last Line: Mama loves you sweet papa : but I just can't take your place
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEATH LETTER BLUES--PART 1, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yes she wrote me a letter : what you reckon it read
Last Line: I love you pretty mama : just can't take your place
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEATH LETTER BLUES--PART 2, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: So many high *gate* buggies : were a-standing around
Last Line: Don't you feel mistreated : but you won't let on
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEATH OF A DO DIRTY: A ROUNDER'S SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O, you can't find a buddy
Last Line: Ma friend o' mine
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEATH OF AN OLD SEAMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We buried him on a windy hill
Last Line: Do not, do not weep for me, %for I am happy with my sea
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEATH OF DR. KING, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: We sit outside
Last Line: In our heads %bodies collapse %and grow again %the city boils %black men %jump out of trees
Subject(s): African Americans; Holidays; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


DEATH OF NICK CHARLES, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: ...And how much of this
Last Line: & you will not be able %to wake me
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


DEATH STING ME BLUES, by SARA MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want all you women : to listen to my tale of woe
Last Line: Oh death please sting me : and take me out of my misery
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEATH VALLEY BLUES, by ARTHUR BIG BOY CRUDUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down in death valley : among the tombstones and dry bones
Last Line: You going to follow poor crudup : down to his burying ground
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Death Valley


DEBRA, by MICHELLE T. CLINTON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Debra and I are different. Fundamentally different
Last Line: Sometimes it got tah eb dat way
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


DEBRIDEMENT, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black men are oaks cut down.
Last Line: Carried out our assignment / with procision
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


DECEASED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harlem %sent him home
Last Line: The licker %was lye
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DECEITFUL BROWNSKIN WOMAN, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's a brown across town : and she's taller as a sycamore tree
Last Line: Every time it shakes : it's a sign of my baby's home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DECEIVING BLUES, by BLIND DARBY    Poem Source                    
First Line: You deceived me babe : about the things I did not want you to do
Last Line: And you going to be sorry : that you done me this a-way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DECEMBER PORTRAIT, by KATHLEEN TANKERSLEY YOUNG    Poem Source                    
First Line: She now retraces her steps once more
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


DECLARATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I was a sea-lion
Last Line: Yes, way %away %from %you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEDICATION POEM, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Outcast from her home in syria
Last Line: Shall be young, forever young.
Subject(s): African Americans; Old Age; Negroes; American Blacks


DEEDLE, DUMPLING (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DEEP BLUE SEA BLUES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going babe I'm going : and crying won't make me stay
Last Line: Don't got nobody now now now : give me my last pair of shoes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEEP BLUE SEA BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man's on the ocean : bobbing up and down
Last Line: That's the man that keeps rocking : on the deep blue sea
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEEP DOWN IN THE GROUND, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You hear that rumbling : deep down in the ground
Last Line: Now with your hair all tangled : and your clothes ain't fitting you right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEEP SEA LOVE, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went home last night : and my honey doll was mad
Last Line: Because now you know your love done changed : ooo well well that I feel this a-way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEFERRED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This year, maybe, do you think I can graduate?
Last Line: I'd like to take up bach. %montage %of a dream %deferred %buddy, have you heard?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEJA VU, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It happens sometimes when walking down the street, standing on a
Last Line: Speak other tongues, worship different spirits and save whatever we can, as we move on
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Memory; Past; Slavery


DELINQUENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little julie %has grown quite tall
Last Line: What she means is %nobody cares %anywhere
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DELROY AND FRIEND, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: We laugh strongest because we laugh
Last Line: And winner ate dug-up dirt
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


DELROY THE DANCER-EXPLORER, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I dance myself all clear
Last Line: A dancer-boy explorer
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


DELROY THE SKATEBOARD ROLLER, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sittn down is all immobility
Last Line: To roll with, calm calm, without end
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


DELTA, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Alabama harmattan calling me
Last Line: We are blown down to the nines
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Freedom; Singing And Singers


DELY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Jes' lak toddy wahms you thoo
Last Line: Dat's enuff 'uligion.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Beauty


DEMAND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen! %dear dream of utter aliveness
Last Line: Your eyes see forever? %and what is this wind %you touch when you run?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEMONSTRATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Did you ever walk into a firehose
Last Line: Will you ever forget your dawn?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DENTIST CHAIR BLUES--PART 1, by LAURA BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm having so much trouble : with those tooth ache blues
Last Line: Cocaine or soothing liquid : to ease my pain for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DENTIST CHAIR BLUES--PART 2, by LAURA BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I told him : he was grinding into my roots too deep
Last Line: But all my pain had left me : he really done me good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEPARTURE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She lived out a decent span of years
Last Line: In her heart %to sleep
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DEPRESSION'S GONE FROM ME BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: All last winter : and all last fall
Last Line: Your black man : ought to get on out of town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DERE'S NO HIDIN' PLACE DOWN DERE, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
Last Line: "he wanted to go to hebben, but he had to go to hell / dere's no hidin' place down dere"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


DERRICK POEM (THE LOST WORLD), by TERRANCE HAYES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I take my $, buy a pair of very bright kicks for the game
Last Line: "even when he said, “we should go to the movies sometime,""
Subject(s): Shoes; African Americans; Boots; Sneakers; Shoemakers; Negroes; American Blacks


DESERT, by KARLA FRANCESCA BRUNDAGE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shadows dance along the wall
Last Line: I lie naked in the sahara %waiting for the rain to come
Subject(s): African Americans


DESERT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Anybody %better than %nobody
Last Line: Better than nobody %in this lonely %land
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DESIRE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Desire to us %was like a double death
Last Line: Between us quickly %in a naked %room
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DESIRE, by MARJORIE MARSHALL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I would be one with the morning
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


DESIRE AND PRIVATE GRIEFS, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The kind of man you would call on
Last Line: She leaves alone %carrying the heavy silences %of the dead
Subject(s): African Americans


DESTINIES OF GOOD AND BAD CHILDREN (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One, two, three, fo', five, six, seben
Last Line: To segashuate wid ole man joe
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DESTITUTE FORMER SLAVE OWNERS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Missus an' mosser a-walkin' de street
Last Line: Hain't no nigger slaves in de year jubilee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DETROIT MOAN, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Detroit's a cold cold place : and I ain't got a dime to my name
Last Line: And if I ever get back home : I ain't never coming to detroit no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Detroit, Michigan


DEVIL, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The rousters, except when singing of a packet, usually express their
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DEVIL GOT MY WOMAN, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'd rather be the devil : to be that woman's man
Last Line: But he got lucky : stoled her back again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEVIL IN THE LION'S DEN, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now my mama's dead : and my papa can't be found
Last Line: More you cry : the farer I'll ride away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEVIL SENT THE RAIN, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good lord send the sunshine : devil he send the rain
Last Line: I'm going away : mama don't you want to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEVIL'S GOT THE BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good morning blues : where have you been so long
Last Line: The blues will leave you with murder in your mind : that's when the devil out of hell steps in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DEVILISH PIGS (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wish I had a load o' poles
Last Line: Dey'll root 'round in my pot
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DEVILMENT BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here baby : you got devilment on your mind
Last Line: If I take you away from your husbands : ooo well well you will leave me for another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DICE'S BLUES, by BOB CAMPBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said dices oh dices : please don't you three on me
Last Line: Say I just want to show you honey : just what gambling have done for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DICES' BLUES, by WALTER ROLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes you know dices oh dices : please don't three on me
Last Line: But you know says I've got to win some money : so I can give it to that gal of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DID YOU FEED MY COW? (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did yer feed my cow?' 'yes, mam!'
Last Line: Oh, how did they come?' 'flop! Flop! Flop!'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DIDDIE WA DIDDIE, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's : a great big mystery
Last Line: Because I talk :about diddie wa diddie too much
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DIE IN THE PIG-PEN FIGHTING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat ole sow said to de barrer
Last Line: Yes, die wid a bitin' jaw
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DIGGIN' MY POTATOES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby's digging my potatoes : tramping on my vines
Last Line: Never found a bruised one : till I caught them in my bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DIME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Chile, these steps is hard to climb
Last Line: Chile, granny ain't got no dime %I might've known %it all the time
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DIMOUT IN HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Down the street young harlem
Last Line: Down the street young harlem %in the dark
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City)


DINAH'S DINNER HORN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a col', frosty mornin'
Last Line: Say? Don't you want to go?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DINNER BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I asked my good girl : to feed me some
Last Line: Now you know : we're carrying the good work on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DINNER GUEST: ME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I know I am %the negro problem
Last Line: Solutions to the problem, %of course, wait
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DIRECTION, by ANEB KGOSITSILE    Poem Source                    
First Line: It ain't no big thing
Last Line: They can't give you no directions!
Subject(s): African Americans


DIRTY BUTTER, by MINNIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old aunt dinah : she's a sister of the church
Last Line: He's full of whiskey : and take me to the promised land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DIRTY DEAL BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early one morning : baby something was on my mind
Last Line: Please god ??? : make my woman reap righteous seed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DIRTY MOTHER FOR YOU, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't no doctor : but I'm the doctor wife
Last Line: You done *spread* my *liver* : now you done *broke the rungs*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DISILLUSION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would be simple again
Last Line: I will not come %to you again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DISTRICT ATTORNEY BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: District attorney : sure is hard on a man
Last Line: He taken me from my woman : caused her to have some other man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DIVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lenox avenue / by daylight
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DIVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lenox avenue %by daylight
Last Line: Runs to dive in the park %but faster %faster %after dark
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DIVING DUCK BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if the river was whiskey : and I was a diving duck
Last Line: If the train don't hurry : going to be some walking done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DIXIE, by ANONYMOUS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Dis world was made in jis' six days
Last Line: "look away, look away, look away, dixie land"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs;southern States; Negro Spirituals;south (u.s.)


DIXIE MAN TO UNCLE SAM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How can you
Last Line: Too hitler-like %for you -- %or me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DIXIE SOUTH AFRICA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All the creziness
Last Line: In the dew %of day
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DO NOT THINK, by CAROL FREEMAN    Poem Source                    
Last Line: We only want to bring you home
Subject(s): African Americans


DO I LOVE YOU?, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Does I love you wid all my heart?
Last Line: I'd spit you in de river
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DO IT RIGHT, by KID WESLEY WILSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When your gal gets old : she wants to be alone
Last Line: Got a mouthful of kitty : and it's tight like that
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DO LIKE MALCOLM, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daddy loves %to quote malcolm
Last Line: A pretty good idea
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


DO THAT THING, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: She's long and tall : and wears a diamond ring
Last Line: You throws your backbone : clean out of sight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DO YOU RECKON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mr. White man, white man
Last Line: I would act the same way, too
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DO YOUR DUTY, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I heard you say you didn't love me baby : *you say you heard* mrs brown
Last Line: If I'm tired of sleeping by myself : you too dumb to realize
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOES MONEY TALK?, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dem whitefolks say dat money talk
Last Line: It up an' say: 'farewell!'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DOESN'T A DIFFERENCE MAKE FRIENDS TALK?, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My dad watches a ball game
Last Line: But isn't she messy?
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


DOGGIN' ME AROUND BLUES, by JENNY POPE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a stranger here : just blowed in your town
Last Line: The reason I'm leaving you : I don't like your doggone ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOGGIN' ME MAMA BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's no need of you dogging me : mama I ain't done nothing to you
Last Line: If you keep on dogging daddy : I sure ain't going the treat you right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOIN' THE BEST I CAN, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man is out working : working hard all his life
Last Line: But my woman she *keeps that* on me : I ain't going to work tonight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOIN' THE SCRAUNCH, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down in dixie : there's a dance that's new
Last Line: She do that scraunch : it's good like that
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOIN' WRONG, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take me sweet mama : allow me one more show
Last Line: I'm going to pack my suitcase : I'm going to blow this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOING A STRETCH, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a fall : five to twenty-one
Last Line: I know : still love me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOLLAR BLUES, by ROBERT COOKSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My woman woke up this morning : dollar in her hand
Last Line: Two bits for the monkey : six bits for her man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOMESTIC WORK, 1937, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All week she's cleaned
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


DOMESTIC WORK, 1937, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All week she's cleaned
Last Line: A wish for something better
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


DOMESTICS, by KATTIE M. CUMBO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Damit blackman %what are you going to
Last Line: From the kitchen of %the jew?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DON'T ADVERTISE YOUR MAN, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your head will hang low : and your heart will ache
Last Line: Some other woman : sure to take him away from you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't axe me no questions
Last Line: Hain't no place lak my house %found un'er de sun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DON'T CRY BABY, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't worry baby : daddy been here so long
Last Line: Don't you worry nothing about me : because I'm coming back home some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T EASE ME IN, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes I walk : and sometimes I talk
Last Line: They got all the women coming down to the man : *I mean in texas too*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T HANG MY CLOTHES ON NO BARBED WIRE LINE, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want my clothes : hung on that barbed wire line
Last Line: Well well now I wonder do she know : that I'm fixing to beatit on back to 'bam
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T KILL HIM IN HERE, by GEORGE THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went out last night folks : I meant to have some fun
Last Line: And don't you take all my money : and please don't kill him in here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T LEAVE ME BLUES, by SPIDER CARTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't leave me *don't you* babe : all my clothes in pawn
Last Line: You're going to hear : this old lonesome song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T LEAVE ME HERE, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was standing on the corner : a-talking to my brown
Last Line: If she heads to the south great god : she's alabama bound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T LISTEN, by ABIMBOLA ADAMA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Beautiful black man %don't listen to the lies
Last Line: Listen, my brother %to those who love you
Subject(s): African Americans


DON'T NEVER TELL NOBODY, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't never tell nobody : what your perfect good man can do
Last Line: You just get them anxious : to try some of his good points too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T PUT THAT THING ON ME, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't care what you say : don't care what you do
Last Line: If you got a good woman partner : you'd better treat her right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T PUT YOUR DIRTY HANDS ON ME, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you put your dirty black hands on me : I'm going to put you back in jail
Last Line: *pull a number of* women : *to their* mighty few men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T SELL IT, by OSCAR WOODS    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was early one morning : about the break of day
Last Line: I can get more women : than a passenger train can haul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T SELL IT--DON'T GIVE IT AWAY, by OSCAR WOODS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says it was early one morning : about the break of day
Last Line: I got a brand new gal : and I don't want you no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T SHAKE IT NO MORE, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shimmy-shee-wobble : babe that's all
Last Line: Just shake it around and around : don't shake it no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T SING BEFORE BREAKFAST (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: You'll cry 'fore you sleep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DON'T TAKE A CHANCE, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a crime to take a chance : when you know you can get by
Last Line: It's a crime on taking a chance on losing her : ooo well well when you drive her from your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T TELL ALL YOU KNOW, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Keep dis in min', an' all 'll go right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DON'T TRUST NOBODY BLUES, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't trust nobody : but the good lord above
Last Line: While that lowdown man of mine : is trying to make his 'fore-day creep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T WAKE IT UP, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now the girl's got something : I don't know what it is
Last Line: You ain't going to get : none of my *peppermint cloth*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T WANT NO WOMAN, by JOE+(1) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dont want no woman : have to give my money to
Last Line: That's the way baby : you have *things* to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T WANT NO WOMAN, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: You's a worthless ??? Man : I'll take it all away from you
Last Line: Well I'm a good-hearted woman : just trying to get along with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T YOU LEAVE ME HERE, by PAPA HARVEY HULL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boat's up the river : running side by side
Last Line: Well it's fifteen miles sweet loing babe : memphis to my home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T YOU LEAVE ME HERE, by LAURA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't you leave me here : a good gal I've been
Last Line: Take a chair and break it over his doggone head : and walk the streets all night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DON'T YOU WANT TO GO, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I heard somebody calling me : papa don't you want to go
Last Line: All alone by myself baby : won't be satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DONE SOLD MY SOUL TO THE DEVIL, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: He trails me like a bloodhound : he's quicker than a snake
Last Line: Where lions bears and tigers : all come to take their rest
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOODLE HOLE BLUES, by CHARLEY LINCOLN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a little bit worried : getting kind of old
Last Line: Get this doodle : it's sure worth the price
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOODLE-BUG (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DOORKNOBS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The simple silly terror
Last Line: Not of our own doing
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DOUBLE CROSSING BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some men like dogging: I just declare I don't
Last Line: She had so many men: she kept me always crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOUBLE DOZENS, by SWEET PEASE SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you think : you are smart
Last Line: Now you d p aching : just go to
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOUBLE TAKE AT RELAIS DE L'ESPADON, by THADIOUS M. DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: On the ile de goree, m. Diop elegant
Last Line: Is he the father I might have had %is he the son who shackled my father and me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DOUBLE TROUBLE BLUES, by JANE LUCAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you get in trouble : you can always tell who's your friend
Last Line: Sometime I'm happy : most every time I am blue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOUBLE UP IN A KNOT, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go down the river ; there's something new
Last Line: See if they can : take your man from you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOUGH ROLLER BLUES, by GARFIELD AKERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I rolled and I tumbled: and I cried the whole night long
Last Line: I said that's all right sweet mama: your trouble's going to come some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOUGLASS, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ah, douglass, we have fall'n on evil days
Last Line: To give us comfort through the lonely dark.
Subject(s): African Americans; Douglass, Frederick (1817-1895); Negroes; American Blacks


DOVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: ...And here is %old picasso and the dove
Last Line: From our old %battle ground...
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DOWN AND OUT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Baby, if you love me
Last Line: An' I need a dime fo' a beer %I need a dime fo' beer
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DOWN HEARTED BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Gee but it's hard to love someone : when that someone don't love you
Last Line: I'm going to hold it : until you men come under my command
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN IN BLACK BOTTOM, by JOE EVANS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You go down in black bottom : put your money in your shoe
Last Line: Take god to tell : who she been waiting on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN IN BLACK BOTTOM, by BLACK BOTTOM MCPHAIL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now down in black bottom : that is so they say
Last Line: Tell them the black bottom buddy : done been here and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN IN BOOGIE ALLEY, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down in boogie alley : ain't nothing but skulls and bones
Last Line: The womens will get your man down there : and they won't let him go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN IN LONESOME GARDEN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hain't no use to weep, hain't no use to moan
Last Line: Nor down in my lonesome gyardin
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DOWN IN TENNESSEE, by LONNIE CLARK    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm worried today mama : but I won't be worried long
Last Line: I ain't going to let you mistreat me mama : so I won't have to cry no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN IN THE BASEMENT, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a man : he had a hound
Last Line: If you'll play : that thing for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN IN THE BASEMENT BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down to the depot mama lord : I looked up on the board
Last Line: Because she will hide in the bushes : she is hard to find
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN ON MY BENDED KNEE, by KING SOLOMON HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ella ella : down on my bended knees
Last Line: I'm worried about my baby : down on my bended knee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN SOUTH, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I'm going back down south : man where the weather suits my clothes
Last Line: Because my baby she didn't want me : to come way back up here nohow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN SOUTH BLUES, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm just sitting here thinking : of dear old sunny tennessee
Last Line: I'll be so glad : when my train pulls up in town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN SOUTH BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm going down south : and I'll stay until winter is gone
Last Line: But my gal so mean : I'm scared to call her name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN SOUTH BLUES, by COLETHA SIMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to write down home : tell mama to send for me
Last Line: He's sleeping with you : but he's loving somebody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN SOUTH BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to the station : and catch the fastest train that goes
Last Line: Because I'm broke-down-hearted : got those down-south blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN SOUTH BLUES, by HANNAH SYLVESTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have learned my lesson : believe me I am through
Last Line: Because I'm broken-hearted : got those down-south blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN THE BIG ROAD BLUES, by MATTIE DELANEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can't go down : that big road by myself
Last Line: I had a happy home : and I wouldn't stay there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN THE COUNTRY, by LEOLA B. WILSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You ever wake up : just about the break of day
Last Line: Walking away from here : these old down the country blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN THE DIRT ROAD BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going away : to the one I know
Last Line: I don't carry my rider : going to carry me someone's else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN THE HIGHWAY, by CHARLIE PICKETT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm going to leave here walking : going down highway sixty-one
Last Line: Now if I don't be home sunday : ??? Will be home ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, de ole plantation landin'
Last Line: To de lonesomeness -- dat's all.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans; Mississippi River; Plantation Life; Rivers; Negroes; American Blacks


DOWN THE RIVUH, DOWN, BOYS, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DOWN TO SKIN AND BONES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I say my little woman : got me down to skin and bone
Last Line: Because you go with every man : mmm in anybody's neighborhood
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWN TO THE NINES, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh owner of wind %keeper of river mists
Last Line: We are down to the nines
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Memory; Slavery; Women


DOWN WHERE I AM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Too many years
Last Line: If you want to see me %come down
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DOWN-HEARTED BLUES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Gee, but it's hard to love someone, when that someone don't love you
Last Line: Had the down-hearted blues and couldn't be satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DOWNED BLACK PILOT LEARNS HOW TO FLY, by HORACE COLEMAN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now that the war is over
Last Line: I'll wait and see if they've declared %war on me - or just america
Alternate Author Name(s): Shaka Aku Shango
Subject(s): African Americans; Soldiers; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975


DOWNTOWN BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey listen mama : the world is done gone away
Last Line: The reason I can *fill it* so careful : because man don't know me there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DR. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON TO THE NATIONAL NEGRO BUSINESS LEAGUE, by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER SR.    Poem Text                    
First Line: Tis strange indeed to hear us plead
Last Line: When money clinks its story.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Business; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915); Black Heritage; Businessmen; Businesswomen


DRAFTEES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Leave your coras
Last Line: Is basic %in these
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DRAMA FOR A WINTER NIGHT (FIFTH AVENUE), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You can't sleep here, %my good man
Last Line: He can't die on this corner. %no, no, not here
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DRAPERY FACTORY, GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI, 1956, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She made the trip daily, though
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


DRAPERY FACTORY, GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI, 1956, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She made the trip daily, though
Last Line: On one white man's face, his hand %deep in knowledge
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


DRAYMAN BLUES, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr drayman mr drayman : back your truck up to my door
Last Line: Say the days seem so lonesome : and the nights so long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DREAM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Last night I dreamt
Last Line: But you were not there at all
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DREAM BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Had a dream last night : and the night before
Last Line: Since I had that dream last night : mama don't mind dying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DREAM BOOGIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Good morning, daddy!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


DREAM BOOGIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Good morning, daddy!
Last Line: I'm happy! %take it away! %hey,pop %re-bop! %mop! %y-e-a-h!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music And Musicians


DREAM BOOGIE: VARIATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tinkling treble, %rolling bass
Last Line: A few minutes late %for the freedom train
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DREAM DUST, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gather out of star-dust
Last Line: One handful of dream dust %not for sale
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DREAM KEEPER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bring me all of your dreams
Last Line: Away from the too-rough fingers %of the world
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DREAM OF FREEDOM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a dream in the land
Last Line: Our dream of freedom
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DREAM SONGS: 68, by JOHN BERRYMAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I heard, could be, a hey there from the wing
Last Line: Black to the birds again
Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, John, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


DREAM VARIATIONS [OR, VARIATION], by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To fling my arms wide
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Dream Variations
Subject(s): African Americans; Imagination; Nature; Negroes; American Blacks; Fancy


DREAM VARIATIONS [OR, VARIATION], by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To fling my arms wide
Last Line: Night coming tenderly %black like me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Dream Variation
Subject(s): African Americans; Imagination; Nature


DREAMER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I take my dreams
Last Line: I continue to dream
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DREAMING BLUES, by WILLIE REED    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to leave you : but I'll be bac some old day
Last Line: And that man had my woman : lord and the blues had me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DREAMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hold fast to dreams
Last Line: Life is a barren field %frozen with snow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DREENA'S NOTEBOOK THAT MAKES PEOPLE LAUGH, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My drawings come bright
Last Line: He'd been really nasty to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


DRESSED UP, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had ma clothes cleaned
Last Line: But I ain't got nobody %for to call me sweet
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DRINKING RAZOR SOUP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: He's been drinkin' razzer soup
Last Line: Cain't more 'an drive dat ole mule chyart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DRIVE AWAY BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe that if I had my sweet woman's heart : in my hand in my hand
Last Line: You drove me away : and drove my heart insane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRIVING STORY; MYTH STORY AND LIFE, by SHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The darkened bedroom, the double bed
Last Line: History is them; it is also theirs to make
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


DROP DOWN, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: My old lady coming ; down the line
Last Line: Women out there : look like sex of men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DROP DOWN MAMA, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now drop down baby : let your ??? Be
Last Line: You know I ain't no stranger : done been here before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DROP DOWN MAMA, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Drop down mama : let daddy see
Last Line: Because when you get to chicago : these women walking around here any day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DROP THAT SACK, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I got a gal : works in the yard
Last Line: If you ever come back : you got to drop that sack
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRUM, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Daddy says the world is
Last Line: I'm gonna beat %out my own rhythm
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


DRUM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bear in mind / that death is a drum
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Death; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The


DRUM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bear in mind %that death is a drum
Last Line: Calling life %to come! %come! %come!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Death


DRUM (FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.), by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The drums - pa-rum - the rat-tat-tat - of drums
Last Line: The drums are calling - pa-rum pa-rum - rat-tat-tat pa-rum
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


DRUM MAN, by WANDA WINBUSH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brown skinbeat pounds your hot rhythms
Last Line: As you play me into ecstasy
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song And Music


DRUMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I dream of the drums
Last Line: Remember! %I remember! %remember
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DRUNKARD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Voice grows thicker %as song grows stronger
Last Line: Trying to forget to remember %the taste of the day
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DRUNKARD'S SPECIAL, by COLEY JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: First night that I went home : drunk as I could be
Last Line: Hair on a cabbage head : I've never seen him before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRUNKEN BARRELHOUSE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you listen to me good people : I'll tell you what it's all about
Last Line: I feel myself getting sober : I want to get back drunk again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRUNKEN HEARTED MAN, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a [poor] drunken-hearted man : my life seems to misery
Last Line: But the day you get weak for no-good woman : that's the day that you surely fall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRUNKEN LOVER, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is the stagnant hour
Last Line: For the wind to cool my head
Subject(s): African Americans


DRY LAND BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can look through muddy water baby : and spy dry land
Last Line: What you going to do : when your trouble get like mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRY SOUTHERN BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well my mind leads me : to take a trip down south
Last Line: I got a brown yonder in dallas : I's afraid to call her name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRY SPELL BLUES--PART 1, by SON HOUSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: The dry spell blues have fallen : drive me from door to door
Last Line: Now ain't nothing to do : bootleg moonshine and rye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRY SPELL BLUES--PART 2, by SON HOUSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: It have been so dry : you can make a powderhouse out of the world
Last Line: For it's very likely : bound to rain somewhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DRY WELL BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was living at lula : I was living there at ease
Last Line: Lord you ought to have been there : lord see the womens all leaving town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DUCK YAS-YAS-YAS, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama bought a rooster : she thought it was a duck
Last Line: I better stop that noise : before they crack my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DUKE SEE THE TIE PILE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


DUSK, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Like you %letting down your purple-shadowed hair
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


DUSK, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Twin stars through my purpling pane
Last Line: And the dusk.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Dusk


DUSK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wandering in the dusk
Last Line: And chains be gone
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DUSK SONG FOR THE BROWN BOMBER, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: A credit to his race in the ring
Last Line: For joe %(they stink worse than feet but's good eatin) %somehog meat for joe made real fine
Subject(s): African Americans; Boxing And Boxers; Louis, Joe (1914-1981); Sports


DUSTBOWL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The land %wants me to come back
Last Line: Wants me %to come back
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DUSTING, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Every day a wilderness
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


DUSTING, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Every day a wilderness
Last Line: Long before the shadow and sun's accomplice, the tree %maur ice
Subject(s): African Americans


DYIN' RIDER BLUES, by ROMEO NELSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a letter from my rider : what do you reckon it read
Last Line: The way I been treated : I sure will pass away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


DYING BEAST, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sensing death, %the buzzards gather
Last Line: When life -- %is dead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


DYING PICKPOCKET BLUES, by NOLAN WELSH    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was in new york city workhouse : *so they called big sam for days*
Last Line: I've ruined her health : trying to spring me from this vault
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Pickpockets


DYNAMITE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel like tramping : from the *great big corral*
Last Line: Going down with the whales : and the mermaids make love to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EACH ONE, PULL ONE, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We must say it all, and as clearly
Subject(s): African Americans; Writing & Writers; Artists; Negroes; American Blacks


EAGLE EYED MAMA, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My woman got eyes like an eagle : and she watching me all the time
Last Line: If I ever leave here : I must be going insane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EAGLE RIDING PAPA, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen everybody : from near and far
Last Line: Always have : seven eight or nine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EAGLES ON A HALF, by GEESHIE WILEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a low it's a low low : lowdown dirty shame
Last Line: I love you daddy : want your dollar first
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EARLY EVENING QUARREL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where is that sugar, hammond
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Quarrels; Negroes; American Blacks; Arguments; Disagreements


EARLY EVENING QUARREL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where is that sugar, hammond
Last Line: I wonder is there nowhere a %do-right man?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Quarrels


EARLY EVENING, FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: It is 1965. I am not yet born, only
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


EARLY EVENING, FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is 1965. I am not yet born, only
Last Line: Dead center of her life
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


EARLY EVERY MORN', by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody in this world : got something that they crave
Last Line: A funny feeling : goes from my head to my toes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EARLY IN THE MORNIN', by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early in the mornin' jes' about the break uv day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


EARLY IN THE MORNING, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord when a little girl become twelve years old : begin to think she's grown
Last Line: I know you don't love me : you wild about mr so-and-so
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EARLY IN THE MORNING NO.2, by WALTER ROLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says me and my good girl : we had a falling out
Last Line: Then I turn over and hug the pillow : where my baby used to lay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EARLY LOSSES: A REQUIEM. PART 1, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nyanu was appointed %as my lord. The husband chosen
Last Line: The sound itself is all
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


EARLY LOSSES: A REQUIEM. PART 2. THE CHILD, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A sound like a small wind
Last Line: The sound itself is all
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


EARLY LOSSES: A REQUIEM. PART 2. THE CHILD, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A sound like a small wind
Last Line: Her only treasure %and never spent
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


EARLY MORNING BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early this morning : my baby made me sore
Last Line: The day you try to quit me : baby that's the day you die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EARTH SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's an earth song
Last Line: And I've been waiting long %for an earth song
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EASE IT TO ME BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some people want to have plenty of money : some want their wine and song
Last Line: I'm going to kill everybody : ever treat me mean
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EASIN' BACK TO TENNESSEE, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now woke up this morning : couldn't hardly see
Last Line: That's where you get : my nineteen and thirty-two
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EASY BOOGIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Down in the bass
Last Line: Do you hear what I said? %easy like I rock it %in my bed!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EASY RIDER BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I wonder where: my easy rider gone
Last Line: Say when you get to loving: man I near about to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EASY RIDER BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now tell me : where my easy rider's gone
Last Line: You turn your back to quit me : woman and you don't know how
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Disasters; Railroad Wrecks


EASY RIDER DON'T DENY MY NAME, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going up to town : what you want me to bring you back
Last Line: The day you quit me : that's the day you die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EASY TO LOVE, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And he went up into the mountain
Last Line: And he was new baptized
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


ECSTASY, by VIRGINIA A. HOUSTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Even here, dwelling in the chaos
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


EL BESO, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Twilight - and you
Last Line: And again, quiet -- the stars, %twilight -- and you
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


EL-HAJJ MALIK EL-SHABAZZ, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The icy evil that struck his father down
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


EL-HAJJ MALIK EL-SHABAZZ, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The icy evil that struck his father down
Last Line: Were one. He rose renewed renamed, became %much more than there was time for him to be
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


ELDER'S HE'S MY SON, by COLEY JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I washes hard : both day and night
Last Line: The police don't get you : now the undertaker must
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ELDERLY LEADERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The old, the cautious, the over-wise
Last Line: Their master's %goose laid: %$$$$$
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ELDRIDGE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nobody mentioned war
Last Line: Break, or / be broken
Subject(s): Civil Rights Movement; African Americans; Cleaver, Eldridge (1935-1998)


ELDRIDGE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The edge %of this
Last Line: Break, or be broken
Subject(s): African Americans; Strength


ELEGY FOR THE DUKE OF MARMALADE, by LOUNES MATOUB    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, my fine, my honey-colored duke of marmalade!
Last Line: Oh my fine, my honey-colored duke of marmalade?
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors And Ancestry


ELEGY FOR THE NATIVE GUARD, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: We leave gulfport at noon; gulls overhead
Subject(s): African Americans - Soldiers; American Civil War; Ship Island (mississippi)


ELEGY ON A NORDIC WHITE PROTESTANT, by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lazy petals of magnolia-bloom float down the sluggish river
Last Line: Rising, forever, rising!
Subject(s): African Americans; Stock Exchange; Negroes; American Blacks


ELEPHANT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mammy gimme fifteen cents
Last Line: An' he won't git back 'fore de fo'th o' july
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ELEVATOR BOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I got a job now
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Elevators; Negroes; American Blacks


ELEVATOR BOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I got a job now
Last Line: I been runnin' this %elevator too long. %guess I'll quit now
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Elevators


ELEVEN TWENTY-NINE BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: She ain't good-looking : but the good gal do go clean
Last Line: I'm going to ask that jailor : can I do my good gal's time myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ELIZABETH KECKLEY: 30 YEARS A SLAVE AND 4 YEARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, by E. ETHELBERT MILLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tall man lincoln looking out the windows
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Slavery; Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865); Serfs


ELM STREET BLUES, by TEXAS BILL DAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Elm street painted in brass : main street painted in gold
Last Line: If you want to make a good woman : have to get on *hospital*avenue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ELM STREET WOMAN BLUES, by CARL DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if you're ever in dallas boy : please visit old elm street
Last Line: Lord I'm crazy about my pork and beans : wild about my good beef stew
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ELSIE BLUES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Elsie : is sweetest girl I know
Last Line: If your good man don't see you : I'll try to see you tomorrow night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ELVENA, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a house down on old roman street
Last Line: What have you lost today?
Subject(s): African Americans


EMANCIPATION, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis a time for much rejoicing
Last Line: God is with us now, forever.
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States


EMANCIPATION OF GEORGE-HECTOR (A COLORED TURTLE), by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: George-hector %...Is %spoiled
Last Line: But %he does now
Subject(s): African Americans


EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That he is human...And living...
Last Line: Our symbol of a dream %that will not die
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EMPRESS BRAND TRIM: RUBY REMINISCENCES, by SHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: He was still uncle
Last Line: And they always did
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


EMPTY BED BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : with an awful aching head
Last Line: Else he'll double-cross you %and leave you with them empty bed blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EMPTY HOUSE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was in the empty house
Last Line: More pain than a cutting knife
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EMPTY HOUSE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The furniture man : he done been here and gone
Last Line: Soon as you get some of my loving : they can't keep you out of town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EMPTY ROOM BLUES, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My room was empty : and my woman was gone
Last Line: You come home feeling very happy : and find only a empty room
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ENCOUNTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I met you on your way to death
Last Line: My own misery
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


END, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There are %no clocks on the wall
Last Line: Outside the door. There is no door!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


END OF TEN LITTLE NEGROES (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ten liddle niggers, a-eatin', fat an' fine
Last Line: Gun go off 'bang!' an' dat lef' none
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ENDANGERED SPECIES, by FLORENCE ANTHONY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The color of violence is black
Last Line: Of a nation %that delivered rhetoric %in exchange for its promises
Alternate Author Name(s): Ai
Subject(s): African Americans; Riots


ENEMY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It would be nice
Last Line: As I come up %feeling swell
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ENGLISH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In ships all over the world
Last Line: Comb their hair for dinner
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ENNUI, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's such a / bore
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


ENNUI, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's such a %bore
Last Line: Being always %poor
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ENSLAVED, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh when I think of my long-suffering race
Last Line: To liberate my people from its yoke!
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Slavery; Black Heritage; Serfs


ENTERING THE SOUTH, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have put on my mother's coat
Last Line: Heavy and dark and alive
Subject(s): African Americans; Animal Rights; Fur Trade; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Animal Abuse; Vivisection; Furs; South (u.s.)


ENTERING THE SOUTH, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have put on my mother's coat
Last Line: Heavy and dark and alive
Subject(s): African Americans; Animal Rights; Fur Trade; Southern States


ENVOY TO AFRICA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My name is lord piggly-wiggly wogglesfoot brown
Last Line: If you'll just stay in your place
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EPITAFIO, by ECE AYHAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: They came drowned in the afternoon to the blue house
Last Line: And their sister, also, on the mossy rocky road to africa
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Travel


EPITAPH (2), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Uncle tom, %when he was alive
Last Line: Uncle tom %is dead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EPITAPH FOR ETHERIDGE KNIGHT, by MELBA JOYCE BOYD    Poem Source                    
First Line: You lunged %at this square toed
Last Line: Belly songs %of love
Subject(s): African Americans; Knight, Etheridge (1931-1991)


EPITAPH [1], by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Within this grave lie
Last Line: Lies nothing more %than I
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EPITAPH: FOR A LADY I KNOW, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She thinks that even up in heaven
Last Line: To do celestial chores.
Subject(s): African Americans; Religion; Social Classes; Negroes; American Blacks; Theology; Caste


EPITAPH: FOR MY GRANDMOTHER, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This lovely flower fell to seed
Last Line: That she would grow again.
Subject(s): Grandparents; African Americans; Death; Flowers; Grandparents; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers


EPITAPH: FOR MY GRANDMOTHER, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This lovely flower fell to seed
Last Line: That she would grow again.
Subject(s): African Americans; Death; Flowers; Grandparents; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers


EPITAPH: FOR PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Born of the sorrowful of heart
Subject(s): African Americans; Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1872-1906); Negroes; American Blacks


EPITAPH: FOR PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Born of the sorrowful of heart
Last Line: In jest, to hide a heart that bled
Subject(s): African Americans; Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1872-1906)


EPITOME, by RUTH G. DIXON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Emerges now a hero new
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


ERIE TRAIN BLUES, by MILTON SPARKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I hate to hear : that erie train whistle when he blow
Last Line: That train come and stole my baby people : swear it won't bring her back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ESCAPE, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Shadows, shadows
Last Line: Profound.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Shadows


ETHEL SINGS 'EM, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's getting so I can't sleep for dreaming : and I can't laugh for crying
Last Line: It jams everybody : now it's about to jam poor me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ETHIOPIA SALUTING THE COLORS, by WALT WHITMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who are you dusky woman, so ancient hardly human
Last Line: Are the things so strange and marvellous you see or have seen?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; American Civil War; Georgia (state); Sherman, William Tecumseh (1820-1891); United States - History


EURYDICE, by JOHN UPDIKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Negress serene though underground
Last Line: Tugged northward into night
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


EURYDICE, by JOHN UPDIKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Negress serene though underground
Last Line: You gone, negress serene, %tugged northward into night
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


EVEN THOUGH WE NEVER WENT CAMPING, by MARIA MADISON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When typhoons rage
Last Line: I'll always know what love is
Subject(s): African Americans


EVENIN' AIR BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Folks, I come up north
Last Line: Just look at me and see!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EVENING NEWS, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A wail %a whoop %a line brought back from nowhere
Last Line: There is no place %to go?
Subject(s): African Americans


EVENING SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A woman standing in the doorway
Last Line: Well, I hope that lamb of mary's %don't turn out like I am
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EVENING SONG ON OUR STREET, by DAVID WAGONER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was almost bedtime, and something was wrong
Last Line: By both my hands again, and we walked home
Subject(s): African Americans; Sickness; Singing & Singers; Streets; Negroes; American Blacks; Illness; Avenues


EVENT, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ever since they'd left the tennessee ridge
Last Line: A stinking circle of rags, %the half-shell mandolin. %where the wheel turned the water %gently shirr
Subject(s): African Americans


EVERGREEN MONEY BLUES, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been drinking all night long baby : mama I ain't going to drink no more
Last Line: I allow you don't need no telling mama : babe because you already know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVERY MORNING BLUES, by WALTER ROLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says every morning every morning : I wakes with the rising sun
Last Line: For you would take my money : then you will slip on home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVERY WOMAN BLUES, by ANNA BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love my daddy : better than I love myself
Last Line: If you take a peep in my back yard : better take a look at mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVERY WOMAN'S BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm so worried : down-hearted in mind
Last Line: My brown treat me so mean : sometime don't know right from wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVERYBODY BUT ME, by MARGARET GOSS BURROUGHS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You say you believe in democracy for everybody
Last Line: It will mean me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


EVERYBODY OUHTA MAKE A CHANGE, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now change in the ocean : change in the deep blue sea
Last Line: I change baby : just to keep from being balked
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVERYBODY'S READING LI PO' SILKSCREENED ON A PURPLE T-SHIRT, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Li po who?
Last Line: What a diamond-studded %garter looks like?
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans; Cities; Li Po (701-762)


EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT SADIE GREEN, by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down in memphis : tennessee
Last Line: Some day : I'll see what sadie's got
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO (MONK AND) ME, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We hustle hard as the rest of the folk me and my baby
Last Line: Full up with longing %in the streets
Subject(s): African Americans


EVIL BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes yes : worst feeling I ever had
Last Line: These old evil blues keep following me : death valley going to be my home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVIL DEVIL BLUES, by JOHNNIE TEMPLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'd rather be dead : and in my horrible tomb
Last Line: Lord he got lucky : and stoled her back again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVIL DEVIL WOMAN BLUES, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'd rather be the devil : be that woman's man
Last Line: I tried to be : tried to be a man to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVIL HEARTED WOMAN, by OSCAR WOODS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had an evil-hearted woman : she mistreated me all the time
Last Line: Thinking about you jesse : you have been with someone else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVIL MORNING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It must have been yesterday
Last Line: Fore it is too late
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EVIL WOMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I ain't gonna mistreat ma
Last Line: Else I'll use her head %for a carpet tack
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EVIL WOMAN BLUES, by JAMES BOODLE IT WIGGINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wake up every morning : with leaving on my mind
Last Line: I want to see : if I can find my good gal there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EVIL-HEARTED WOMAN, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: You evil-hearted woman : you got a heart like a stone
Last Line: I done took your foolishness long enough : and I don't want you no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EX-JUDGE AT THE BAR, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bartender, make it straight and make it two
Last Line: One for the negro - one for you and me
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


EXITS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sea is deep %a knife is sharp
Last Line: From where %no soul returns
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EXITS AND ENTRANCES, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Through random doors we wandered
Last Line: But armed with the invincible sword and shield %of our own names and faces
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Identity


EXODUS, by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rank fennel and broom
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


EXPECTANT, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nights are hardest, the swelling
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


EXPECTANT, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nights are hardest, the swelling
Last Line: Carrying her, slightly swaying home
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


EXPEDITUS, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You say you believe
Last Line: As you cut across the square'
Subject(s): African Americans


EXPENDABLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We will take you and kill you
Last Line: If your head %can be found
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EXPERIENCE BLUES, by RUTH MARY WILLIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I once loved a man : that didn't mean me no good
Last Line: That's why I'm singing : these old experience blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EXPLAIN IT, PLEASE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see by the papers %what seems mighty funny to me
Last Line: And a handful of dung for me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


EXPLAINING THE BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Whole world would be forgived me : if I could just explain
Last Line: But I'll never be down-hearted : if I can explain these blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EXPOSITION OF THE CONTENTS OF A CAB, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Victoria clementina, negress
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Taxis


EXPOSITION OF THE CONTENTS OF A CAB, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Victoria clementina, negress
Last Line: Except linen, embroidered %by elderly women?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Taxis


EXPRESSMAN BLUES, by JAMES YANK RACHEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said expressman expressman lord : you have parked your wagon wrong
Last Line: I'm going to put this mandolin under my arm : to the ??? *cafe* ill go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


EXULTATION, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: O day! %with sun glowing
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


EYE-LUV-U, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was sittin' in class
Last Line: About dante + me, 4-ever
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


EZEKIEL SAW THE WHEEL, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Ezeekiel saw de wheel
Last Line: "dis ole worl' gwine reel an' rock, / 'way in de middle ob de air"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


FACING IT, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation             Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: My black face fades
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans; Americans; Kent State University - Riot, 1970; United States; War; Negroes; American Blacks; America


FACING IT, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My black face fades
Last Line: No, she's brushing a boy's hair
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans; Americans; Kent State University - Riot, 1970; United States; War


FACT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There's been an eagle on a nickel
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Money; Negroes; American Blacks


FACT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There's been an eagle on a nickel
Last Line: An eagle on a quarter, too. %but there ain't no eagle %on a dime
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Money


FAIR TIMES IN OLD TENNESSEE, by JOHN TROTWOOD MOORE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
Last Line: Lord, when I die, jes' take me whar a fair is allers gwine!
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States; Tennessee; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.)


FAIRIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Out of the dust of dreams
Last Line: No wonder we find them such marvellous things
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FAITHFUL ONE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Though I go drunken
Last Line: At end of day
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FAKING BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got plenty of whiskey : put them up on the shelf
Last Line: I thought about my faking jellyroll : come on back to town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FALLING DOWN BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got the blues so bad : it hurts my feet to walk
Last Line: If I ever see her : I never turn around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FALLING DOWN BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm tired of standing : on the long lonesome road
Last Line: I will meet you some day : when you down in hard luck too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FALLING RAIN BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The storm is rising : the rains begin to fall
Last Line: Every once in a while : think I hear my baby call my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FALSE HEARTED WOMAN, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lying here in prison : longing to be free
Last Line: No other false-hearted woman : ooo well well can drive me this a-way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FAMILIES, FAMILIES, by DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Caring and sharing, %and loving you
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


FAMILY PORTRAIT, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Before the picture man comes
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


FAMILY PORTRAIT, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Before the picture man comes
Last Line: As-years later-I'd itch for what's not there
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


FAMILY TROUBLE BLUES, by ANDREW HOGG    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well now I have a woman : I try to treat her right
Last Line: Well now you have a new man : ooo well well she can't use me no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FANCIES, by OLIVA WARD BUSH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Mid parted clouds, all silver-edged
Last Line: And life's strange tale is told.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bush-banks, Oliva Ward
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FANTASY, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I sailed in my dreams to the land of night
Last Line: And whistled a song to the dark-haired queen
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


FANTASY IN PURPLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Beat the drums of tragedy for me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Death; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The


FANTASY IN PURPLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Beat the drums of tragedy for me
Last Line: To go with me %to the darkness %were I go
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Death


FAR CRY FROM AFRICA, by DEREK WALCOTT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A wind is ruffling the tawny pelt
Last Line: How can I face such slaughter and be cool? %how can I turn from africa and live
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - History; Ancestors And Ancestry


FAR MEMORY: 1. CONVENT, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My knees recall the pockets
Last Line: And certainly attended.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Convents; Memory; Sisters; Women & Religion; Black Heritage


FAR MEMORY: 3. AGAIN, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Born in the year of war
Last Line: Of another life.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; War


FAR MEMORY: 4. TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THIS LIFE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who did I fail, who
Last Line: Of rescue, rescue.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Life; Sisters; Women & Religion; Black Heritage


FARE THEE WELL BLUES, by JOE CALICOTT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Told me late last fall : you never had no man at all
Last Line: Well it's the last chance : shaking in bed with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FAREWELL, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: No more %the fell of your hand
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


FAREWELL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: With gypsies and sailors
Last Line: And have never seen the seas
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FAREWELL TO YOU BABY, by CARL MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm leaving you baby : just because you won't be true
Last Line: Farewell to you baby : get yourself a monkey-man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FARRELL BLUES, by HENRY SIMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to farrell : so I can have my fun
Last Line: The blues go away : I am going too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FASCINATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her teeth are as white as the meat of an apple
Last Line: And because her skin is the brown of an oak leaf in autumn, but a softer color, %I want to kiss her
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FAST STUFF BLUES, by GEORGE THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I keep tough : I'm clean all the time
Last Line: You can't get a baby : because you most too old
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FAT MOUTH BLUES, by BEN CURRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Do anything mama : tell the truth don't mean no lie
Last Line: Some of these days mama : you going to do like I want you to
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FAT MOUTH BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me tell me : please has abybody seen my brown
Last Line: Then along come a fatmouth : keep me shaking that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FATHER AND SON, by DAVID IGNATOW    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A black man is hugging me around the throat behind with his forearm
Last Line: I think he is smiling back as the elevator begins to climb
Subject(s): African Americans; Crime And Criminals


FATHERS'S TEACHING, by ELANA HAYES    Poem Source                    
First Line: He took small brown hands
Last Line: Secure in her identity
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


FATTENING FROGS FOR SNAKES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: You needn't sen' my gal hoss apples
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FAUBOURG, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The faubourg is a city within the larger city
Last Line: What good is any woman's name?
Subject(s): African Americans; Louisiana


FAUBOURG STUDY NO. 3: THE SEVEN SISTERS OF NEW ORLEANS, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I do recall the day the last of them
Subject(s): African Americans; New Orleans


FEATHER BED, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went downtown; didn't mean no harm
Last Line: Am going across the street ??? : going to town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FED FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I nebber starts to break my cold
Last Line: An' done some apple eatin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FEED YOUR FRIEND WITH A LONG HANDLED SPOON, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boy my mother always taught me : to learn to feed my friends with a long-handle
Last Line: I quit a thousand dollar woman : *but it wasn't worth*???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FEELIN' BLUE, by DAISY MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Does anybody : does anybody feel like me
Last Line: If I ever find a way to leave him : if we cannot agree
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FEET O' JESUS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At the feet o' jesus
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


FEET O' JESUS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At the feet o' jesus
Last Line: O, ma little jesus, %please reach out yo' hand
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FENCE BREAKIN' BLUES, by ED SCHAFFER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I'm going to start a-rambling : ain't going to stop mama from raising sand
Last Line: Now you may treat me right babe : that's all I can do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FENCE BREAKIN' YELLIN' BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here comes two women : I liked to drove them wild
Last Line: You can have all this world : but leave my honeycomb home with me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FERD HEROLD BLUES, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Big boat's up the rivuh an' she won't come down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FEW NEGROES BY STATE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Alabammer nigger say he love mush
Last Line: An' break his head on a pone o' co'n bread
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FIELD MOUSE STOMP, by MINNIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now use to think : that you are cute
Last Line: Trying to be : too hard and rough
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIFTY YEARS (1863-1913), by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O brothers mine, today we stand
Last Line: God cannot let it come to naught.
Subject(s): Abolitionists; African Americans; African Americans - History; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre; Brown, John (1800-1859); Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Freedom; Garrison, William Lloyd (1805-1879); Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865); Lovej


FIGHTIN' THE JUG, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Went home last night : my baby won't let me in
Last Line: Getting sick and tired : of fighting that jug
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIGURE, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He would slump to his knees, now that his agonies
Last Line: In metaphor of a place, a time. Is our %time geometrized
Subject(s): African Americans


FILLMO'E STREET WOMAN, by DEVORAH MAJOR    Poem Source                    
First Line: She is a dark woman
Last Line: Was black and fierce %like her
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Politics


FINAL CALL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Send for the pied piper and let him pipe the rats away
Last Line: (and if nobody comes, send for me)
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FINAL CURVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When you turn the corner
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


FINAL CURVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When you turn the corner
Last Line: Then you know that you have turned %all the corners that are left
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FINE AND DANDY, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Join up with us, says
Last Line: Perfectly good enough
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


FINE AND MELLOW, by ELEANORA HOLIDAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man don't love me
Last Line: It has turned off and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FINE PLASTER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'en it's sheep skin an' beeswax
Last Line: De mo' it sticks de faster
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FIRE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Fire gonna burn ma soul!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Fir
Subject(s): African Americans; Fire


FIRE DEPARTMENT BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now go call the fire department : for my house is burning down
Last Line: You know little martha hardin's house done burnt down : she done moved on bathurst street
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIRE DETECTIVE BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: My house burning down : the firemen are taking their time
Last Line: Reason why it worries me : to hear that fire bell ring
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIRE-CAUGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The gold moth did not love him
Last Line: She fell, fire-caught, into the flame
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FIRED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Awake all night with loving
Last Line: With caledonia's arm %beneath my head
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FIRST AND LAST BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm just sitting here thinking : thinking about the first
Last Line: And maybe people : ooo well well I could get her to understand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIRST OF MAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I believe it to be true
Last Line: I await %my first of may
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FIRST SHALL BE THE LAST AND THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well now the first shall be the last : and the last shall be the first
Last Line: If I just could know : ooo well well now what woman treats me the worst
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIRST TIME I MET YOU, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The first time I met the blues mama : they came walking through the wood
Last Line: They give me more hard luck and trouble : then I ever had before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIRSTLY INCLINED TO TAKE WHAT IT IS TOLD, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Thee sacrosanct, - thee sweet, thee crystalline
Last Line: I had been brightly ready to believe
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


FISHING SIMON (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Simon tuck his hook an' pole
Last Line: He give sunday fishin' up
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FIVE BLACK MEN, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Douglass, du bois, garvey, king, and malcolm x
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Douglass, Frederick (1817-1895); Du Bois, William Edward B. (1868-1963); Garvey, Marcus (1887-1940); King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968); Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Reform And Reformers; Writing And Wri


FIX IT, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now when I fix it lady : sure will be mighty good
Last Line: I fixed so many of them : all over this neighborhood
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIX IT, by JANE LUCAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr oh mr : can't you fix this thing for me
Last Line: So don't have no part missing : I want you to work all night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FIXIN' TO DIE BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm looking funny in my eyes : and I believe I'm fixing to die
Last Line: And don't leave them screaming and crying : on the graveyard ground
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FLAP-JACKS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I loves my wife, an' I loves my baby
Last Line: Fer I hain't gwineter give you no flap-jack
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FLATTED FIFTHS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little cullud boys with beards
Last Line: And dig all plays.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


FLOATING BRIDGE, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I never will forget : that floating bridge
Last Line: Lord have mercy : where we going
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FLOOD BLUES, by SIPPIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm standing in this water : wishing I had a boat
Last Line: What else is there : for a poor girl to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FLOOD WATER BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's been snowing forty days and nights : lakes and rivers begin to freeze
Last Line: The flood water have broke the levee : and we ain't safe here no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FLORIDA BOUND, by EDWARD+(3) THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to florida : where I can have my fun
Last Line: Don't you let them bell-bottom : make no fool of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FLORIDA ROAD WORKERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hey, buddy! %look at me!
Last Line: I'm makin' a road!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Florida; Labor And Laborers


FLOTSAM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On the shoals of nowhere
Last Line: And blown along
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FLOUNDER, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here, she said, put this on your head
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


FLOUNDER, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here, she said, put this on your head
Last Line: I stood there watching that fish flip-flop, %switch sides with every jump
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


FLOWER BLUES, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'd rather see the flowers : growing on top of my baby's grave
Last Line: I will work hard and I'll slave : babe I'll bring that money back home to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FLOWERS, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: My stepfather brought me flowers today
Last Line: Becaurse I had just sung my first solo
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


FLOWERS OF DARKNESS, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Slowly the night blooms, unfurling
Subject(s): African Americans; Flowers; Negroes; American Blacks


FLOWERS OF DARKNESS, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Slowly the night blooms, unfurling
Last Line: With you and the blossomig night %for what flower, plucked, %lingers long?
Subject(s): African Americans; Flowers


FLYING CROW BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Flying crow leave port arthur : come to shreveport to change her crew
Last Line: The red is for trouble : and the green is for my rambling mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FLYING CROW LEAVE PORT ARTHUR : WHY THEY COME IN SHREVEPORT, by UNKNOWN+203A    Poem Source                    
First Line: To change their crew
Last Line: Well I hate to hear : that old fireman when he tones the bell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FO DAY CREEP, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You passed my door brown : you won't even look in
Last Line: Some are *so ???Ing* : some are so lowdown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Singing black boatmen
Last Line: We strange so-civilized ones %sail in always
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FOLK SONG, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "steal away, steal away, steal away to jesus"
Last Line: I ain't got long to stay here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs;jesus Christ; Negro Spirituals


FOLK SONG, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "go down, moses, / way down in egypt land"
Last Line: Let my people go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs;egypt; Negro Spirituals


FOLLOW THAT GENT'MEN WITH A HAT ON HIS HEAD (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Green grows the willow tree
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FOOL'S BLUES, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some people tell me : god takes care of old folks and fools
Last Line: People it don't seem like to me : that god takes care of old folks and fools
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOR A GODCHILD, REGINA, ON THE OCCASION OF HER FIRST LOVE, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Blood sister / our fingers join beneath the veins
Last Line: & walk under the cool trees
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights; Feminism


FOR A GODCHILD, REGINA, ON THE OCCASION OF HER FIRST LOVE, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Blood sister %our fingers join beneath the veins
Last Line: We will climb as on a swing %& walk under the cool trees
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


FOR AN INDIAN SCREEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Clutching at trees and clawing rocks
Last Line: In a far-off land like a fairy scene
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR BABIES, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I visit babies %after the sun
Last Line: Is going to be %all right
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


FOR BILLIE HOLIDAY, by KEORAPETSE KGOSITSILE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lady day, lady day
Alternate Author Name(s): Kgositsile, Keropatse
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


FOR BLACK POETS WHO THINK OF LEADERSHIP, by DIANA HELEN MELHEM    Poem Source                    
First Line: By song
Last Line: Black poets: %you enact the deep heroic line
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


FOR CHARLES H. ROWELL, ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER 1, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Go tell them I have laid down my yard shoes
Last Line: And I am still a living man
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR CHARLES H. ROWELL, ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER 2, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My father stood in the field that evening
Last Line: Motioning over the field
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR CHARLES H. ROWELL, ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER 3, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My mouth is a barren plot of ground
Last Line: My name has been josiah
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR CHARLES H. ROWELL, ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER: 4., by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It is over now
Last Line: Rolling over the rich alabama soil %on my daddy's land
Variant Title(s): For Charles H. Rowell, On The Death Of His Father
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR COLORED GIRLS, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dark phases of womanhood
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans – Women


FOR DEAD MIMES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O white-faced mimes
Last Line: Rest forever %with pierrot
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR DELAWD, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: People say they have a hard time
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


FOR DELAWD, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: People say they have a hard time
Last Line: For their still alive sons %for their sons coming %for their sons gone %just pushing
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR FRECKLED-FACED GERALD, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now you take ol rufus. He beat drums
Subject(s): African Americans; Prisons & Prisoners; Youth; Negroes; American Blacks; Convicts


FOR FRECKLED-FACED GERALD, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now you take ol rufus. He beat drums
Last Line: And at night light upon his back
Subject(s): African Americans; Prisons And Prisoners; Youth


FOR FREEDOM, by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thank god! 'tis the war-cry! They call us; we come;
Last Line: O comrades, strike boldly! Our triumph is nigh!
Alternate Author Name(s): Dean
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Slavery; Soldiers; U.s. - History; Serfs


FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER, by GRAZIELLA MAGGIO    Poem Text                    
First Line: He took the warm, brown earth into his hand
Last Line: This man with willing hands and faith in god.
Subject(s): African Americans; Carver, George Washington (1864-1943); Negroes; American Blacks


FOR GWEN, 1969, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The slender, shy, and sensitive young girl
Last Line: In their footsteps pulsate daily %all her black words of fire and blood
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FOR HAKI, by SATIAFA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Teach %me
Last Line: Among %the people
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry And Poets


FOR LEONARD, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Each %day with
Last Line: You are my %constancy, my haven from storm
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR LIL LOUIS, by THOMAS C. DENT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Louis I'm trying to understand what you were
Last Line: & only the moon will understand %lou/is
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Jazz; Music And Musicians


FOR LOUIS ARMSTRONG, A JU-JU, by SARAH WEBSTER FABIO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Louis, louis, louis, louis
Last Line: Blow on out %of %this %world
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Jazz; Music And Musicians


FOR M.W., by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is no transcience of twilight in
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Beauty


FOR MALCOLM X, by NANINA ALBA    Poem Source                    
First Line: From my personal album
Last Line: One sees - '...Indomitable that %obelisk of a beard admonishes the heavens'
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


FOR MALCOLM X, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All you violated ones with gentle hearts
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


FOR MALCOLM X, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All you violated ones with gentle hearts
Last Line: When and where will another come to take your holy place? %old man mumbling in his dotage, or crying
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Racism


FOR MALCOLM, A YEAR AFTER, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Compose for red a proper verse
Last Line: But not the anger of that day
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


FOR MALCOLM, A YEAR AFTER, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Compose for red a proper verse
Last Line: But not the anger of that day
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


FOR MALCOLM, U.S.A., by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thin, black javelin %flying low
Last Line: Malcolm was %my native land
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


FOR MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Great amazon of god behold your bread
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Bethune, Mary Mcleod (1875-1955); Teaching And Teachers


FOR MICHAEL ON HIS THIRD BIRTHDAY, by PATRICIA PARKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: A distant time past
Last Line: Men - beautiful and black
Alternate Author Name(s): Parker, Pat
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Birthdays


FOR MY BROTHER, by MONIFA ATUNGAYE    Poem Source                    
First Line: My last swim
Last Line: I want to speak to them %so you can come home
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR MY FATHER: ON THE GIFT OF ANOTHER EYE, by DOLORES KENDRICK    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you have %another eye
Last Line: Whisper your tired and galloping %visions to a second sight
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR MY PEOPLE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: For my people everywhere singing their slave songs repeatedly
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans; Freedom; Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty


FOR MY PEOPLE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For my people everywhere singing their slave songs repeatedly
Last Line: Let a race of men now rise and take control
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans; Freedom


FOR PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A man whose life was like a candle's flame
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans; Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1872-1906)


FOR ROBERT HAYDEN, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: He extended to truths
Last Line: Love of all mankind and art
Subject(s): African Americans; Hayden, Robert (1913-1980)


FOR RUSSELL AND ROWENA JELLIFFE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And so the seed
Last Line: (from poems you made) %for you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR SALOME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There %is no sweetness
Last Line: What would you with death's head
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR STRONG WOMEN, by MICHELLE T. CLINTON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen %sometimes, when you have innocently & mistakenly overlooked your needs
Last Line: As though none of it could ever happen %ever
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


FOR THE CANDLE LIGHT, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sky was blue, so blue that day
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FOR THE CANDLE LIGHT, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sky was blue, so blue that day
Last Line: I have in a book for the candle light %a daisy dead and dry
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FOR THE CONFEDERATE DEAD, by KEVIN YOUNG    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: These are the last days
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Black Heritage


FOR THE ONE, by JENNIFER E. SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes we never notice
Last Line: Searching for the one
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR THE RECORD; IN MEMORY OF ELEANOR BUMPURS, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Call out the colored girls
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Alienation (social Psychology); Bumpurs, Eleanor; Exiles; Labor & Laborers; Violence; Estrangement; Outcasts; Work; Workers


FOR THE RECORD; IN MEMORY OF ELEANOR BUMPURS, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Call out the colored girls
Last Line: Planning their return %and they weren't even %sisters
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Alienation (social Psychology); Bumpurs, Eleanor; Exiles; Labor And Laborers; Violence


FOR THE UNION DEAD, by ROBERT LOWELL    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: The old south boston aquarium stands
Variant Title(s): Colonel Shaw And The Massachusetts 54
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Boston; Duty; Heroism; Massachusetts; Monuments; Racism; Saint-gaudens, Augustus (1848-1907); Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers; United States - History; Heroes; Heroines; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


FOR THE UNION DEAD, by ROBERT LOWELL    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The old south boston aquarium stands
Last Line: A savage servility %slides by on grease
Variant Title(s): Colonel Shaw And The Massachusetts 5
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Boston; Duty; Heroism; Massachusetts; Monuments; Racism; Saint-gaudens, Augustus (1848-1907); Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers; U.s. - History


FOR UNBORN MALCOLMS, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Git the word out
Last Line: A stone/ cold/ death / yeah
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


FOR UNBORN MALCOLMS, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Git the word out
Last Line: Is gonna be his white meat. %yeah
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


FOR URI AT 16, by ANEB KGOSITSILE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Though your stretching toward manhood
Last Line: They swing happily forward %on the energy of your long stride
Subject(s): African Americans


FOR YELLOW ROSES, by COLLETTE ARMSTEAD    Poem Source                    
First Line: A black swan
Last Line: Yellow roses in the midst of winter
Subject(s): African Americans


FORBIDDEN FRUIT, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: The first person
Last Line: Just bitten into
Subject(s): African Americans; Childhood Memories


FOREDOOM, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her life was dwarfed, and wed to blight
Last Line: Her soul, a bud,—that never bloomed
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


FORMULA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poetry should treat %of lofty things
Last Line: Soaring thoughts %and birds with wings
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry And Poets


FORTY-FOUR, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If de people'll jes gimme
Last Line: What chapter did he read frim? 'twsu forty-fo'!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FORTY-FOUR BLUES, by JAMES BOODLE IT WIGGINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ealked on and on : with my forty-four in my hand
Last Line: I wake up every morning : wolves sitting in my door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOUR DAY BLUES, by TOMMIE BRADLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord it's early this morning : lord about four o'clock
Last Line: Lord she'll take bad treatment : and she'll do the best thing she can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOUR DAY HONORY SCAT, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have a man I can't control : I don't know what to do
Last Line: Want you to tell it : to who you choose
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOUR DAY RIDER, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a 'fore-day rider mama : riding all night long
Last Line: You brought me these blues mama : seems like they're going to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOUR FLUSHING PAPA, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Four-flushing papa : what kind of man is you
Last Line: You take it all papa : because it's all yours
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOUR GLIMPSES OF NIGHT, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Eagerly
Subject(s): African Americans; Alphabet Verse; Night; Negroes; American Blacks; Bedtime


FOUR GLIMPSES OF NIGHT, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Eagerly
Last Line: Shatters into a billion fragments %of quiet shadows %at the blaring jazz %of a morning sun
Subject(s): African Americans; Alphabet Verse; Night


FOUR RUNAWAY NEGROES - WHENCE THEY CAME, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once fo' runaway niggers
Last Line: Fer dat gal wus sweeter dan sugar cane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FOUR WALLS, by BLANCHE TAYLOR DICKINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Four great walls have hemmed me in
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


FOURTEENTH STREET BLUES, by UNKNOWN+204    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fourteenth street women : don't mean no man no good
Last Line: Had the nerve to tell me : another man's got my place
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOURTH AND BEALE, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: And it's hey mama : I'm going to leave your town
Last Line: If I can't find roberta : I hope to find lucille
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FOURTH OF JULY THOUGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Remember on our far-flung fronts
Last Line: The home front is you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FOX AND GEESE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Br'er fox wak'd out one moonshiny night
Last Line: Yes, I heard 'im w'en he holler 'quinny-quanio'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FOX AND GEESE PLAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fox in de mawning
Last Line: More 'an you're able to ketch
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FOX AND RABBIT DRINKING PROPOSITION, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fox on de low ground
Last Line: I wants it fer myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FRAGMENT, by JESSIE REDMOND FAUSET    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The breath of life imbued those few dim days
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


FRAGMENT, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the woman with the black black skin
Last Line: I am the laughing woman who's afraid to sleep.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Fear


FRAGMENT, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The hand of fate cannot be stayed
Last Line: God is not love, no, god is law.
Subject(s): African Americans; Injustice; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


FRAGMENTS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Whispers %of springtime
Last Line: With too many %tunes
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FRANCE BLUES, by PAPA HARVEY HULL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Have you ever took a trip : baby on the mobile line
Last Line: So you can talk to your daddy : any time when he's gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRANK ALBERT & VIOLA BENZENA OWENS, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She waited on the 7th floor
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FRANK ALBERT & VIOLA BENZENA OWENS, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She waited on the 7th floor
Last Line: The carpenter tendin to his own %movin north
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FRANK STROKE'S DREAM, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I'm going I'm going : and your crying won't make me stay
Last Line: When the frank stokes blues come around : I got a place to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRANKIE AND JOHNNY, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Frankie and johnnie were lovers
Last Line: "he was my man, but he done me wrong"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


FREAKISH MAN BLUES, by GEORGE HANNAH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Call me a freakish man : what more was there to do
Last Line: I'll wake up in the mornings : that feeling will be here to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FREDERICK DOUGLASS, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful
Subject(s): African Americans; Douglass, Frederick (1817-1895); Freedom; Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty


FREDERICK DOUGLASS, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful
Last Line: Fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing
Subject(s): African Americans; Douglass, Frederick (1817-1895); Freedom


FREDERICK DOUGLASS: 1817-1895, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Douglass was someone who
Last Line: He died in 1895. %he is not dead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Douglass, Frederick (1817-1895); United States


FREE AT LAST, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "free at last, free at last; / I thank god I'm free at last"
Last Line: O free at last
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs;freedom;slavery; Negro Spirituals;liberty;serfs


FREE MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You can catch the wind
Last Line: Keep me caged up here
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FREE WOMAN BLUES, by JELLY ROLL ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Six bits ain't no dollar: six months ain't no long time
Last Line: I'm going to wake up one morning: and have all my glad rags gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FREEDOM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Freedom will not come
Last Line: I live here, too. %I want freedom %just as you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FREEDOM (2), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Some folks think %by burning books
Last Line: You'll never kill me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FREEDOM (3), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Some folks think %by burning churches
Last Line: And says, %no -- %not so! %no!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FREEDOM AT MCNEALY'S, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: All around old chattanooga
Last Line: As you would a faithful horse.
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Freedom; Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States; Liberty


FREEDOM SEEKER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see a woman with wings
Last Line: She is caught and held by her wings
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FREEDOM SONG FOR THE BLACK WOMAN, by CAROLE CLEMMONS GREGORY    Poem Source                    
First Line: For the woman %african in ancestry
Last Line: We are the strong women
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FREEDOM TRAIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I read in the papers about the / freedom train
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Railroads; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry; Railways; Trains


FREEDOM TRAIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I read in the papers about the %freedom train
Last Line: Thank god-a-mighty! Here's the %freedom train! %get on board our freedom train!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Railroads


FREEDOM'S PLOW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When a man starts out with nothing
Last Line: Untill all races and all people know its shade %keep your hand on the plow! %hold on !
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FREEMAN FIELD, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was a cool evening
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life; Relatives


FREEMAN FIELD, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was a cool evening
Last Line: To smoke, watching %the german pow's pump gas, %wash windshields %and laugh %at the motorpool %acros
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life


FREEZE TO ME MAMA, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said come along mama : give me a hug
Last Line: She said daddy : I would like to ride
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to hear : that engine blow boo hoo
Last Line: When a man gets the blues : he catches a freight train and rides
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to hear : that freight train blow boo hoo
Last Line: But the sun's going to shine : in my back door some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to hear : that engine blow boo hoo
Last Line: But when a man gets the : he catches a freight train and rides
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRIAR'S POINT BLUES, by ROBERT LEE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Babe I know that you love me : you won't treat me right
Last Line: All you want to do : is fuss and fight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRIDAY WAITING FOR MOM, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I am seven
Last Line: Says so too
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


FRIDAY WAITING FOR MOM, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I am seven
Last Line: Mama and %everett anderson- %friends
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


FRIED PIE BLUES, by CURLEY WEAVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going down baby : that long road by myself
Last Line: Papa weaver got something : find that mojo with
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRIENDLESS AND BLUE, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't the world seem lonely : when you got to battle it all by yourself
Last Line: The blues skies was my blanket : and the moonlight was my spread
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRIENDLY IN A FRIENDLY WAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I nodded at the sun
Last Line: In a friendly way
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FRIGHTENED AWAY FROM A CHICKEN-ROOST, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down to de hen house on my knees
Last Line: Den perhaps I mought eat dat ole gray hen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FRISCO BLUES, by BILLIKEN JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I told the ticket agent : don't let your window down
Last Line: That would leave big fat billiken : *walking along out there*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRISCO BOUND BLUES, by JAMES BOODLE IT WIGGINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: That frisco train : runs a mile a minute
Last Line: Been together so long : now got to get apart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRISCO TOWN, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: That old frisco train : left a mile a minute
Last Line: We been together so far : we got to get ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRISCO WHISTLE BLUES, by ED BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I saw the frisco : when she left the yard
Last Line: I was on the corner : police had me barred
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FROG IN A MILL (NURSERY RHYME) (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once dere wus er frog dat lived in er mill
Last Line: Wid er raker don la bottom o' la kimebo
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FROG WENT A-COURTING (NURSERY RHYME) (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De frog went a-co'tin', he did ride
Last Line: Den you mought take my head 'long, too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FROGS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Frogs, frogs, where are you going?
Last Line: They will turn us all into lizards
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FROM FATHER TO SON, by OPAL PALMER ADISA    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's no surprise
Last Line: Just like your grandfather
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers And Sons


FROM FOUR UNTIL LATE, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: From four until late : I was wringing my hands and crying
Last Line: And when I return again : you'll have a great long story to tell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FROM MONTAGE OF A DREAM DEFERRED: CASUALTY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He was a soldier in the army
Last Line: Days are done. %son!. . .Son!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Casualt
Subject(s): African Americans; Soldiers


FROM NOW ON, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh you used to told me : you could drive me like a cow
Last Line: From now on mama : I said I'm going to let you go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Natural order is being restored
Last Line: Exploding like the seeds of a natural disorder
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights; Feminism


FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Natural order is being restored
Last Line: Exploding like the seeds of a ntaural disorder
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


FROM SELMA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In places like
Last Line: Chicago and new york
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FROM SLAVERY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Chile: I come from out'n slavery
Last Line: Natchully widdered up an' died
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FROM SPAIN TO ALABAMA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where have the people gone
Last Line: They still sing %their blues
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FROM THE DARK TOWER, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We shall not always plant while others reap
Last Line: And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


FRONT DOOR BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I knocked on my front door mama: my good gal wouldn't seem to let me in
Last Line: Says I'm tired: of being worried with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FRONTLINE, by A. WANJIKU REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen for the heat
Last Line: You'll find him there
Subject(s): African Americans


FROST TEXAS TORNADO BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was sitting looking: way out across the world
Last Line: Does it seem like hell was broke out: in this place below
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Tornadoes


FROSTING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Freedom %is just frosting
Last Line: Learn how to %bake
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FULFILLMENT, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: To climb a hill that hungers for the sky
Last Line: And to die bleeding -- consummate with life.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


FULFILMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The earth-meaning
Last Line: And sleep %took us both in %laughing
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FULL POCKETBOOK, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De goose at de barn, he feel mighty funny
Last Line: Till dey all fall over a sorter dead line
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


FUNERAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Carried lonely up the aisle
Last Line: But I would give a damn
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


FUNK, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of funk
Last Line: Under a groove %nothing can stop us now
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


FUNKY FOOTBALL, by RUBY C. SAUNDERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The 'kat' can play ball, man
Last Line: They can't win
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


FURNITURE MAN, by LIL MCCLINTOCK    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well a-this piano : and everything
Last Line: Mr cooper had it written down : under my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FURRY'S BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe I'll buy me : a graveyard of my own
Last Line: Wouldn't rest contented : till I come to tennessee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


FURY; FOR MAMA, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Remember this
Last Line: For this woman's sake.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Obedience; Women - Abused; Black Heritage; Wife Beating


FUTURE BLUES, by WILLIE BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Can't tell my future : and I can't tell my past
Last Line: Lord bless that woman : that put that thing on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GABRIEL'S TRUMPET, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baptist, baptist, is my name, I hope to live an' die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GAL'S CRY FOR A DYING LOVER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Heard de owl a hootin'
Last Line: Please don't take this man o' mine
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GAMBLER'S DREAM, by HOCIEL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've traveled traveled : and I've seen
Last Line: Don't you let no gamblers : be the ruin of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GAME CONTESTANT'S SONG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: We're going to dig
Last Line: Sa your de vrai
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GANGSTERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The gangsters of the world
Last Line: But not small fry
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GARAGE FIRE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: My house on fire : where's that fire wagon now
Last Line: I got a cadillac eight : take me anywhere I want to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GARBAGE MAN, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stick out your can : her comes the garbage man
Last Line: Ain't nobody : stick it out like you can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GARDEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Strange %distorted blades of grass
Last Line: Distorted tulips %on their knees
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GARDEN OF JOY--BLUES, by ELIZABETH WASHINGTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well take me down : and have a time
Last Line: All I want : is [a bottle of, some more]
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GARMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The clouds weave a shawl
Last Line: When the weather's bad
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GAS MAN BLUES, by JOHN BIRD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh yes pretty mama : have no money to pay
Last Line: I can't help it pretty mama : the gasman don't take no chance
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GAS MAN BLUES, by MAE GLOVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr gasman : please don't turn off my gas today
Last Line: Mr gasman : you got that old hot bankroll right over there in your pants
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GASOLINE BLUES, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can always tell baby : when your woman going to treat you mean
Last Line: They'll cook *make one* for their husband : they'll chicken for their man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GATHERING, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Through tall grass heavy / from rain, my aunt and I wade
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


GATHERING, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Through tall grass heavy %from rain, my aunt and I wade
Last Line: Handpicked days in memory, %our minds' dark pantry
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


GAUGE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hemp... %a stick
Last Line: A roach... %straw
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We knew how to order. Just the dash
Last Line: To holler down the lions in this air
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We knew how to order. Just the dash
Last Line: To holler down the lions in this air
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: 'GOD WORKS IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY', by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: But often now the youthful eye cuts down its
Last Line: Or we assume a sovereignty ourselves
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: FIRSTLY INCLINED TO TAKE WHAT IT IS TOLD, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Thee sacrosanct, - thee sweet, thee crystalline
Last Line: With billowing heartiness no whit withheld
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: LOOKING, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You have no word for soldiers to enjoy
Last Line: Nor the heaviest haul your little boy from harm
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: LOVE NOTE: 1. SURELY, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Surely you stay my certain own, you say
Last Line: And I doubt all. You. Or a violet
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: LOVE NOTE: 2. FLAGS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Still, it is dear defiance now to carry
Last Line: Or like the tender struggle of a fan
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: MENTORS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For I am rightful fellow of their band
Last Line: Light for the midnight that is mine and theirs
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: PIANO AFTER WAR, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On a snug evening I shall watch her fingers
Variant Title(s): Piano After War
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Musical Instruments; Pianos


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: PIANO AFTER WAR, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On a snug evening I shall watch her fingers
Last Line: And stone will shove the softness from my face
Variant Title(s): Piano After Wa
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Musical Instruments; Pianos


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: STILL DO I KEEP MY LOOK, MY IDENTITY, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Each body has its art, its precious prescribed
Last Line: It showed at baseball. What it showed in school
Variant Title(s): Still Do I Keep My Look, My Identit
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: THE PROGRESS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And still we wear our uniforms, follow
Last Line: Of iron feet again. And again wild
Variant Title(s): Gay Chaps At The Bar; The Progres
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: THE WHITE TROOPS HAD THEIR ORDERS ..., by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They had supposed their formula was fixed
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GAY CHAPS AT THE BAR: THE WHITE TROOPS HAD THEIR ORDERS ..., by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They had supposed their formula was fixed
Last Line: And there was nothing startling in the weather
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GEE, BUT IT'S HARD, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take me back sweet mama : try me one more time
Last Line: Thinking if you die : would that end it all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GEE-UP DAR, MULES, by EDWIN FORD PIPER    Poem Text                    
First Line: He stood up in our khaki with the poise
Last Line: "gwan-n, mules! Gee-up dar, mules!"
Subject(s): African Americans; Heroism; Negroes; American Blacks; Heroes; Heroines


GENERATION GAP, by RUBY C. SAUNDERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I takes up for my colored man
Last Line: Bent low to pay your dues
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


GEORGE JACKSON, by JILL WITHERSPOON BOYER    Poem Source                    
First Line: The newsboy hands us %his death
Last Line: And yield to the forgetfulness of him %with already drying tears
Subject(s): African Americans


GEORGIA BLUES, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: A certain party : that I know
Last Line: Even bought me : a great big diamond ring
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GEORGIA BOUND, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Packing my duffle : going to leave this town
Last Line: I'll be glad : to get bac to that georgia gal of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GEORGIA CRAWL, by HENRY WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Run here papa : look at sis
Last Line: Do the georgia crawl : till she died away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GEORGIA DUSK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes there's a wind in the georgia dusk
Last Line: To sprout its bitter barriers %where the sunsets bleed
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Georgia (state)


GEORGIA RAG, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down on atlanta : on harris street
Last Line: Singing : these doggone atlanta blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GEORGIA SKIN, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: The reason I like the game : the game they call georgia skin
Last Line: Because the womens can play : well so as the men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GERARDA, by ELOISE BIBB THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The day is o'er and twilight's shade
Last Line: For all my life, I'll share with thee
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


GERMAN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe I'll go back to germany : and pay a deposit gold
Last Line: Nobody been here : since your daddy left you home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GESTURE OF A WOMAN-IN-PROCESS, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the foreground, two women / their squinting faces
Variant Title(s): Gesture Of A Woman In Process
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


GESTURE OF A WOMAN-IN-PROCESS, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the foreground, two women %their squinting faces
Last Line: The white blur of her apron %still in motion
Variant Title(s): Gesture Of A Woman In Proces
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


GET AWAY BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walked down to the station : fold my troubled arms
Last Line: You did something to me : I ain't going to tell nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GET DOWN BROTHER, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here brother : you may can understand
Last Line: And when my wife asked you to do her a favor : you pretend you were asleep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GET IT FIXED, by KATHERINE HENDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Papa papa : let me tell to you
Last Line: If you ain't got nothing : please tell me so
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GET IT, BRING IT, AND PUT IT RIGHT HERE, SELS, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've had a man for fifteen years
Last Line: Or else he's gonna keep it out there
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


GET UP OFF THAT OLD JIVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: White folks %you better get some new jive
Last Line: A man can fight %better that way
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GET YOUR HEAD TRIMMED DOWN, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The wind begin to blow : and my baby gegin to knock on my door
Last Line: Well now you keep on running around baby : you going to get your head trimmed down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GETHSEMANE, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All that night I walked alone and wept
Last Line: I said your name but silence answered me
Subject(s): African Americans; Gethsemane; Negroes; American Blacks


GETHSEMANE, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All that night I walked alone and wept
Last Line: I said your name but silence answered me
Subject(s): African Americans; Gethsemane


GETTIN' ALL WET, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up my baby : come my love
Last Line: Papa's in the rain : getting all wet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GETTIN' DIRTY JUST SHAKIN' THAT THING, by ROMEO NELSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now sister fooled brother man : and brother *moved down*
Last Line: Shake your shoulder ; shake your wig
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GETTIN' OLD, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: One day I figured I'd get old
Last Line: T. Fanny said, 'see?'
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


GETTIN' READY FOR TRIAL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down in alabama : we will have a trial
Last Line: If you start to fooling : I'll shoot with my gun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GETTING TEN NEGRO BOYS TOGETHER (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One liddle nigger boy whistle an' stew
Last Line: Call anudder nigger 'piece an' dat make ten
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GHANDHI IS FASTING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mighty britain, tremble
Last Line: As he fasts today
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GHOST HOUSES, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Already tearing down some of the old houses
Last Line: No more shorter
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


GHOSTS OF 1619, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ghosts of all too solid flesh
Last Line: Being ghosts %of then
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GIFT, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Outside a flower shop, jewel waits
Last Line: And sighs with each long look
Subject(s): African Americans; Gifts And Giving; Love


GIFT FROM KENYA, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: I've come back many times today
Last Line: However wound in death
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


GIMME A PIGFOOT, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Up in harlem : every saturday night
Last Line: Do the shim-sham-shimmy : till the rising sun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GIN HOUSE BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to the gin house : when the whistle blows
Last Line: I want him to drive them off : so they won't come back no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GINE DONE DONE IT, by KID WESLEY WILSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going to take my gal : to a social dance
Last Line: Get some money : if she have to sell a little coal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GIRL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She lived in sinful happiness
Last Line: To laugh in sunshine %and dance in rain
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


GIRL I LOVE, SHE GOT LONG CURLY HAIR, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm going to brownsville : take that right-hand road
Last Line: Go in your kitchen : lord and cook until she come home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GIVE AND TAKE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I come here once a month to dig
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


GIVE AND TAKE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I come here once a month to dig
Last Line: Waist of your panties, even %the corners of your mouth
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


GIVE US OUR PEACE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Give us a peace equal to the war
Last Line: And bring about a world of brotherhood
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GIVE US THE SIGN!, by WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: From lust of body and lust of blood
Last Line: Keep not thou silence, o god!
Alternate Author Name(s): Du Bois, W. E. B.
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Protest


GIVE YOUR MAMA ONE SMILE, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love you baby : ain't gonna tell you no lie
Last Line: And love your mama baby : love your mama right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GIVING IT AWAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say I woke up this morning : about the break of day
Last Line: I ain't seen my woman : since she leave this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GLORY TRUMPETER, by DEREK WALCOTT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Old eddie's face, wrinkled with river lights
Last Line: For my own uncle in america, %that living there I never could look up
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


GLORY, GLORY ..., by RAYMOND RICHARD PATTERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Across grandmother's knees
Last Line: Laid a yellow quilt
Alternate Author Name(s): Patterson, Ray
Subject(s): African Americans


GO AWAY WOMAN, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Last night : and the night before
Last Line: You always got me : feeling so blue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GO AWAY!, by LINDA MICHELLE BARON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Somehow I'm always %in the way
Last Line: Is it them? %or is it me?
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


GO DOWN, OLD HANNAH, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go down, old hannah
Last Line: For the life-time man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


GO SLOW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Go slow, they say
Last Line: Go slow?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GO TO BED (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De wood's in de kitchen
Last Line: Had better go to bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GO TO SLEEP, I DO LOVE MY LAMB (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes, I do love my lamb, yes I do love my lamb
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GO TO SLEEP, LITTLE BABY (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hush-a-bye and don't you cry
Last Line: A coach and six ponies
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOD DAWG MY LOUSY SOUL, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOD IS KIND, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


GOD TO HUNGRY CHILD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hungry child, %I didn't make this world for you
Last Line: Not for you, %hungry child
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Poverty; Social Protest


GOD WORKS IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY', by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: But often now the youthful eye cuts down its
Last Line: Or we assume a sovereignty ourselves
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


GOD'S BRANDED CHILD, by HERMAN J. D. CARTER    Poem Text                    
First Line: Singed / by god
Last Line: Since I am black?
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


GOIN' AWAY BLUES, by LOTTIE BEAMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going away : it won't be long
Last Line: I ain't got nobody : to really comfort me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOIN' AWAY BLUES, by CHARLIE CAMPBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: One of these mornings : it won't be long
Last Line: I wake up in the morning : I can't tell her shoes from mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOIN' BACK, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He stood beside the station rail
Last Line: "it's joy, he's goin' back to-day."
Subject(s): African Americans; Homecoming; Negroes; American Blacks


GOIN' BACK TO MY BABY, by TEXAS BILL DAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning moaning : with the worried blues on my mind
Last Line: When you think you got a good girl : lord she done turn off and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOIN' BACK TO TEXAS, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh mercy dear : you caused my heart
Last Line: *glory be* : I see that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOIN' BACK TO TEXAS, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I lived in texas : doing very well
Last Line: ??? : I'm *stopping* to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOIN' TO CHICAGO BLUES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going to chicago, sorry that I can't take you
Last Line: Tell 'em little jimmy rushing, he's been here and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOIN' TO LEAVE YOU BLUES, by BIG BOY CLEVELAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: The train I ride : burn no coal at all
Last Line: Train's down here : track's all out of line
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOING BACK HOME, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord wonder : will I ever get back home
Last Line: But you will never forget the day : I knocked upon your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOING BACK TO MEMPHIS, by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm leaving here mama : don't you want to go
Last Line: Because I've got what they call : *the new living here* blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOING DOWN SLOW, by JIMMY ODEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have had my fun : if I don't get well no more
Last Line: Just say your son is gone : I'm out in this world somewhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOING HOME, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everyday you were dying
Last Line: Be, flying straight right out of here
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Courage; Survival


GOING TO BE GOOD SLAVES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole mosser an' missus has gone down to town
Last Line: An' I'se gwinter wear stockin's jes lak de white folks
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOING TO GERMANY, by NOAH LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to germa : I'll be back some old day
Last Line: Now I'm in trouble : you don't pay me no mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOING TO MOVE TO ALABAMA, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aah : she's long and tall
Last Line: Didn't have no other brown : didn't have no man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOLD DUST FIRE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOLDEN CITY, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The golden city an' the golden crown, pig iron johnson
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GONE BOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Playboy of the dawn
Last Line: Dog-gone! %he ain't gone
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GONE DADDY BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going away : I'm going to stay
Last Line: I long for my daddy : somewhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GONE DEAD TRAIN, by KING SOLOMON HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I'm going way down ; lord I'm going to try to leave here today
Last Line: Because I'm a traveling man : boys I can't stay here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GONNA HIT THE HIGHWAY, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to hit this old highway : catch the fastest thing I see
Last Line: Now I may not find her in the next twenty years : ooo lord but I'll be forever trying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GONNA PUT YOU RIGHT IN JAIL, by LAURA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Since you gone : and got so rough
Last Line: I won't stand : for that caveman stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GONNA TIP OUT TONIGHT, by SIMMIE DOOLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I says go on girl : don't sing them blues to me
Last Line: I'm going to tip out tonight : and I'm going to strut my stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD BLUFFERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pity all the frightened ones
Last Line: The ones who make the grade
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GOOD BOY BLUES, by ARTHUR PETTIES    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you's a good fellow : they'll always leave you alone
Last Line: I was wandering and walking : to see my baby's face
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD CHIB BLUES, by EDITH NORTH JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ooh : tomorrow I may be far away
Last Line: I'm five feet two : lord and that sweet man's five foot three
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD COFFEE BLUES, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I heard you say this morning mama : that your head was throbbing through and th
Last Line: I swear I'll give them good coffee : and won't give them no rotten tea
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD FEELING BLUES, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: You got a little woman : she won't treat you right
Last Line: Wake up mama : loving is just began
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD GAL, by CHARLIE SPAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: You wonder why : I treat you so
Last Line: I got a new gal : she's tight like that
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD GIN BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good morning friends : I want [me] a drink of gin
Last Line: Because I don't care nothing : about oh them revenue men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD LIQUOR GONNA CARRY ME DOWN, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I know a little girl : about sixteen years old
Last Line: Said if you don't big bill : some other man will carry your business on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD LOOKING GIRL BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't you wish : your good girl was long and tall like mine
Last Line: I be so glad : I sure can't help but shout
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD LOOKING PAPA BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh good-looking papa : where have you been so long
Last Line: But there is nothing doing : what you are thinking about
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD MORNING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Good morning, daddy! / I was born here, he said
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): From Montage Of A Dream Deferred: Good Morning
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


GOOD MORNING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Good morning, daddy! %I was born here, he said
Last Line: What happens %to a dream deferred? %daddy, ain't you heard?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): From Montage Of A Dream Deferred: Good Mornin
Subject(s): African Americans


GOOD MORNING REVOLUTION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Good-morning, revolution: %you're the very best friend
Last Line: Let's go, revolution
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GOOD MORNING, BLUES, by JIMMY RUSHING    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Good morning, how are you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD MORNING, JUDGE, by CARL MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: They arrested my baby : accused her of selling moon
Last Line: And let my baby : go back home with me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD MORNING, STALINGRAD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Goodmorning, stalingrad! %logs of folks who don't like you
Last Line: You ain't dead! %goodmorning, stalingrad
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GOOD NIGHT, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The lark is silent in his nest
Last Line: Good-night, my love, good-night, good-night.
Subject(s): African Americans; Night; Negroes; American Blacks; Bedtime


GOOD NIGHT, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Goodnight mommy %goodnight dad
Last Line: But my night of sleep's in bloom
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


GOOD TIME BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : I had the blues three different ways
Last Line: Because I got a letter this morning : my baby was coming back home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD TIME FLAT BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Can't sell no whiskey : I can't sell no gin
Last Line: No use in grieving : I'm going to leave this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD TIMES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My daddy has paid the rent
Subject(s): Family Life; African Americans; Family Life; United States; Relatives; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives; America


GOOD TIMES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My daddy has paid the rent
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; United States; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives; America


GOOD TIMES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My daddy has paid the rent
Last Line: Oh children think about the %good times
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; United States


GOOD WOMAN BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Women if you got a good man : give him three good meals every day
Last Line: She's my buddy : and I swear she is my pal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD WOMAN BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: What makes me love you baby : she loved me when I was down
Last Line: Well now I don't care : ooo well if I never see a woman on the street
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOD-BY, RING (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a liddle dog, his name wus ring
Last Line: Good-by, ring! I'se done wid you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOOD-BY, WIFE! (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a liddle wife
Last Line: She walk out on de groun'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOODBYE CHRIST, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen, christ %you did alright in your day, I reckon --
Last Line: To a king, or a general, %or a millionaire
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Communism; Racism; Religion


GOODBYE MAMA MOAN, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: For years and years : I been your hard-working mule
Last Line: Don't come back : but treat me like you did before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOODBYE RED, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well goodbye red : now ain't going to cry
Last Line: Now because didn't have nobody : to raise no sand nohow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOOSEBERRY WINE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now 'umble uncle steben
Last Line: Call uncle steben back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOOSIE-GANDER PLAY RHYME, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Goosie, goosie, goosie-gander
Last Line: I'll pull yo' years way yander
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOSPEL CHA-CHA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the quarter of the negroes %where the palms and coconuts
Last Line: Cha-cha...Cha-cha %cha...
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GOT A GANG OF BROWNSKIN SWEET WOMEN : GOT A GANG OF HIGH YEL, by PAPA HARVEY HULL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lows too
Last Line: And I hope some day : she'll learn to love daddy too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOT A HOME IN THAT ROCK, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a home in a-that rock
Last Line: Better get a home in that rock, %don't you see?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GOT A LETTER FROM MY DARLIN', by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a letter from my darling : said hurry home
Last Line: *easy kind of* walk : *reel and* rock behind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOT THE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walked from dallas : I walked to wichita falls
Last Line: Went in to eat my breakfast : and the blues all in my bread
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOT THE BLUES CAN'T BE SATISFIED, by MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got the blues : can't be satisfied
Last Line: You got the blues : and still ain't satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOT TO REAP WHAT YOU SOW, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : lord and my baby was gone
Last Line: Because the good book says : you going to reap just what you sow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOT YOUR WATER ON, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I met my gal this morning : long long way from home
Last Line: I got a-this old elgin movement : make the springs tremble all on your bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOTTA SHAVE 'EM DRY, by JAMES BOODLE IT WIGGINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if you be my sweet woman : tell you what I'm bound to do
Last Line: If I keep on worrying about you baby : you know I can't last long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOVERNMENT MONEY, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now on the farm : they all have joined the government loan
Last Line: You know long through the winter : you can have something to eat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GOVERNOR FIRES DEAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see by the papers %where governor talmadge get real mad
Last Line: Of acting just like hitler %in the u.S.A
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GRADUATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Cinnamon and rayon / jet and coconut eyes
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


GRADUATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Cinnamon and rayon %jet and coconut eyes
Last Line: Then because she's tired, %she sighs
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GRAND DADDY BLUES, by JAYDEE SHORT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now please mr grandaddy : don't crawl up and down my wall
Last Line: The reason I feel that way mama : I ain't got nobody to feel my care
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRANDFATHER, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In 1915 my grandfather's / neighbors surrounded his house
Subject(s): African Americans; Grandparents; Negroes; American Blacks; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers


GRANDFATHER, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In 1915 my grandfather's %neighbors surrounded his house
Last Line: Played backwards on his grandson's eyes
Subject(s): African Americans; Grandparents


GRANDFATHER POEM, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
Last Line: It can not %contain words like: %ubangi %rolling pin %popsicle, %but words like: %supreme court %gra
Subject(s): African Americans; Grandparents


GRANDMA'S FARM, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got up this morning : with the same thing on my mind
Last Line: And I got so many women : till the men don't want me around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRANDMAMA, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My grandmama says there's no place like shorter
Last Line: She just looks at the old packard and remembers
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


GRANDPA AND GRANDMA BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Grandma got something : make grandpa break his pipe
Last Line: Because he broke his pipe : he had forth years ago
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRANDPA'S STORIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The pictures on the television
Last Line: And a penny for a pickle
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GRANDSON IS A HOTICEBERG, by MARGARET DANNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: A grandson is %not %the wing-sprouting cherub
Last Line: Mother, %dynamite
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


GRANT PARK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The haunting face of poverty
Last Line: Sleepers on iron benches %behind the library in grant park
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GRAPES: STILL LIFE, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Snugly you rest, sweet globes
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


GRASS FINGERS, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Touch me, touch me
Last Line: With your tiny, timorous toes.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Grass; Negroes; American Blacks


GRASSHOPPER SENSE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dere wus a liddle grasshopper
Last Line: Be keerful, my sweet sugar lump
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GRASSHOPPER SITTING ON A SWEET POTATO VINE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Start to eat dat blackbird an' he git choke
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GRATITUDE DOWN SOUTH, by EDWINA WOOD WHITESIDE    Poem Text                    
First Line: I'se des a little cullud boy
Last Line: "let yo' co'science be yo' guide."
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Southern States; South (u.s.)


GRAVE YARD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here is that sleeping place
Last Line: That never-get-up-no-more %place %is here
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GRAVEL CAMP BLUES, by LEWIS BLACK    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going away tomorrow mama : going out on the cue
Last Line: When I had you black gal : you didn't have nobody nohow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRAVEL ROAD WOMAN, by JAMES YANK RACHEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want no skinny mama : I wants a woman she got on plenty of meat
Last Line: I'm going to try to find my woman : I know she's strolling babe on the road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRAVEYARD DREAM BLUES, by MATTIE HITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Blues on my mind : blues all around my head
Last Line: But when I woke up : I found it was only a dream
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRAVY SERVER, by BUDDY MOSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a woman : she's sweet as she can be
Last Line: Said and everything she serves me : she serves it to me right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRAY AND BLACK HORSES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down to de woods an' I couldn' go 'cross
Last Line: Yes she trabble so hard dat she jolt off my ha'r
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GREAT OWL'S SONG (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ah-hoo-hoo? Ah-hoo-hoo? Ah-hoo-hoo? %an' who'll cook for kelline
Last Line: Rough shot de shoe-boot, an' de lawd he knows who all?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GREATER FRIENDSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH, by CAROLE CLEMMONS GREGORY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mothers %cranking the machine
Last Line: Another scoop of ice cream %our smiles receive
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


GREEN COUNTRY GAL, by AMOS EASTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I talked and I talked : now I ain't got no more to say
Last Line: Some day I'll be running : with the biggest shots in town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GREEN MEMORY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A wonderful time - the war
Last Line: But blood %was far away %from here -- %money was near
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; War - Home Front


GREEN OAK TREE! ROCKY'O, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GREEN RIVER BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went up green river : rolling like a log
Last Line: I'm going away : to make it lonesome here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GREYHOUND BLUES, by BILL WILBER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going to catch me a greyhound : going to leave here tonight
Last Line: House full of children : ain't nar' one mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRIEF, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Eyes %that are frozen
Last Line: No way of dying
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GRIEF STREAMS DOWN MY CHEST, by LANCE JEFFERS    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Mountain of their thorn as high as the asian continent is long
Subject(s): African Americans


GRIEF WILL KILL YOU, by LITTLE BUDDY DOYLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord grief will kill you : it will get you down to skin and bones
Last Line: Boys you better watch them women : because they're just slipping up the kingdom's steps
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRIEVIN' ME BLUES, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down on the corner : with my money in my hand
Last Line: Someone's in the basement : trying to find the hole
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRIN, YOU MONKEY, YOU!, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Grin, you monkey, you!
Last Line: Grin, you monkey, you!
Subject(s): African Americans


GRINDER MAN BLUES, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My name is memphis slim : they call me the grinder man
Last Line: Because I'm a very busy fellow : you know they call me the grinder man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GRINDING VIBRATO, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Blues woman
Last Line: Is it too late for the mother tongue in your womanself to %insurrect
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


GROCERIES ON THE SHELF, by CHARLIE SPECKS MCFADDEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My name is piggly wiggly : I've got groceries on my shelf
Last Line: Going to miss your daddy : cuddling by your cozy side
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GROCERY STORE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jimmy, go
Last Line: Stay an hour
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GROOVIN' HIGH, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Legendary
Last Line: Parker. Who were you?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


GROUND HOG BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm just a walking ground hog : mama and I walks around in my den
Last Line: Now if you don't pet me baby : I believe I'll go back down to new orleans
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GUARDIANSHIP, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That dusky child upon your knee
Last Line: That wields the locks of destiny!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


GUINEA GALL (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down yon'er in guinea gall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GUITAR, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ma six string guitar with the lonesome sound
Last Line: Can't hold its own against that georgia hound
Subject(s): African Americans


GUITAR RAG, by FRANK BRASSWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I long to hear that : old guitar rag
Last Line: Take me back : to my home in tennessee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GULF COAST BLUES, by CLARENCE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've been blue all day, my gal's gone away
Last Line: Flow over me someday
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


GULLAH NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, by VIRGINIA MIXSON GERATY    Poem Source                    
First Line: E bin de night befo' chris'mus en' eenside we house
Last Line: Stillyet dey say uh pray fuh po' ole buh fox
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas; Gullahs; Santa Claus; Sea Islands Creole Dialect


GUM TREE CANOE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: On the tombigbee river so bright, I was born
Last Line: Like a feather I float in my gum tree canoe
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


GYPSIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gypsies are picture-book people
Last Line: They've had suns about their heads
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GYPSY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went to de gypsy's
Last Line: If my man leaves me %I won't live no mo'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


GYPSY MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ma man's a gypsy / cause he never does come home
Last Line: Sho can't find no ease.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Love - Nature Of; Negroes; American Blacks


GYPSY MELODIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Songs that break
Last Line: Rockets of joy %dimmed too soon
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HA-HA BLUES, by ROSIE MAE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go on old man : don't sing those blues to me
Last Line: I'm sick and tired : of your dirty ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAIKU, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Was it yesterday
Last Line: Made it blossom black?
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


HALF CUP OF TEA, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey : what do you want your man to do
Last Line: Every time I stay with you : *carried* from door to door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HALF WAY DOINGS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My dear brudders an' sisters
Last Line: At de liddle end of de horn
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HALF WAY DOINGS, SELS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Belubbed fellah-trabelers: in holdin' forth to-day
Last Line: De grass keeps on a-growin' fur to smudder up his crap
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HALLELUJAH JOE AIN'T PREACHIN' NO MORE, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody thought : he was through
Last Line: Then he wrote another blues : about move your hand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAM BEATS ALL MEAT (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dem white folks set up in a dinin' room
Last Line: An' still it's good sweet ham
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HAM BONE BLUES, by ED BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jellyroll jellyroll : jellyroll is so hard to find
Last Line: She got the same jellyroll : she had forty years ago
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAM HOUND CRAVE, by RUBIN LACY    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can read my letter : now you sure don't know my mind
Last Line: And I rock you easier : you straight chair ever done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAMBONE WILLIE'S DREAMY-EYED WOMAN'S BLUES, by HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBERN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a dreamy-eyed woman : lives down on cherry street
Last Line: Want me to cut my throat : baby trying to get along with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAMMER BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going to buy me a hammock : carry it underneath
Last Line: I think I heard : the bob lee boat when she moaned
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAMMER THAT KILLED JOHN HENRY (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: This is the hammer
Last Line: Tell him I've gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HANGMAN'S BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hangman's rope : it's so tough and strong
Last Line: And that trifling woman staying : until I breaks my neck
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAPPY BLUES, by TOM DICKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just as happy : woman as I can be
Last Line: Well my train ain't here : but it's somewhere on the go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAPPY NEW YEAR BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm thinking about the year : of nineteen and twenty-nine
Last Line: Because when I take two or three drinks : I'll be drunk the whole year long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD DADDY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went to ma daddy
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers & Daughters; Negroes; American Blacks


HARD DADDY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went to ma daddy
Last Line: Fly like the eagle flies %I'd fly on ma man an' %I'd scratch out both his eyes
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers And Daughters


HARD DALLAS BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go out to santa fe : my baby go down
Last Line: When you look for your friend : they will all be gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD HEARTED MAMA BLUES, by KID COLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh now it's loving : really really wor-worrying me
Last Line: Said take your bible pretty mama : and read the days your daddy's gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD HEARTED PAPA, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a hard-hearted papa : there's nothing pleases me
Last Line: And I think they will stay changed : for the rest of my days
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD LUCK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When hard luck overtakes you
Last Line: I'm so low-down I %ain't even got a stall
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HARD LUCK BLUES, by HELEN GROSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man done quit me : he done throwed me down
Last Line: Dream about your man : and all your ??? *is gone*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD LUCK BLUES, by CHARLEY LINCOLN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two kind of people in this world mama : babe that I sure can't stand
Last Line: Says my brother stole a *ham sand* : the police has locked up me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD LUCK MAN BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: My babe my babe : she don't do no way to comfort me
Last Line: If I didn't have good friends : I don't know what would become of me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD ROAD BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Keep on walking and walking : talking to myself
Last Line: Going to walk this hard hard road : until my mustache drags the ground
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD ROAD BLUES, by BUDDY MOSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Walking down the hard road : done wore the soles off of my shoes
Last Line: Walking these hard roads : going to drive me insane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD ROCK RETURNS TO PRISON FROM THE HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINAL INSANE, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hard rock / was / 'known not to take no shit
Subject(s): African Americans; Insanity; Korean War, 1950-1953; Prisons & Prisoners; Surgery; Negroes; American Blacks; Madness; Mental Illness; Convicts


HARD ROCK RETURNS TO PRISON FROM THE HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINAL INSANE, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hard rock / was / 'known not to take no shit
Last Line: Had cut deep bloody grooves %across our backs
Subject(s): African Americans; Insanity; Korean War, 1950-1953; Prisons And Prisoners; Surgery


HARD SCUFFLIN' BLUES, by LITTLE BUDDY DOYLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Scuffling have got so hard : seem like I can't even make a dime
Last Line: But it seem like the *many ways draining* out of me : more and more every day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD TIME AIN'T GONE NO MORE, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: People is [raving, hollering] about hard times : tell me what it's all about
Last Line: If some people was like me : they didn't have no money when times was good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD TIME BLUES, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going down to the river : just to see the water run
Last Line: Now guess you know : what these hard time is all about
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD TIME KILLIN' FLOOR BLUES, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hard times here : everywhere you go
Last Line: Hard times will drive you : from door to door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD TIMES IN SHELBYVILLE ROCK JAIL (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: And he call you by everything cept its your name, oh
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HARD TO RULE WOMAN BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a girl : I wish I could keep her home at night
Last Line: That's why : I got them automobile blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARD-HEADED BLUES, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: A hard-headed woman : just like a bulldog without a chain
Last Line: When you got a hard-headed woman : you bound to have the blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HARLEM, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I want to sing harlem on an ebony flute
Last Line: "rest, and dream, my dark delight!"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Harlem (new York City); Music & Musicians


HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What happens to a dream deferred
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Dream Deferred;lenox Avenue Mural;harlem: 2;from Montage Of A Dream Deferred: Harlem (2)
Subject(s): African Americans; Dreams; Gays & Lesbians; Men; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Nightmares; Homoeroticism; Lesbians; Gay Women; Gay Men; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What happens to a dream deferred
Last Line: Or does it explode?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Dream Deferred; Lenox Avenue Mural; Harlem: 2; From Montage Of A Dream Deferred: Harlem (2
Subject(s): African Americans; Dreams; Homosexuality; Men; Racism


HARLEM, by WALTER DEAN MYERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: They took the road in waycross, georgia
Last Line: And has not ended %harlem
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City)


HARLEM DANCE HALL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It had no dignity before
Last Line: That had no dignity before
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HARLEM GALLERY: BOOK 1, THE CURATOR: LAMBDA, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the mouth of the harlem gallery
Last Line: If old satchmo had never been born!'
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Harlem (new York City); Jazz; Music And Musicians


HARLEM GALLERY: BOOK 1, THE CURATOR: MU, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hideho heights / and I, like the brims of old hats
Last Line: Of the indigo combo.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Variant Title(s): The Harlem Gallery: Mu
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Harlem (new York City); Jazz; Music & Musicians


HARLEM NIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harlem %knows a song
Last Line: The stars %are where?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Night Clubs


HARLEM NIGHT CLUB, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sleek black boys in a cabaret
Last Line: Tomorrow ... Is darkness. %joy today
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Night Clubs; Singing And Singers


HARLEM NIGHT SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Come, %let us roam the night together
Last Line: Let us roam the night together %singing
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Night; Singing And Singers


HARLEM SHADOWS, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I hear the halting footsteps of a lass
Last Line: In harlem wandering from street to street.
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Harlem (new York City); Poverty; Prostitution; Harlots; Whores; Brothels


HARLEM SWEETIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Have yhou dug the spill
Last Line: Delicious, fine sugar hill
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Harlem (new York City)


HARLEMITES TALKING ABOUT MOVIES, 1. STEVE MCQUEEN ..., by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Motherfucker leaped
Last Line: Damn! Strong to be free
Subject(s): African Americans; Mcqueen, Steve (1930-1980); Motion Pictures


HARLEMITES TALKING ABOUT MOVIES, 2. BOGART IN THE AFRICAN..., by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Jumped and yelled, kissed her
Last Line: (grease smeared the lady's white belt), %broke out what she felt
Subject(s): African Americans; Bogart, Humphrey (1899-1957); Motion Pictures


HARLEMITES TALKING ABOUT MOVIES, 3. GARBO IN NINOTCHKA, by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Saw it twice honey
Last Line: Xcuse me now: that's funny!
Subject(s): African Americans; Garbo, Greta (1905-1990); Motion Pictures


HARLEMITES TALKING ABOUT MOVIES, 4. DENZEL WASHINGTON ..., by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He stood the lashes
Last Line: (soldiers need shoes): tears you saw-- %dig this - was the blues
Subject(s): African Americans; Motion Pictures; Washington, Denzel


HARLEMITES TALKING ABOUT MOVIES, 4. GARY COOPER ..., by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Aims his machine gun
Last Line: Sweet-talks her far from it all. %then the bad cards fall
Subject(s): African Americans; Cooper, Gary (1901-1961); Motion Pictures


HARRIET, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harriet / if I be you
Last Line: Love my children and / wait
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HARRIET, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harriet %if I be you
Last Line: Love my children and %wait
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HARRIET, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harriet there was always somebody calling us crazy
Last Line: "waht name shall we call our selves / now
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Sisters; Death – Mothers


HARRIET, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harriet there was always somebody calling us crazy
Last Line: What name shall we call our selves now %our mother is gone?
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HARRIET TUBMAN, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dark is the face of harriet
Last Line: Come along ten million strong
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Tubman, Harriet (1820-1913)


HARRY'S AFRO HUT, by LUCY E. THORNTON-BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Harry's afro hut in baltimo'
Last Line: Fades tall and chests high %and the revolution continues!
Subject(s): African Americans


HARVEST SONG, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am a reaper whose muscles set at sundown. All my oats are cradled
Subject(s): African Americans; Harvest; Hunger; Negroes; American Blacks


HARVEST SONG, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am a reaper whose muscles set at sundown. All my oats are cradled
Last Line: It will not bring me knowledge of my hunger
Subject(s): African Americans; Harvest; Hunger


HARVEST SONG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Las' year wus a good crap year %an' we raised beans an' de taters
Last Line: I'se gwineter buy my gal red calico
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HATED BLACKBIRD AND CROW (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat blackbird say unto de crow
Last Line: Caze de kittle mustn' talk about de pot
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HAVANA DREAMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The dream is a cocktail at sloppy joe's
Last Line: (quien sabe? Who really knows?)
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Havana, Cuba


HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DOWN, by SIPPIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you ever been down : you know just how I feel
Last Line: I'm going to find another papa : then I can't use you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAVE YOU EVER FELT THAT WAY?, by KATHERINE HENDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You're walking around : no one in sight
Last Line: You're talking to yourself : lord but you don't know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HAVING HAD YOU, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Having had you once
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


HAWK AND BUZZARD, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once: de hawk an' de buzzard went to roost
Last Line: Den he went home wid a smashed in face
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HAWK AND CHICKEN (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hen, an' chickens in a fodder stack
Last Line: An. De jaybird died a-laughin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HAWK AND CHICKENS PLAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Chickamee, chickamee, cranie-crow
Last Line: You shan't have a chick
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HE IS MY HORSE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One day as I wus a-ridin' by
Last Line: An' if he lives, I'll ride 'im on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HE LIKES IT SLOW, by JOE EDWARDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: He likes it slow : when he goes to *play*
Last Line: Just like a snail : that man of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HE LIKES IT SLOW, by JOE EDWARDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I never like to hurry : I just take my time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HE LIKES IT SLOW, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord he likes it slow : when he goes to dance
Last Line: He always got : the lowdown blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HE LIVES IN ME, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My father was a strong and stalwart man
Last Line: With hallelujahs. Trumpets, cymbals, and drums
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


HE LOVES SUGAR AND TEA, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mistah buster, he loves sugar an' tea
Last Line: What goes wid sister mandy
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HE NEVER SAID A MUMBLIN' WORD, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: O they took my blessed lord
Last Line: Not a word, not a word, not a word
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HE PAID ME SEVEN (PARODY), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Our fadder, which are in heaben'
Last Line: An' if I hadn't tuck day, I wouldn't git none
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HE WILL GET MR. COON, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole mistah coon, at de break o' day
Last Line: An' he'll git you sho' this day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HE'S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: He's got the whole world in his hands
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


HE'S IN THE RING, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey all you peoples going out tonight : just going to see joe louis fight
Last Line: Joe louis would take a chance with them : I would put you on your feet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HE'S MINE, ALL MINE, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: He works all day : with all his might
Last Line: And he's up every morning : at half past four
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HEAD CUTTIN' BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe to my soul : there's a black cat sleeping under my bed
Last Line: Says I'm going to go far : take two dollars to send me a postal card
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HEAD OF LUIS CONGO BEGS A FAVOR, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the head of luis congo
Last Line: Fair %water
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAD OF LUIS CONGO CALLS FOR HIS MEDICINE, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O great god good god
Last Line: My medicine from this evil day?
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAD OF LUIS CONGO CONFESSES HIS SIN, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Silence! All of you, silence
Last Line: Most certainly true
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAD OF LUIS CONGO CRIES OUT FOR WATER, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Agua %agua %agua
Last Line: The head of luis congo cries out for water
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAD OF LUIS CONGO HAS HIS LITTLY SAY, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Congo tiamca matinga
Last Line: And I languish
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAD OF LUIS CONGO SPEAKS, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Congo, tiamca, colango, matinga
Last Line: He is not yet through %with you
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAD OF LUIS CONGO WEEPS, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Olurun bon die mystere
Last Line: Now that my head is mounted on high?
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAR-SAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hello! Br'er jack. How do you do?
Last Line: Dey's been tryin' to say you's been a-stealin' chickens
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HEART, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pierrot %took his heart
Last Line: Where his heart is %today
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HEART BREAKIN' BLUES, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well, I'm going downtown baby : won't be gone so long
Last Line: But when I first met you babe : you didn't have no hair at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HEART LIKE RAILROAD STEEL, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My babe's got a heart : like a piece of railroad steel
Last Line: I didn't find me nobody : did not have a man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HEART OF HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The buildings in harlem are brick and stone
Last Line: Folks, that's the heart of harlem
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAVEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Heaven is %the place where
Last Line: Stone answers back, %'well! And you?'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HEAVY SUITCASE BLUES, by CHARLEY TAYLOR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I'm so *blurred so blurred* : can't hardly stand to play those blues mysel
Last Line: My suitcase is too heavy : to walk down that dusty road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HEGIRA, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, black man, why do you northward roam, and leave all the farm lands bare?
Last Line: Combat ajar!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


HELEN KELLER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She, / in the dark
Last Line: Of inner power.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Keller, Helen (1880-1968); Negroes; American Blacks


HELL HOUND ON MY TRAIL, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got to keep moving : blues falling down like hail
Last Line: All I need my little sweet woman : and to keep my company
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HENDRIX, by MAKETA GROVES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black %beautiful
Last Line: Consumed everything %except the music
Subject(s): African Americans; Hendrix, Jimi (1942-1970)


HENRY'S WORRIED BLUES, by HENRY TOWNSEND    Poem Source                    
First Line: My blues start in the morning : and they worries me the whole day long
Last Line: But I got another woman : drive my troubles away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HER STORY, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: They gave me the wrong name, in the first place
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


HER STORY, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: They gave me the wrong name, in the first place
Last Line: Next time I'll try a gun
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


HERE COMES A YOUNG MAN COURTING (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: My lulu, come an' wa'k wid me. 'miss tidlum tidelum day'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HERE I STAND (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here I stan', raggity an' dirty
Last Line: I hain't had no kiss since I'se been born
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HERE WHERE COLTRANE IS, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Soul and race
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Coltrane, John (1926-1967); Jazz; Music & Musicians


HERE WHERE COLTRANE IS, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Soul and race
Last Line: In the eyes of my first son are the browns %of these men and their music
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Coltrane, John (1926-1967); Jazz; Music And Musicians


HERITAGE, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Text         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


HERITAGE, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: It is a blessed heritage
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


HERITAGE, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What is africa to me
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - History; Black Heritage


HERITAGE, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What is africa to me
Last Line: Lest the grave restore its dead. %not yet has my heart or head %in the least way realized %they and
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - History


HERMAN, by A. WANJIKU REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Herman used to sing a gin song
Last Line: To %sing
Subject(s): African Americans


HERO -- INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bood, %or a flag, %or a flame
Last Line: They're all the same
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)


HESITATION BLUES, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: She has the hesitating stockings : the hesitating shoes
Last Line: Have a woman : take me anywhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HESITATION BLUES, by JIM JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hello central : what's the matter with your line
Last Line: If you want to hear any more : you'll have to buy this song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HESTER'S SONG, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I rode you piggy back
Last Line: Ever to come of alchemy
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights; Feminism


HESTER'S SONG, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I rode you piggy back
Last Line: You are the one gold %ever to come of alchemy
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


HEY HEY DADDY BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey : your daddy's feeling blue
Last Line: I told you what I said : don't you drive the blues away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HEY!, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sun's a settin'
Last Line: Wonder what de blues'll bring
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HEY! HEY!, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sun's a risin'
Last Line: I been blue all night long
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HEY-HEY BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I can hey on water
Last Line: And I'll hey hey hey -- and cheer! %yee-ee-e-who-000-00
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HIDING PLACE, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yesterday found the old shack by line creek
Last Line: To face the reality of shorter
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


HIGH FEVER BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm taken down with the fever : and it won't let me sleep
Last Line: Doctor said she do me more good in a day : than he would in all of his days
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HIGH SHERIFF BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When the trial was in belzoni : it ain't no use to screaming and cry
Last Line: Mr purvis on his mansion : he don't pay no mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HIGH TO LOW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: God knows / we have our troubles, too
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


HIGH TO LOW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: God knows %we have our troubles, too
Last Line: And you %well, you can see, %we have our problems, %too, with you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HIGH WATER EVERYWHERE: 1, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The backwater done rose all around sumner : drove [me, poor charley] down the l
Last Line: I'm going back to the hilly country : won't be worried no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Floods


HIGH WATER EVERYWHERE: 2, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The water was rising : up in my friend's door
Last Line: I thought I would take a trip lord : out on the big *ice slab*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Floods


HIGHEST WIND THAT EVER BLEW: HOMAGE TO LOUIS, by FRED CHAPPELL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ever, ever in unanimous voice we drift
Last Line: For our savage reverend assault upon the stars
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Jazz; Music And Musicians


HIGHWAY 49, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'm going to get up in the morning : get to highway forty-nine
Last Line: Lord I'm tired of laying around : ooo well boys on highway forty-nine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HIGHWAY 61 BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you ever been to memphis : you stop down in hollywood
Last Line: You know I'm wild about your kind mama : I ain't going to do nothing wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HIGHWAY NO. 61 BLUES, by WILL BATTS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to leave here walking : going down number sixty-one
Last Line: I'm going to ask the good lord : give me back my baby if he please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HIGHWAY NO. 61 BLUES, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to leave here walking : I'm going down number sixty-one
Last Line: I'm going to ask the good lord : to give me back my baby if you please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HIGHWAY NO. 61 BLUES NO.2, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can hear the hell dog ringing : and the people all a-crying
Last Line: That is the reason I am so *love with it* : sixty-one has give me a new start
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HIS ANSWER, by CLARA ANN THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: He prayed for patientce; care and sorrow came
Last Line: His heart had learned, through weariness and care %the patience, that he deemed he'd sought in vain
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HIS HANDS, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Will never be large enough
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HIS HANDS, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Will never be large enough
Last Line: Whatever his hands will give
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HISTORY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The past has been a mint
Last Line: True of tomorrow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HISTORY LESSON, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am four in this photograph standing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HISTORY LESSON, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am four in this photograph standing
Last Line: Of a cotton meal-sack dress
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HITCH ME TO YOUR BUGGY AND DRIVE ME LIKE A MULE, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can hitch me to your buggy : babe drive me just like I was a mule
Last Line: Every time I put my hand on her : boy she really get on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOBO JUNGLE BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now when I left chicago : I left on that g and m
Last Line: Now if you ain't got your fare : that's where they will let you down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOCK MY SHOES, by ROBERT COOKSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hocked everything : from my hat down to my shoes
Last Line: So now sweet mama : I got those doggone hockshop blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOECAKE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you wants to bake a hoecake
Last Line: You wrops it 'round a nigger's heel, %an' hol's it to de fire
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HOLD THEM PUPPIES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nights so lonesome : and the days so long
Last Line: I want some of your loving : don't care what you do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOMAGE TO MY HAIR, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I feel her jump up and dance
Last Line: The blacker she do be! 
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HOMAGE TO MY HAIR, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I feel her jump up and dance
Last Line: The grayer she do get, good god, %the blacker she do be!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HOMAGE TO THE EMPRESS OF THE BLUES, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Because there was a man somewhere in a candystripe silk shirt
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937); Negroes; American Blacks; Songs


HOMAGE TO THE EMPRESS OF THE BLUES, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Because there was a man somewhere in a candystripe silk shirt
Last Line: And shone that smile on us and sang
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


HOME COOKIN': CHARLES AND REBECCA. THEIR BEDROOM. EVENING, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says, you won't come see
Last Line: You go, now, you hear
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


HOME WRECKIN' BLUES, by ED SCHAFFER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh tell me baby : the way back to your town
Last Line: I'm going to leave from here baby : ain't coming back no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOMECOMING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went back in the alley
Last Line: A whole lot of room %was the only thing I had
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HOMESICK BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: De railroad bridge's / a sad song in de air
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (music); Homesickness; Railroads; Negroes; American Blacks; Railways; Trains


HOMESICK BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: De railroad bridge's %a sad song in de air
Last Line: To keep from cryin' %I opens ma mouth an' laughs
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (music); Homesickness; Railroads


HONEY, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now it don't make no difference sweet little old honey : a-how you trying to ca
Last Line: You fool right around now little old honey : and let me catch you dead to the right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEY BABE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Honey babe, %you braid your hair too tight
Last Line: Like my little girl
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HONEY BABE LET THE DEAL GO DOWN, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Honey babe : please let my deal go down
Last Line: Tell me sweet baby : what fault you find on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEY BEE BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want you to come on baby : now and take a walk with me
Last Line: Now because you said that I was your little honeybee : and I could make your honey just right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEY BLUES, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come and kiss me honey babe : before I go
Last Line: And lose his head : about a little piece of tail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEY DRIPPING PAPA, by KID PRINCE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tain't none of my business : but it sure ain't right
Last Line: I'd go up on the mountain : call my baby back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEY WHERE YOU BEEN SO LONG, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My honey left me : he's gone away
Last Line: Bad luck's *over* my house : ??? Then begine to ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEY, I LOVE, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love %I love a lot of things, a whole lot of things
Last Line: And honey, %I love you, too
Subject(s): African Americans; Alphabet Verse; Family Life


HONEY, I'M ALL OUT AND DOWN, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm broke baby : and I ain't got a dime
Last Line: A jet-black woman : make a rabbit hug a hound
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEY, WON'T YOU ALLOW ME ONE MORE CHANCE, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Honey allow me a-one more chance : I only I will treat you right
Last Line: One kind of favor I'll ask of you : just allow me just one more chance
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEYMOON BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Betty mae betty mae : you shall be my wife some day
Last Line: I'm going to take you for a honeymoon : in some long long distant land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HONEYSUCKLE WAS THE SADDEST ODOR OF ALL, I THINK', by THADIOUS M. DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wanted to be a nature poet
Last Line: Remnants of %my poetic eye
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Nature


HONOUR'S APPEAL TO JUSTICE, by OLIVA WARD BUSH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Unjust, untrue, is he who dares
Last Line: For right and right alone we plead.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bush-banks, Oliva Ward
Subject(s): African Americans; Justice; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


HOODOO MOMA, by LUISAH TEISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wooden stairs scrubbed with red brick
Last Line: There's prophesy in the %bark of a dog
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


HOOKWORM BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hookworm in your body : and your food don't do you no good
Last Line: Her man like a hookworm : taking a hold to my babe
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOOTIE BLUES, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The musicians
Last Line: Orville laughed, that's %what you think
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


HOP HEAD BLUES, by SMOKY HARRISON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I remember : what my big fat mama said
Last Line: To keep papa's little gold *watch-key* : from doing that 'fore-day creep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOPE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes when I'm lonely
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Friendship; Negroes; American Blacks


HOPE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He rose up on his dying bed / and asked for fish
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Friendship; Negroes; American Blacks


HOPE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes when I'm lonely
Last Line: Keep thinkin' I won't be lonely %by and by
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Friendship


HOPE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He rose up on his dying bed %and asked for fish
Last Line: His wife looked it up in her dream book %and played it
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HOPE FOR HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There's a new skyline in harlem
Last Line: The answer to a prayer
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HOPELESS BLUES, by ANNA BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Is it hopeless : when I lost my best friend
Last Line: I want somebody to help me : if you ??? Please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOPPIN' TOAD FROG, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm harmless as I can be : I stays out of all people's way
Last Line: I can dive down to the bottom : and take my time and tread right back up
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOPSCOTCH LOVE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jerome %is gone and still my feet
Last Line: Each square with my jerome
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


HORN OF PLENTY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Singers %singers like o-
Last Line: I said, yes, your mama
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HORSES, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr. John jacobs used to sit me on the old carousel
Last Line: And I wondered if he'd ever fly again
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


HOT COMBS, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At the junk shop, I find an old pair
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HOT COMBS, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At the junk shop, I find an old pair
Last Line: Her face made strangely beautiful %as only suffering can do
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HOT HOUSE, 1515 OLIVER STREET, K.C., MO, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Circled, like cats on -
Last Line: To follow his lead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


HOT JELLY ROLL BLUES, by GEORGE+(2) CARTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jellyroll jellyroll : you can eat it on the fence
Last Line: You can ask anybody : on auburn avenue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOT PAPA, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hot papa : don't keep me waiting so long
Last Line: If you were trying : to play me for a fool
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOT PAPA BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't good-looking : and I don't dress cute
Last Line: I'm just a red-hot papa : just blowed in your town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOT TIME BLUES, by WILLIE HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say it makes no difference : what mama don't allow
Last Line: Whenever you quit me : I ain't going to take you back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOUSE DANCE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+214    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me tell you people : some of the grandest news
Last Line: I'm going away to leave you : and ain't coming back here at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOUSE IN TAOS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Rain %thunder of the rain god
Last Line: Into the wilderness %of our house in taos
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HOUSE OF DESIRE, by SHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: This is really the story of a %sista who was very too-ga-tha
Last Line: Then - would he leave me so much on my own %to cry and get scared?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women


HOUSE OF THE DEAD REMEMBERING, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: This bone-sack you see
Last Line: In a wood-framed house %and nothing more
Subject(s): African Americans


HOUSE RENT SCUFFLE, by LIL JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Play that thing : play that thing just right
Last Line: I wouldn't have no lights : but the lightman couldn't get in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOUSEKEEPING, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We mourn the broken things, chair legs
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HOUSEKEEPING, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We mourn the broken things, chair legs
Last Line: For the mail, some news from a distant place
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


HOW ABOUT IT, DIXIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The president's four freedoms
Last Line: Now -- right here!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HOW CAN I GO ON?, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm so sorry you heard : I don't know what to do
Last Line: I'm sorry for the time : I made you blue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOW COME MAMA BLUES, by WALTER BUDDY BOY HAWKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: How come you do me like you do baby : how come you do me like you do
Last Line: You have to make them : one of your g b v ds
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOW DO YOU DO IT THAT WAY?, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh when the river runs : flowers are blooming in may
Last Line: Oh the hen had chickens : how do they do it that way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOW I SEE THINGS, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I hear you were
Last Line: Working the strawberry fields
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans


HOW LONG BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: How long, how long, has that evenin' train been gone
Last Line: How long, how long, how long?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOW LONG HOW LONG, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Standing at the station : watch my baby leave town
Last Line: Thinking about the trouble : a good man always have
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOW LONG?, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I never never never : can forget that day
Last Line: I ain't had no loving : since my baby gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOW OLD ARE YOU? (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: How old are you my pretty little miss
Last Line: I'll be sixteen next sunday
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HOW THIN A BLANKET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is so much misery in the world
Last Line: For the withered body %of despair
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HOW TO GET TO GLORY LAND, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you wants to fit to glory land
Last Line: An' slip 'way - over into glory lan'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HOW TO KEEP OR KILL THE DEVIL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you wants to see de devil smile
Last Line: An' if you don't watch, he'll slip it on you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HOW TO MAKE IT RAIN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go kill dat snake an' hang him high
Last Line: De storm an' rain'll come bye an' bye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HOW TO PLANT AND CULTIVATE SEEDS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Plant: one fer de blackbird
Last Line: Pull it out'n de hill
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HOW TO PLEASE A PREACHER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you wants to see dat preachah laugh
Last Line: Kill dat chicken an' give him a thigh
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HOW WILL YOU CALL ME, BROTHER, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Have you armed your children?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HOW YOU WANT IT DONE?, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Why don't you tell me loving mama : how you want your rolling done
Last Line: Lord I know you going to call me : baby lord and I'll be gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOW YOU WANT YOUR ROLLIN' DONE, by LOUIE LASKY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now tell me mama : just how do you want your rolling done
Last Line: Because she's three time seven : and she knows just exactly what to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOWLIN' TOM CAT BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now don't you hear me mama : I'm begging at your door
Last Line: But most any man : will howl about something like that
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOWLING WIND BLUES, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The north wind has begin howling : [and, but] the skies are pretty and blue
Last Line: And if it don't : I swear it will always be the same
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOWLING WOLF BLUES--NO. 1, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am the wolf that everybody been trying to find out : where in the world I pro
Last Line: Seem like he wants me to be a prowler : and a howling wolf all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HOWLING WOLF BLUES--NO. 2, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby here I am : down on my bended knees
Last Line: Watch the roads dark as night mama : and you liable to see me prowl
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HUGS AND KISSES, by LINDA MICHELLE BARON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hugs and kisses and kisses
Last Line: Makes me feel...Inside
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


HUNGER, by KATHLEEN TANKERSLEY YOUNG    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your body is a dark wine
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


HUNGRY WOLF, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm that hungry wolf : and the ground is where I dug my cave
Last Line: Old wolf is hungry now I'm going to do most 'napping : than I done since god knows when
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HUNKIE TUNKIE BLUES, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I'm going uptown : tell the chief police
Last Line: Head is curly : baby and bushy too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HUNTING BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said I went out hunting : hunting all *night and day*
Last Line: Then you'll set right here : play and begin to sing this song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HUNTING CAMP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sam got up one mornin'
Last Line: But a big black b'ar
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


HURRY AND BRING IT BACK HOME, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got them blues : and I can't be satisfied
Last Line: You got what I want : so hurry bring it back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HURRY BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know this eagle's on a dollar : other side in god we trust
Last Line: Then again you hear me singing : sweet atlanta blues to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HURRY DOWN SUNSHINE, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hurry down sunshine : see what tomorrow brings
Last Line: Two keen long whistles : bid me long farewell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HURT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who cares %about the hurt in your heart
Last Line: From your lips. %nobody cares
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


HUSH, HONEY, by RUBY C. SAUNDERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hush! Yo' mouth %it is time to be quiet
Last Line: All praises are due to allah for the lamb
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


HUSH, LITTLE BABY, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: If that diamond ring turns brass
Last Line: You'll still be the sweetest baby in town!
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


HUSTLER'S BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Whiskey is my habit : good women is all I crave
Last Line: I would drink good whiskey : and gamble all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


HYMN FOR LANIE POO, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O / these wild trees
Last Line: For that mayyer, by god
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Racism; Sisters; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


HYMN FOR LANIE POO, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O %these wild trees
Last Line: Benevolent step %mother america
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Racism; Sisters


I AIN'T GIVING NOBODY NONE, by MAE GLOVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man left me : he left me feeling bad
Last Line: I don't care how I do it : doggone heart disease
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I AIN'T GOIN' TO PLAY SECOND FIDDLE, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me tell you daddy : mama ain't going to sit and grieve
Last Line: They you're going : to hang your head and weep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I AIN'T GONNA BE WORRIED NO MORE, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: You know I worried last night : all night before
Last Line: Come home last night : had the back door locked
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I AIN'T GONNA BE YOUR FOOL, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I work all day long for you : until the sun go down
Last Line: And when they get through playing with your heart : and they'll start dragging you all around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I AIN'T NO ICE MAN, by CHARLES COW COW DAVENPORT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't no iceman : I ain't no iceman's son
Last Line: But I can furnish you plenty of cream : baby until the milkman comes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I AM A BLACK WOMAN, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Look %on me and be %renewed
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Alphabet Verse


I AM A COWBOY IN THE BOAT OF RA, by ISHMAEL REED    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Party pooper o hater of dance %vampire outlaw of the milky way
Subject(s): African Americans - History


I AM CALLING BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here woman: I'm calling on your name
Last Line: When I love my woman: it puts me in a strain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I AM HIGH ON THE MAN CALLED CRAZY, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: He has bitten sons
Subject(s): African Americans; Man-woman Relationships


I AM HIGH ON THE MAN CALLED CRAZY, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: To eat devils and out of mine %he has bitten sons
Subject(s): African Americans


I AM NOT GOING TO HOBO ANY MORE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mammy done tol' me a long time ago
Last Line: I hain't never gwineter hobo no mo'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I AM WAITIN' ON THE LEVEE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I AM WILLIE OR AMOS OR ANYONE, by ANEB KGOSITSILE    Poem Source                    
Last Line: I am strong, smooth, sharp in the pawn shop window, %the ten cent store
Subject(s): African Americans


I BELIEVE I'LL DUST MY BROOM, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to get up in the morning : I believe I'll dust my broom
Last Line: If I can't find her on philippines island : she must be in ethiopia somewhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I BELIEVE I'LL MAKE A CHANGE, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I believe : I believe I'll go back home
Last Line: Going to turn off this gas stove : I'm bound for a brand new range
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I BRING LAUGHTER, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I made you laugh, %isn't this fun?
Last Line: I tickled my angel self, too
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


I CALLED YOU THIS MORNING, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I called you this morning : about half past one
Last Line: You told me : that it was out of fix
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I CALLED YOU THIS MORNING, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got something to tell you : hope I don't make you mad
Last Line: Yes you going to leave your mama : standing in this door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I CAN BEAT YOU PLENTY, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if you ever go down south : go down in dixieland
Last Line: I am looking for the woman : that ain't got no man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I CAN DEAL WORRY, by UNKNOWN+207    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm worried now lord : I won't be worreid long
Last Line: Say she taking one bite : threw the teacup at my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I CAN TELL BY THE WAY YOU SMELL, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your hair all wrinkled : and you full of sweat
Last Line: Just look at papa out there : on that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I CAN'T BE SATISFIED, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here my baby : tell you what I want you to do
Last Line: I got to pay my wife : for everything I get
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I CAN'T LAST LONG, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lonesome lonesome : yes I'm sinking sinking sinking down below my grave
Last Line: Please don't you wait : for I'll be dead and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I CAN'T STAND IT, by BEN RAMEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now what are you going to do : when your supper get like mine
Last Line: I say where have you been mama : been out selling sweet jellyroll
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I COME UP OUT OF EGYPT, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I COULDN'T HELP IT, by ALLEN SHAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I got up this morning : feeling bad
Last Line: The way you got : it's going to be the ruin of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I COULDN'T STAY HERE, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went home last night baby : found my good gal there
Last Line: I can buy you foresight baby : when the lord ain't give you none
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DO BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh woman I do : god knows I do
Last Line: Oh you told me you was going : you was going to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DON'T CARE WHO GETS WHAT I DON'T WANT, by ANNA BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: If that were me : and me was it
Last Line: But I think : those days now gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DON'T KNOW, by CRIPPLE CLARENCE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got to sit around : for a while
Last Line: ??? Things : is got your habits on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T CARE BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't know and I don't care : where my loving daddy's gone
Last Line: Because I keep : the don't know and don't care blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DON'T LIKE THAT, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw you doing something : don't do it no more
Last Line: Begged till daybreak : and I ain't got none yet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DON'T LOVE NOBODY, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want nobody : I want the world to know
Last Line: And if he ask to kiss me : I would knock him down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DON'T WANT THAT JUNK OUTA YOU, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I give you my money : and I ain't ashamed
Last Line: I do anything : to give your poor heart ease
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I DONE GO SO THIRSTY THAT MY MOUTH WATERS, by PATRICIA SPEARS JONES    Poem Source                    
Last Line: On the sidewalk like flooded houses %wasted of time and touch
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


I DREAM A WORLD WHERE MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Of such I dream, my world
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


I FOLLOWED A PATH, by PATRICIA PARKER    Poem Source                    
Last Line: For one moment, %I chased the lines away
Alternate Author Name(s): Parker, Pat
Subject(s): African American Lesbians; African Americans - Women; Homosexuality


I FOUND A NEW BABY, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fairskinned, even in
Last Line: Like he is her own
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The kick, they call
Last Line: Metes and bourn of my %meager mastery
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


I GET THE BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here sweet baby : please listen to me
Last Line: Thinking about your loving : mixed with some other man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I GET THE BLUES AT BEDTIME, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I get the blues at bedtime : them things don't leave until day
Last Line: I think I would get married : baby and I would settle down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I GOT EVERYTHING A WOMAN NEEDS, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got everything that a woman needs : to make a good man fall
Last Line: Then I'll show them how : I can do my stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I GOT GOOD TATERS, by CHARLIE BURSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a house : way up on the hill
Last Line: I've got potatoes : lord they ought to ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I GOT SOMEBODY ELSE, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you didn't want me : when I was treating you nice and kind
Last Line: When I wanted you : you wanted someone else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I GOT TO GO BLUES, by BARREL HOUSE BUCK MACFARLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got to go : got to leave my baby be
Last Line: You worry me woman : babe I don't know what to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I GOT WHAT IT TAKES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saved it up : since the lord knows when
Last Line: And then you realize : your sweet mama's gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I HAD A GAL FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS, by ROBERT HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: When the rooster gets to worrying : be brings it to the hen
Last Line: You got to find another place : for to park your *rotsy* hips
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I HATE THAT TRAIN CALLED THE M. AND O., by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate that train : that they all call the m and o
Last Line: To see that m and o train : and me and my daddy part
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I HAVE MADE UP MY MIND, by JIMMY ODEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have made up my mind : to explain to you in every way
Last Line: I've got a woman in ??? : so you can find you another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I HAVE SEEN BLACK HANDS, by RICHARD WRIGHT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am black and I have seen black hands, millions and millions of them
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Problems; Negroes; American Blacks


I HAVE SEEN BLACK HANDS, by RICHARD WRIGHT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am black and I have seen black hands, millions and millions of them
Last Line: Some day there shall be millions and millions of them, %on some red day in a burst of fists on a new
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Problems


I KEEP THE BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: About four this morning : blues come in my door
Last Line: Because I'm full of blue : and I have got to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I KNOW A MOON-RISE, I KNOW STAR RISE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: And my soul and your soul will meet in de day %when I lay dis body down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I KNOW I'M NOT SUFFICIENTLY OBSCURE, by RAY DUREM    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
Last Line: You deal with finer feelings, %very subtle-an autumn leaf %hanging from a tree-I see a body!
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor And Laborers


I KNOW YOU GONNA MISS ME, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I beg you baby : baby so long
Last Line: Going back home to my baby : won't have to cry no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I LAID MY CARDS ON THE TABLE, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I laid my cards on the table : still you wouldn't give me a break
Last Line: Now you are too late baby : because someone else in your stall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I LET MY DADDY DO THAT, by HATTIE HART    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says people call me mama treetop : because I'm slender and tall
Last Line: But when any easy riding : goes on here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I LOVE SOMEBODY (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I loves somebody, yes, I do
Last Line: She's de pretty liddle girl dat beats 'em all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I NEVER MISS MY SUNSHINE, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: You said you want to leave me : at the door
Last Line: Ain't found nobody else to love me : like my loving daddy done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I PACKED MY SUITCASE, STARTED TO THE TRAIN, by JENNIE CLAYTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It is up to you baby : do anything that you want to do
Last Line: You are three times seven : you know just what you want to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I PACKED MY SUITCASE, STARTED TO THE TRAIN, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey black folks is evil : do anything that you want to do
Last Line: I wouldn't hurt so bad mama : but you had another man just the same
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I RAISED MY WINDOW AND LOOKED AT THE RISIN' SUN, by OLLIE RUPERT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord early one morning : just about the break of day
Last Line: It's a hard-driving papa : just as sure as you born
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I REMEMBER, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
Last Line: But I wish I remembered %what I forgot
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


I REMEMBER, by MAE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
Last Line: The desire that I had to build %a black snowman %and place him upon %malcolm's grave
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


I REMEMBER YOU, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down on her knees
Last Line: Mustn't lock the door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


I SAY, MR. A, by SAMUEL ALLEN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When %at the close of war
Last Line: But they was both a bitch!
Alternate Author Name(s): Vesey, Paul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Jazz; Music And Musicians


I SEE MY GREAT MISTAKE, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got something to tell you baby : don't let it break your heart
Last Line: Found out you acting funny : I'm sure going to let you go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I SING NO NEW SONGS, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once I cried for a new songs to sing...A black rose...A brown sky...The
Last Line: Clothes, teach a more graceful step...But the dreams of homer neither %grow nor wilt
Subject(s): African Americans


I SIT AND SEW, by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I sit and sew - a useless task it seems
Last Line: It stifles me -- god, must I sit and sew?
Alternate Author Name(s): Nelson, Alice Dunbar (moore)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Americans; Sewing; United States; War; America


I SIT AND WAIT FOR BEAUTY; TO JOHN LOVELL, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Long have I yearned and sought for beauty
Last Line: She will ever hide her face %and elude my grasping hand
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


I THOUGHT IT WAS TANGIERS I WANTED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I know now %that notre dame is in paris
Last Line: But I thought it was tangiers I wanted
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris; Tangier, Morocco


I USED TO THINK / I CAN'T BE A POET, by CHIRLANE MCCRAY    Poem Source                    
Last Line: That pretty is the woman in darkness %who flowers with loving
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


I WALKED DE ROADS, TILL DE ROADS GIT MUDDY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: So shore you'se de gal, you'se de ga I'se after
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I WANT EV'RY BIT OF IT, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When moses (brooder
Last Line: Ever turn that down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


I WANT IT AWFUL BAD, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You get mad : someone call your name
Last Line: You squeezed my lemon : caused my juice to run
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WANT MY SWEET DADDY, by HANNAH SYLVESTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every night : when I go to bed
Last Line: That's the reason : why he makes a fool out of me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WANT MY SWEET DADDY NOW, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Folks I'll tell : that he's not my regular man
Last Line: He gives me plenty loving : treats his mama right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WANT PLENTY OF GREASE IN MY FRYING PAN, by MARGARET CARTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: You know I use plenty grease : every day
Last Line: I said sweet papa : put some grease in my pot
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WANT YOU TO KNOW, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I want you to know : babe I want you to know
Last Line: I don't mean you no more good : now please get you another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WANTA TEAR IT ALL THE TIME, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tear it long : tear it wide
Last Line: You know by that : I didn't tear it just right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WAS BORN IN A HOTEL, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: A woman jar
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Birth


I WAS BORN WITH TWELVE FINGERS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: My dead mother my live daughter and me %through our terrible shadowy hands
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers And Daughters


I WAS JUS, by BOB O'MEALLY    Poem Source                    
Last Line: I'd drum out a hellfire protess %in secret
Subject(s): African Americans


I WEEP, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


I WENT DOWN DE ROAD, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Oh far'-you-well, an' a hook-a-doo-dle-doo
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I WENT TO THE VALLEY, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: My soul got happy %and I stayed all day
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; U.s. - Race Relations; Virginia (state)


I WHIPPED MY WOMAN WITH A SINGLE TREE, by TEWEE BLACKMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said my woman : had a falling out
Last Line: Every time she walks : she leaves a lot behind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WILL NOT LET THEM TAKE YOU, by OPAL PALMER ADISA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell them %tell them loud and clear
Last Line: Tell them %now
Subject(s): African Americans


I WILL TURN YOUR MONEY GREEN, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was in missouri : would not let me be
Last Line: Woman I love : she don't pay me no mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WISH I WAS AN APPLE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: W'en 'is time come to bake
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I WON'T BE IN HARD LUCK NO MORE, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said goodbye baby : oh yes I got to go
Last Line: I got a gal in east st louis : she lives in polack town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I WOULD NOT MARRY A BLACK GIRL (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wouldn't marry a black gal
Last Line: When you has her face around, %it never gits good day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I WOULD RATHER BE A NEGRO THAN A POOR WHITE MAN (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My name's ran, I wuks in de san
Last Line: I'd druther be a nigger, an' plow ole beck %dan a white hillbilly wid his long red neck
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I WOULDN'T MARRY A YELLOW OR A WHITE NEGRO GIRL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I sho' loves dat gal dey calls sally 'black'
Last Line: An' her skin, it hain't never dry
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I WUZ BORNED ON THE RIVUH, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU JUST THE SAME, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Addie %framed on the mantle
Last Line: Em, and hold on tight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


I'LL BE GONE LONG GONE, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I beg you baby : to treat me right
Last Line: But some day baby : you'll long for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'LL BE UP SOME DAY, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I've been traveling mama : all by myself
Last Line: But I got another little sweet woman : and I don't want your three sixty-nine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'LL EAT WHEN I'M HUNGRY (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: I cain't never starve
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'LL GET ALONG SOMEHOW, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to leave here : walking too
Last Line: You taken my money : and gave me the air
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'LL GET YOU, RABBIT!, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rabbit! Rabbit! You'se got a mighty habit
Last Line: You'll be in my fryin' pan
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'LL GO WITH HER BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'll go with her I'll follow her I will : to her burying place
Last Line: Makes me think about that song : my baby used to sing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say I feel myself : falling again
Last Line: In the same hole : that I once was in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'LL OVERCOME SOME DAY, by MISSISSIPPI BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Worked all the summer : and all the fall
Last Line: Somebody : stole my little all-in-all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'LL SEE YOU IN THE SPRING WHEN THE BIRDS BEGIN TO SING, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I'm going away : just to wear you off my mind
Last Line: You keep me troubled : honey all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'LL WEAR ME A COTTON DRESS (MILLY BIGGERS) (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, will you wear red? Oh, will you wear red?
Last Line: Dyed wid copperse an' oak-bark
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M A 'ROUND-TOWN' GENTLEMAN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hain't no wagon, hain't no dray
Last Line: To wk in de mud, an' do widout shoes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M A BACK BITIN' MAMA, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a backbiting mama : looking for a cheating man
Last Line: I learned backbiting : when I went to school
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M A DREAMER, by KATTIE M. CUMBO    Poem Source                    
First Line: I dream of serenity
Last Line: One who sleeps %away reality
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


I'M A GUITAR KING, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a guitar king : singing the blues everywhere I go
Last Line: Crazy about a married woman : afraid to call her name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M A RATTLESNAKIN' DADDY, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : about half past four
Last Line: Half past nine : I'm going to rattle again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M A REAL KIND MAMA, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a real kind mama : looking for a loving man
Last Line: At morning noon and night : that's all I'm thinking of
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M A STEADY ROLLIN MAN, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a steady rolling man : I roll both night and day
Last Line: Well boys she get rambling in her brain : mmm some other man on her mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M ALABAMA BOUND, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stood on the corner : feet got soaking wet
Last Line: Just before you and your partner get ready to go : leave a dime for her
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M ALABAMA BOUND, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M AN OLD BUMBLE BEE, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am an old bumblebee : a stinger just as long as my arm
Last Line: And they all crying bumblebee : you know it hurts so good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M DOWN IN THE DUMPS, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man's got something : he gives me such a thrill
Last Line: I need a whole lots of loving : because I'm down in the dumps
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M FEELING LOW DOWN, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got the blues : I feel so lowdown
Last Line: Because I love my baby : *and there's such a good time*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GETTING WILD ABOUT HER, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good morning judge : he done lowered the fine
Last Line: Daddy wild : about my heavy stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GOIN' DOWN THE RIVUH, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M GOIN' DOWN THE RIVUH, BABY, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M GOIN' TO SHIP ON THE MIKE DAVIS, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M GOIN' TO ST. LOUIS, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well trouble start this morning : at my front door
Last Line: But you wouldn't try : to treat me right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GOIN' UP THE RIVUH, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M GOING BACK HOME, by JOE+(1) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh mercy dear : you cause my heart
Last Line: Day you leave me : that's the day you die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GOING BACK HOME, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was born : I was resting at ease
Last Line: Know when you had your money : thought that you wouldn't get broke
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GONNA CUT OUT EVERYTHING, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have cut out my way of living : I have changed my ways
Last Line: And if my money lasts me : ooo well I know I won't have to cut it with no-good jane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GONNA GET IT, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say the holdup man ; says don't act tough
Last Line: Makes no mistake : yes I'm running wild
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GONNA LEAVE YOU ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to leave you baby : out here on the outskirts of town
Last Line: Now we got seven children : ain't none of them look like me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GONNA MOAN MY BLUES AWAY, by BLIND RICHARD YATES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to the gypsy : to have my fortune told
Last Line: I done moaned I done groaned : moaned my blues away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: You only had : a boot and a shoe
Last Line: Because mama's going to stop you : with a *blue steel bill*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M LEAVIN' TOWN, by WILLIE HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yeah mean mama : where you stay last night
Last Line: Easy mama : no good bearing down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M NOT THE LAD, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: You are the same girl : I met in nineteen hundred and four
Last Line: You are a lying sweet woman : so get up and out of that mud
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M NUTS ABOUT THE GAL, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now she ain't good-looking : she don't dress fine
Last Line: But I believe to my soul : she put that thing on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M NUTS OVER YOU, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If love is a crime then I'm guilty : but there's nothing I can do
Last Line: After all the good women in this world : why did I have to fall in love with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M ON MY WAY BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was standing on the corner : and I was wringing my hands
Last Line: Yeah the good book do tell you : ooo that crime do not pay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M SIITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The day you left me : you throwed me down
Last Line: I write you a letter : come sneaking back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M SO GLAD I'M TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD TODAY, by JOE DEAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'm so glad : I'm twenty-one years old today
Last Line: Lord I'm three times seven : I'm going to have my way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M SO TIRED OF LIVING ALL ALONE, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Although we are drifting : so far apart
Last Line: My arms may be empty : but never down in my heart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can quit me : do anything you want to do
Last Line: Want me to be your mammy : and your doctor too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU--NO. 2, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: You up and quit me : do anything you want to do
Last Line: Want me to be your mammy : and your doctor too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M THE MAN THAT KIN RAISE SO LONG, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'M TIRED OF BEING MISTREATED, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ain't going to cut no kindling : ain't going to buy no corn
Last Line: You must have found something : to keep you away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M WAITIN' ON YOU, by AMOS EASTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come here pretty mama : come here right now
Last Line: There many more women : just rearing to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M WASTING MY TIME ON YOU, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm so down-hearted : feeling sad
Last Line: Hard luck and trouble : meets me at the door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M WILD ABOUT MY LOVIN', by JIM JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to tell the sergeant : *he the* chief of police
Last Line: I'm going to see my gal : and it won't be long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M WILD ABOUT MY STUFF, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: All of my chicken : is dressed mighty fine
Last Line: Kansas joe : been here and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'M WUKIN' MY WAY BACK HOME, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


I'VE BEEN TREATED WRONG, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't know my real name : I don't know when I was born
Last Line: I'm too old for the orphan : and too young for the old folks' home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'VE GOT A HOME IN THAT ROCK, by RAYMOND RICHARD PATTERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had an uncle once who kept a rock in his pocket
Last Line: Enough to make him homesick, what home was really like
Alternate Author Name(s): Patterson, Ray
Subject(s): African Americans; Stones


I'VE GOT BLOOD IN MY EYES FOR YOU, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was out this morning : feeling blue
Last Line: You ain't going to get : none of my santa claus
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'VE GOT FORD MOVEMENTS IN MY HIPS, by CLEO GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got ford movements in my hips : ten thousand miles guarantee
Last Line: Take a ford engine boys : to do your stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'VE GOT TO DIG YOU, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going to tell you women: and it goes for the men
Last Line: I'm going to plant you now woman : but I will dig you later
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I'VE STOPPED MY MAN, by HOCIEL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know you love me : daddy it's understood
Last Line: *since my mother* : put that thing on you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


I, TOO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I, too, sing america. / I am the darker brother
Last Line: I, too, am america.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Epilogue;i, Too, Sing America
Subject(s): African Americans; United States; Negroes; American Blacks; America


I, WOMAN, by IRMA MCCLAURIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I, woman, cloaked in blues
Last Line: I swear I hear those sisters still humming
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


I.C. BLUES, by JELLY ROLL ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Trouble trouble: ever since I been a man
Last Line: I'll be back to see my baby: but the lord only knows when
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ICE AND SNOW BLUES, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to build me a castle : out of ice and snow
Last Line: After all your mistreating : no one can take your place
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ICE AND SNOW BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: This winter babe : going to be ice and snow
Last Line: And the ??? : didn't have no : baby have no place to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IDA COX'S LAWDY, LAWDY BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me pretty daddy : what's the matter now
Last Line: That to hear the man I love : say I don't want you no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IDA RED, IDA RED, I'M GITTIN TIRED UF, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


IDEA OF ANCESTRY, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black
Last Line: They are all of me, I am me, they are thee, and I have no children to float in the space between
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors And Ancestry; Fathers; Korean War, 1950-1953; Men; Prayer; Prisons And Prisoners


IDIOT, by DUDLEY RANDALL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: That cop was powerful mean
Last Line: Who hired him'
Subject(s): African Americans


IDYL: SUNRISE, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Down in the dell
Last Line: He cometh, so I wait
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


IDYL: SUNSET, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In western skies %rare radiance lies
Last Line: Does it not seem %that love can all control?
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


IDYLL OF THE SOUTH, SELS., by ALBERY ALLSON WHITMAN                        Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; Freedom; Racism; Southern States


IF I DIDN'T LOVE YOU, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby what's the matter : why don't you be yourself
Last Line: If I didn't love you : I'd get somebody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF I GET LUCKY, by ARTHUR BIG BOY CRUDUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: That's all right mama : that's all right for you
Last Line: I'm going back to mississippi : lord now where I belong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF I HAD POSSESSION OVER JUDGMENT DAY, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I had possession : over judgment day
Last Line: I want to tell you : all about the way they treated me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF I LET YOU GET AWAY WITH IT ONCE YOU'LL DO IT ALL OF TIME, by MARGARET+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You said you's going to leave me : but I don't care
Last Line: But when you came home : you didn't know the name of the play
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF I LOSE, LET ME LOSE, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got on : my walking shoes
Last Line: In the jail : would be my end
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF I MUST KNOW, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I must know sorrow
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


IF I STAND IN MY WINDOW, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Praying in tongues
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Identity; Nudity


IF I STAND IN MY WINDOW, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Crying %praying in tongues
Subject(s): African Americans


IF I'M A FOOL, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You say I'm a fool : and everyone knows
Last Line: I love him : and darn the rest
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF MAMA, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Good girl %clean up your room
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers And Daughters


IF WE MUST DIE, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Last Line: Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Courage; Death; Honor; Social Protest; World War I; Negroes; American Blacks; Valor; Bravery; Dead, The; First World War


IF YOU FROWNS, AN' I FROWNS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Right in de sunshine wedder
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


IF YOU HAVEN'T ANY HAY GET ON DOWN THE ROAD, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you haven't any hay : get on down the road
Last Line: You'll find me riding : mama lord lord in this world somewhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF YOU SAW A NEGRO LADY, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Into surprise observing %happy birthday
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


IF YOU WANT A GOOD WOMAN--GET ONE LONG AND TALL, by WILEY BARNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you want a good woman : go to the larkin dam
Last Line: Well I had a high fever : going up to my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF YOU WANT ME TO LOVE YOU, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if you want me to love you : here's what you got to do
Last Line: Send me a telegram : that your heart is dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IF YOU WOULD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You could stop the factory whistles blowing
Last Line: You could %if you %would
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IF-ING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I had some small change
Last Line: Till it drives you crazy, too
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IGGLY OGGLY BLUES, by SMOKY HARRISON    Poem Source                    
First Line: So soon this morning mama : you were knocking on my door
Last Line: Says I'm going too far baby : that you can't hear me say
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IMAGINE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Imagine! %they are afraid of you
Last Line: They are afraid %of you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IMPASSE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I could tell you
Last Line: And you don't %give a damn
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IN '76 (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down yonder in sebenty-six
Last Line: I'll be ready fer dat great day soon
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


IN A MULBERRY TREE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jes looky, looky yonder; w'at I see
Last Line: Dem liddle niggers gwineter roll an' kick
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


IN A RUSH (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here I comes jes a-rearin' an' a-pitchin'
Last Line: But a kiss from yo' lips would be sweeter, my dear
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


IN A TROUBLED KEY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Do not sell me out, baby
Last Line: Instead of to a song
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IN AN URBAN SCHOOL, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The guard picks dead leaves from plants
Last Line: Was found dead in an empty lot
Subject(s): African Americans – Childen; Schools; Ghettos


IN BOTH THE FAMILIES, by ARNOLD ADOFF    Poem Source                    
Last Line: We fit in
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Race Awareness


IN EXPLANATION OF OUR TIMES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The folks with no titles in front of their names
Last Line: So naturally, there's trouble %in these our times %because of people with no titles %in front of the
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IN HONOR OF TRUTH AND THE PROPHET MALCOLM X, by JUAN VILLEGAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And there came to us
Last Line: And giving warmth %and giving light
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


IN KNOWLWEDGE OF YOUNG BOYS, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: I knew you before you had a mother
Last Line: Brave before memory
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


IN KNOWLWEDGE OF YOUNG BOYS, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I knew you before you had a mother
Last Line: Mouth, uncut, we were %brave before memory
Subject(s): African Americans


IN LIGHT HALF NIGHTMARE AND HALF VISION, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the corpse woodpiles, from the ashes and staring pits
Last Line: Is in his eyes; his suffering transilluminates %the suffering of an age
Subject(s): African Americans; Persecution


IN MY GIRLISH DAYS, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Late hours at night : trying to play my hand
Last Line: I had to travel : before I got wise
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IN THE HOUSE BLUES, by BESSIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Setting in the house with everything on my mind
Last Line: They runs around my house in and out of my front door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IN THE MIST OF THE MOON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the mist of the moon I saw you
Last Line: In the mist of the moon I saw you, dark nanette
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IN THE MORNING, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Disguised in my mouth as a swampland
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


IN TIME OF SILVER RAIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: When spring %and life %are new
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Rain


INCIDENT, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once riding in old baltimore
Subject(s): African Americans; Baltimore, Maryland; Racism; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


INCIDENT, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once riding in old baltimore
Last Line: Of all the things that happened there %that's all that I remember
Subject(s): African Americans; Baltimore, Maryland; Racism; Social Protest


INDEPENDENT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se jes as innerpenunt as a pig on ice
Last Line: I don't want no niggers to be he'pin' me 'roun'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


INDIAN FLEA, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Injun flea, bit my knee
Last Line: To wash 'im off, I'd stay a week
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


INNOCENCE, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She tripped and fell against a star
Last Line: Twas a star-lance in her side!
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Innocence


INQUIETUDE, by PAULI MURRAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Blue is this night of stars
Last Line: I sink and let the silver tide %engulf me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


INQUIRY ON RESISTANCE, OR SNOW ON MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR..., by JEFF GUNDY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cars whine, clutch at slush, collide
Last Line: Of color, how otherworldly is our trust %in protest, in deliverance, in each other
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


INS AND OUTS OF MY GIRL, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says my baby got something : I don't know what it is
Last Line: Says I want you to come : and do my loving in my own home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


INSATIATE, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: If my love were meat and bread
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


INSULTED, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My mamma is a mean old sing
Last Line: I'm doeing way, an' hide.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


INSURANCE MAN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+219    Poem Source                    
First Line: Insurance man came this morning : and knocked on my door
Last Line: Ain't got no money : now my insurance is due
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


INSURANCE MAN BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every monday morning : people the insurance man knocking on my door
Last Line: Well I say I don't live up north : my home is back down in tennessee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


INSURANCE POLICY BLUES, by ? SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said hey hey insurance man : quit knocking on my door
Last Line: You haven't done no ways : like that old policy read
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


INTERIM, by CLARISSA SCOTT DELANY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The night was made for rest and sleep
Last Line: And not afraid to dare.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


INTERLUDE, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I like this quiet place
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Sanctuaries


INTERNE AT PROVIDENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: White coats, %white aprons
Last Line: Follows the young doctor, %cellophanes his long stride, %cellophanes his future
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


INTERPRETATION OF A POEM BY FROST, by THYLIAS MOSS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A young black girl stopped by the woods
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Frost, Robert (1874-1963); Poetry & Poets


INTERPRETATION OF A POEM BY FROST, by THYLIAS MOSS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A young black girl stopped by the woods
Last Line: Before she sleeps with jim
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Frost, Robert (1874-1963); Poetry And Poets


INTERURBAN BLUES, by BILLIKEN JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Standing here a-wondering : will that car pass my way
Last Line: She throws her arms around me : like the circle around the sun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


INTO THE LIGHT, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: There is a picture of
Last Line: The light
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


INVENTION OF COMICS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am a soul in the world: in
Last Line: And his sea, and its moon, and %the soft fire throbbing. Kind %death. O %my dark and sultry %love
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


INVITED TO TAKE THE ESCORT'S ARM, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Miss, does you lak strawberries?
Last Line: Den have a wing dis time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


INVOCATION, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Let me be buried in the rain
Last Line: Grow high above my head.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


IRISH WAKE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the dark they fell a-crying
Last Line: Happy they were here
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IS IT BECAUSE I AM BLACK?, by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR.    Poem Text                    
First Line: Why do men smile when I speak
Last Line: Is it because I am black?
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


IS IT TRUE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the shadows of the quarter
Last Line: Is it true that negroes -- %I said, ask your mama
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IS YO' LAMPS GONE OUT?, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ISLAND, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here the island is complete. The edges of the hard brick buildings are
Last Line: Hope lingering in a time well after his death
Subject(s): African Americans; Islands; Jazz; Music And Musicians


ISLAND (1), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Between two rivers, %north of the park
Last Line: Dream within a dream, %our dream is deferred. %good morning,daddy! %ain't you heard ?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ISLAND (2), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wave of sorrow
Last Line: Wave of sorrow, %take me there
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ISN'T MY NAME MAGICAL?, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nobody can see my name on me
Last Line: Isn't your name and my name magic?
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


IT AIN'T WHAT YOU USTA BE, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You see it ain't what you used to be baby : it's what you are today
Last Line: She treats me so cold sometimes : I think she got somebody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT AINT NO, by BOB O'MEALLY    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Bookstos where I lives %in de berry
Subject(s): African Americans


IT DON'T MEAN A THING IF IT AIN'T GOT THAT SWING, by DUKE ELLINGTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wah-dah do, wah-dah do
Last Line: If it ain't got that swing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


IT GIVES ME PAUSE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would like to be a sinner
Last Line: When I get my sinning done
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


IT IS HARD TO LOVE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: But you hain't gwineter lug up in mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


IT LOOKS BAD FOR YOU, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I tried to get you ; to stop raising sand
Last Line: Don't you looking : for me no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT WAS A FUNKY DEAL, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: It was a funky deal
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


IT WAS A FUNKY DEAL, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


IT WON'T ACT RIGHT, by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I take my gal out : to a dance one night
Last Line: I told her : to let my thing alone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT WON'T BE LONG, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I aim to take my gun : ??? In your face
Last Line: Don't you forget : how I went away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT WON'T BE LONG, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe sweet mama : going to do like she say
Last Line: She gets up before day : and she puts that thing on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT WON'T BE LONG NOW, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some day you'll wan't me : and it won't be long
Last Line: Some day you'll want me : and it won't be long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT WON'T BE LONG NOW, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: One of these mornings : mama and it won't be long
Last Line: You get a call before down : wake up and try to do your best
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT WOULDN'T BE SO HARD, by WHISTLIN' ALEX MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I get up early every morning : to toil the whole day through
Last Line: I don't know that she loves me : but still she calls me her southpaw
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S A CRYING PITY, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a crying pity : a lowdown dirty shame
Last Line: Because you going with the man : that lives right in my neighborhood
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S A FIGHT LIKE THAT, by ROBERT COOKSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now right is right : wrong is wrong
Last Line: You see women : give money to men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S A GOOD LITTLE THING, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look a-here mama : just a word or two
Last Line: She gets kissing : like a shaggy dog
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S A GOOD THING, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now when I was young
Last Line: But all the darn women : got more than one
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S A NEW KIND OF DAY, by KALI GROSVENOR    Poem Source                    
Last Line: This love. Lord we love %too much
Subject(s): African Americans


IT'S A PAIN TO ME, by LONNIE CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've had a funny feeling : all day and all night
Last Line: Get well away from home : then it will roll across your mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S ALL OVER NOW, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I had you baby : you wouldn't act right
Last Line: I looked for you baby : you could not be found
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S ALL THE SAME, by THADIOUS M. DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My grandmamma %don't believe they walked in space
Last Line: Tell the gospel truth, rev
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


IT'S COLD IN CHINA BLUES, by UNKNOWN+210    Poem Source                    
First Line: So cold in china : birds can't hardly sing
Last Line: Quit being so reckless : be my baby child
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S HARD TIME, by JOE STONE    Poem Source                    
First Line: And it's hard time here : hard time everywhere
Last Line: She don't call so lonesome : but she calls *my name*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S HARD TO BE MISTREATED, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well it's hard to be mistreated : when you ain't done nothing wrong
Last Line: But every man I love : don't seem like he want to pay me no mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S HARD TO PLEASE MY MAN, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: You keep me thinking : and wondering all the time
Last Line: Soon as I get cold in hand : you be ready to kick me out
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S HEATED, by FRANKIE HALF PINT JAXON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Folks I'm going to tell you : about a brand new song
Last Line: But I can keep your boiler hot : till the superintendent come
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S NATION TIME, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Time to get / together
Last Line: It's nation / time!
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


IT'S NATION TIME, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Time to get %together
Last Line: It's nation %time!
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


IT'S RED HOT, by MADLYN DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you talk about rags : boys but you ought to hear mine
Last Line: Now blow it boys : you know it's just too bad
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S SWEET LIKE SO, by TEDDY BUNN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Three pickaninnies : eating sugar-cane
Last Line: *black hair* : *for my prejudice*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here folks : I'm going to sing a little song
Last Line: We was seeing a film : when they broke it off
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


IT'S TOO SHORT, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm down and out : ain't got no friends around
Last Line: I'm just a little skinny fellow : and a player is strong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


J. C. JOHNSON'S BLUES, by T. C. JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was born in the state : of old arkansas
Last Line: For he's the bootlegging fellow : your *turkey* sure can swing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


J. HARRINGTON, GOOD/MAN, MISSISSIPPI'S SON, by A. WANJIKU REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I think about him
Last Line: All he can ever be %and no more
Subject(s): African Americans


J.C. HOLMES BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen people : if you want to hear
Last Line: I been mistreated : and I don't mind dying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JACK AND DINAH WANT FREEDOM, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole aunt dinah, she's jes lak me
Last Line: De nex' day de hide drap off'n yo' back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


JACK AND DINAH WANT FREEDOM (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole aunt dinah, she's jes lak me
Last Line: De nex' day de hipe drap off'n yo' back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JACK AND JILL BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now the sun going to shine : in my back door some day
Last Line: Now me and my baby : was playing old jack and jill
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JACK O'DIAMONDS BLUES, by SIPPIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jack of diamonds : you appear to be my friend
Last Line: He would play dice and cards : and his game was old cooncan
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JACKSON, PUT THAT KETTLE ON!, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: An' he sho' gits his po'tion: son
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JACKSONVILLE BLUES, by NELLIE FLORENCE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me be your wiggler : until your wobbler come
Last Line: But the man I'm loving : lives down in jacksonville
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JACKSONVILLE--PART 2, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to write you a letter : my wife and I ain't going to do right no more
Last Line: Lord I'm going down the country : let you have mr so-and-so
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAIL BREAK BLUES, by UNKNOWN+217    Poem Source                    
First Line: The rising sun : will never catch me here
Last Line: Get me some cold-hearted man : I'm jailhouse bound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAIL HOUSE BLUES, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was lying in jail : with my back turned to the wall
Last Line: I believe I'll lay down : take morphine and die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAIL HOUSE BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh look like : I can see trouble in the air
Last Line: When I come back here woman : you going to have me some more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAIL-HOUSE BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Thirty days in jail : with my back turned to the wall
Last Line: Say I just come here : to have a few words with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAILHOUSE BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I was sitting in jail : with my eyes all full of tears
Last Line: Now you ought need not feel uneasy : you won't have to take this workhouse advice
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAILHOUSE FIRE BLUES, by WALTER BUDDY BOY HAWKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey mr jailor : don't sleep so sound
Last Line: *and hey* mr jailor : I hope the jailhouse burns down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAIME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He sits on a hill
Last Line: That will never be
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JAKE IS THE BEST DAMN CAP'N IN THE WORLD, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


JAKE LEG BLUES, by WILLIE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I say jake leg jake leg jake leg : tell me what in the world you going to do
Last Line: Because he done drunk so much jake oh lord : till they got the *lemon leg* too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAM SESSION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Letting midnight / out on bail
Last Line: Pop-a-da
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


JAMES ALLEY BLUES, by RICHARD RABBIT BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Times ain't now : nothing like they used to be
Last Line: Then another time I think : you ought to be buried alive
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAMES BALDWIN, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fire in the city and malcolm
Last Line: Out like a harlem full of anger %fire make me a world this time
Subject(s): African Americans; Baldwin, James (1924-1987); Social Protest; Writing And Writers


JANIS, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sand evy'where over
Last Line: She' glad
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


JANITOR (CIRCA 1940), by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Alone in the cellar
Last Line: Rode his dragon across the night
Subject(s): African Americans


JANUARY AFTERNOON, WITH BILLIE HOLIDAY, by LISEL MUELLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her voice shifts as if it were light
Alternate Author Name(s): Muller, Lisel
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Songs


JANUARY AFTERNOON, WITH BILLIE HOLIDAY, by LISEL MUELLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her voice shifts as if it were light
Last Line: Tomorrow is something she remembers
Alternate Author Name(s): Muller, Lisel
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


JASPER'S GAL, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: How he's got a gal : she's shaped like a hog
Last Line: And she thinks soap and water : is a doggone crime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAWBONE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Samson, shout! Samson, moan!
Last Line: Jawbone, kill dat wicked thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JAYBIRD (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De jaybird jump from lim' to lim'
Last Line: Ole friday devil,' fare - you -well
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JAYBIRD DIED WITH THE WHOOPING COUGH (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De jaybird died wid de whoopin' cough
Last Line: Dat fiddle an' bow jes make 'em fly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JAZZ, by SYBIL KEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: From storyville, vaudeville, caberets, and tonks
Last Line: One mo' time!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


JAZZ BAND IN A PARISIAN CABARET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Play that thing
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JAZZ BEGINNINGS, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of jazz
Last Line: I watch the birth of. %jazz
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


JAZZ GIRL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jazz? %remember that song
Last Line: Buy a drink for me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JAZZBO BROWN FROM MEMPHIS TOWN, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't you start no crowing : lay your money down
Last Line: There ain't nothing on that horn : that old jazz can't do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JAZZONIA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, silver tree!
Last Line: Six long-headed jazzers play.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (music); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


JAZZTET MUTED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the negroes of the quarter
Last Line: Help me, yardbird! %help me!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JEALOUS HEARTED BLUES, by CHARLEY LINCOLN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can have my money : all I own
Last Line: If I catch you with a man : going to be too tight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JEALOUS HEARTED BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can have my money : everything I own
Last Line: To keep my man : from making his midnight creep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JEALOUS MAMA BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got the blues : blue as blue can be
Last Line: If you take my man : sure going to wake up dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JEFFERSON COUNTY BLUES, by SAM BUTLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you wants your man : keep him out of birmingham
Last Line: Because I'm going up the country : mama how bad *I feel*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JELLY ROLL MILL, by EITHEL SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I sold some jelly : to a man named will
Last Line: If you have to have jelly : you won't have to steal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JELLY ROLL MORTON, by SYBIL KEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Winin' boy
Last Line: Lord jelly, oh mister jazz king, %you salty dog
Subject(s): African Americans; Morton, Jelly Roll (1885-1941)


JELLYROLL, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to the gypsy : get my fortune told
Last Line: I'm going to the river : I'm going to jump overboard and drown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JENNY'S BALL, by MAMIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's a man in town : who's called the ladies' lover now
Last Line: There'll be no preachers : at miss jenny's ball
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JEREMIAD, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We drink the bitter cup - we do not wail
Last Line: And grow stronger
Subject(s): African Americans


JERSEY BULL BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you got a good bullcow : you ought to keep your bull bull at home
Last Line: I were way upstairs : throwing myself away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JES' TAKE MY ADVICE, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Jes' a little sunshine, jes' a little rain
Last Line: Jes' sech little tings as dat got dis coon in jail.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Black Heritage


JESSE JAMES BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wonder if you going to mistreat me woman : good as I have been to you
Last Line: Because this is jesse james : and you should not tell him a lie
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JESTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In one hand %I hold tragedy
Last Line: Once I was wise. %shall I be wise again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JESUS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Until the crumpts and the christians
Last Line: Toward the mines of sugar cane
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JESUS NEVUH COME IN THE MORNIN', by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED OR: IT MUST BE DEEP (AN EPIC POEM), by CAROLYN M. RODGERS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was sick
Last Line: Catch yuh later on jesus, I mean motha! %it must be %deeeeep
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


JIG HEAD BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I stay drunk so much : I can't tell night from day
Last Line: Because I drink so much : I can't hardly see
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JIM CROW'S LAST STAND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There was an old crow by the name of jim
Last Line: We gonna bury that son-of-a-gun
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JIM JACKSON'S JAMBOREE--PART I, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nobody knows : old memphis like I do
Last Line: Don't bring her to memphis : jim jackson will take them away from you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JIM STRAINER, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh jim strainer told lula : on a friday night
Last Line: Jim strainer killed poor lula : I'm booked out and bound to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JIM TAMPA BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey jim tampa : you treat your women so mean
Last Line: Give a gander the way : jim tampa used to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JITNEY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Corners %of south parkway
Last Line: 31st %hey! %cab!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JIVE ME BLUES, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can jive me baby : but I don't believe a thing you say
Last Line: You can tell by that : I won't be here long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JOE AND MALINDA JANE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole joe jes swore upon 'is life
Last Line: Nex' day she die wid de whoopin' cough
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOE FOWLER BLUES, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lawd, lawd, semms lak I heerd the joe fowler
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOE LOUIS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They worshipped joe
Last Line: But the gossips had no %'the say' %to latch onto %for joe
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Boxing And Boxers; Louis, Joe (1914-1981); Sports


JOE LOUIS, by NUBIA KAI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Golden gloves melt on the hot sands
Last Line: For us he lives in the silent wind catching snakes
Subject(s): African Americans; Boxing And Boxers; Detroit, Michigan; Louis, Joe (1914-1981); Sports


JOE LOUIS (2), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Joe louis is a man
Last Line: Too little' or 'too late.'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JOE LOUIS AND JOHN HENRY, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well well I was sitting in madison square gardens : now to justwatch the big fi
Last Line: Well well and I bet my fifty cents on joe : ooo well in no time I won my fifty cents back again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JOE LOUIS BLUES, by CARL MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen all you prize fighters : who don't want to meet defeat
Last Line: Take a tip from me : stay off joe louis' beat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JOHANNESBURG MINES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the johannesburg mines
Last Line: Working in the %johannesburg mines
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JOHN BROWN; MEMORIAL TO BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've been to palestine
Last Line: Old john brown.
Alternate Author Name(s): Lindsay, Vachel
Subject(s): Abolitionists; African Americans; Brown, John (1800-1859); Consolation; Slavery; Anti-slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


JOHN GILBERT, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: John gilbert is the boat, di de oh, di de oh, john
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOHN HENRY (1), by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: When john henry was a little fellow
Last Line: "that he was an east virginia man, / lord, lord, an east virginia man"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


JOHN HENRY (2), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: When john henry was a baby
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOHN HENRY (4), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: John henry, he wus a steel-drivin' man
Last Line: To de place whar her steel-drivin' man fell dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOHN HENRY (6), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: John henry was a li'l baby, uh-huh
Last Line: Lawd, lawd, dere lays a steel-drivin' man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


JOHN HENRY (7), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: John henry was a little baby
Last Line: An' I don't need no man, %lawd, lawd, an' I don't need no man
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOHNNY BIGFOOT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Run brudder, tell de news
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOHNNY COME DOWN DE HOLLOW, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Boys, good-bye forever! %oh hollow!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOHNNY KEEP PICKIN' ON THE BANJO (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rain forty days and rain forty nights
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JOLIET BOUND, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: How these police coming : with his ball and chain
Last Line: Now I done got on that dock : and I'm joliet bound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Joliet, Illinois; Prisons And Prisoners


JOMO, by J. ANTHONY STOWERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Upon the ghetto face I see
Last Line: They fell by vengeants' hands %and died
Subject(s): African Americans


JONAH'S BAND PARTY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Setch a kickin' up san'! Joanah's ban
Last Line: Dat nigger don't know how to coonjaint
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JONATHAN'S SONG, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am a part of this
Last Line: Take me while you can
Subject(s): African Americans


JOSHING, by ALFRED L. WOODS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When joe louis knocked out schmeling
Last Line: Jackie robinson %can you hit another ball
Subject(s): African Americans; Baseball; Boxing And Boxers; Louis, Joe (1914-1981); Robinson, Jackie (1919-1972); Sports; Stock Exchange


JOURNAL: PART 4. 3-17-70, by GAYL JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: She said the jehovah witness man
Last Line: They're all crooked
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


JOY, by CLARISSA SCOTT DELANY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Joy shakes me like the wind that lifts a sail
Last Line: Bewildered.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


JOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went to look for joy
Last Line: Such company, such company, %as keeps this young nymph, joy!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JUBA, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Juba dis, an' juba dat
Last Line: Juba do dat long dog stratch. Juba! Juba!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JUDGE BUZZARD, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dere sets jedge buzzard on de bench
Last Line: Knock him off wid dat monkey wrench
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JUDGE HARSH BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good morning judge : what may be my fine
Last Line: Lots of people had justice : and been in penitentiary too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JUDGE WILLIAM HASTIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now you take %this bill hastie guy
Last Line: And neither do I
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JUDGMENT DAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They put ma body in the ground
Last Line: In the sweet o' ma lord's sight - clean an' bright, %clean an' bright
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JUICE JOINT: NORTHERN CITY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a gin mill on the avenue
Last Line: Dance in this juice joint %on the city street
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JUICY-FRUIT LOVE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mouth was
Last Line: No hope for me now
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


JUKE BOX LOVE SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I could take the harlem night
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City); Love; Singing & Singers; Negroes; American Blacks; Songs


JUKE BOX LOVE SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I could take the harlem night
Last Line: Dance with you, my sweet brown harlem girl
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City); Love; Singing And Singers


JULIET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wonder %and pain %and terror
Last Line: To montova %is dusty %with the drought
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JUMP JIM CROW, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Git fus upon yo heel
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


JUMP STEADY DADDY, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jump steady daddy : please take your time
Last Line: And the way he jumps steady : it's just too bad
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JUMPIN' AND SHOUTIN' BLUES, by GARFIELD AKERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I know my baby: sure going to jump and shout
Last Line: Says I know it's something: gal it aint no use
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JUMPIN' BLUES, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Squares out there dancing
Last Line: They can rub and twirl
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


JUNE SONG, SELS., by CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How shall we crown her bright young head?
Last Line: Shall ne'er be seen %than our lovely, laughing june
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


JUNGLE MAN BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ain't nothing in the jungle : that's any better than me
Last Line: Because ain't nothing in the jungle : that's any better than me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JUNIOR ADDICT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The little boy %who sticks a needle in his arm
Last Line: Sunrise, please come! %come! Come!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JUST AN ORDINARY GUY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He's just an ordinary guy
Last Line: But you'll never beat us, hitler -- %not us ordinary guys
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


JUST FRIENDS, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Came once, addie told me
Last Line: I was the apple %of their eye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


JUST LOVE, by KAREN HALLIBURTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Love, just love
Last Line: What do you do %love, just love
Subject(s): African Americans


JUST ROCKIN', by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rocking : rocking myself to sleep
Last Line: I'm going to rock right here : until the break of day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JUST THIS DAY, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just this day, white winter
Last Line: The beautiful ones %are still among us
Subject(s): African Americans; Exiles; Freedom; Protest, Social; Writing And Writers


JUST WANT TO TALK AWHILE, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I walked over to the table : and I picked up my telephone
Last Line: Lord I wonder is she listening : and won't even answer me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


JUSTICE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That justice is a blind goddess
Last Line: That once perhaps were eyes
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


K.C. MOAN, by TEWEE BLACKMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I thought I heard that k c : when she blowed
Last Line: Going to love my baby : like I never loved before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


K.C. RAILROAD BLUES, by JIM BAXTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Thought I heard : old k.C. When it blowed
Last Line: I'm going to talk : to that brown of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KA 'BA, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A closed window looks down
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Negroes; American Blacks


KA 'BA, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A closed window looks down
Last Line: Return, destroy, and create. What will be %the sacred words
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations


KAMALI'S ANGEL, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw an angel %in a bubble I blew
Last Line: I would be sad %forever
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


KANSAS CITY BLUES, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boy I got three high yellows : one black and brown
Last Line: Your hair's all wrinkled : that they beating you right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KANSAS CITY MAN BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Soon I will be : kansas city bound
Last Line: It's all on account of : taking one woman's man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KANSAS CITY PAPA, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm going to kansas city : I'm going to lower my line
Last Line: I tell you about the troubles : that your sister had
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KATE ADAMS, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, I thought I heard the kate adams when she blowed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


KATIE AN' THE JIM LEE HAD A LITTLE RACE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


KATIE AN' THE JIM LEE HAD A RACE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


KATUMWBE, by MAKETA GROVES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Maketa, name from my father
Last Line: I have named us, father
Subject(s): African Americans


KATY FLY, by ELIJAH JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was standing at the station : wondering what train boys must I ride
Last Line: Now every time I get to studying about my sweet woman : boys I can hardly keep from crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KATY MAE BLUES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Katy mae's a good-looking woman now : but she stays out all night long
Last Line: Katy mae won't do nothing : oh but walk the road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEEP IT CLEAN, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to the river : couldn't get across
Last Line: See what's the matter : with his yas yas yas
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEEP IT CLEAN--NO. 2, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I runned to the river : runned so fast
Last Line: Every time you see me : you looking for some soap
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF HER, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boy she strictly tailor-made : boy she ain't no hand-me-down
Last Line: Because the day I catch you with her : boy that's the day you're going to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEEP YOUR WINDOWS PINNED, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Keep your back door locked : baby keeps your windows pinned
Last Line: And I think it's time for me : to make my get-away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEF 24, by HENRY DUMAS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lay sixteen bales down in front on the plank
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


KELLY'S 44 BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I say good morning mr pawnshop man : as I walked in his door
Last Line: Before I'll be mistreated : I'm going to shoot my forty-four
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KENTUCKY BLUES, by BIG BOY GEORGE OWENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm worried today : lord and I'm worried in mind
Last Line: I woke up this morning : baby and feeling bad
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEPT BUSY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jes as soon as de sun go down
Last Line: An' my head go 'whirly-gig'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


KEVIN OF THE N. E. CREW, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From the bus I see graffiti
Last Line: Weed fence pole split / kevin
Subject(s): African Americans – Children


KEY TO THE HIGHWAY, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got the key to the highway : billed out and ready to go
Last Line: I'm going to roam this highway : until the day I die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEY TO THE HIGHWAY, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to ask the good lord : what evil have I done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEY TO THE MOUNTAIN BLUES, by MARY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man's in the mountain : and I've got the mountain key
Last Line: Oh my man's in the mountain : and I've got the mountain key
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KEYHOLE BLUES, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I followed my woman : to a place she didn't want me to be
Last Line: And I seen something : that I did not want to see
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KID IN THE PARK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lonely little question mark
Last Line: There %but not really anywere
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


KID MAN BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now my [old] heart is ticking : just like a clock up on the wall
Last Line: When I go away to leave you : I will stop by to see you sometime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KID MAN BLUES, by BERTHA CHIPPIE HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Papa papa : something's going on wrong
Last Line: My kid-man don't want nobody : to talk to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KID MAN BLUES, by ALICE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby when I was all down and out : you just could not be found
Last Line: I am ??? : so don't bring your blues to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KID SLEEPY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen, kid sleepy, %don't you want to run around
Last Line: Kid sleepy, just %stay here? %rather just %stay here
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


KID STUFF, by FRANK HORNE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The wise guys
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas; Negroes; American Blacks; Nativity, The


KID STUFF, by FRANK HORNE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The wise guys
Last Line: In the hope %that we can get back %some of that %kid stuff %born two thousand years ago
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas


KIDS IN SCHOOL WITH ME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I studied my a-b-c's
Last Line: The kids in school with me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


KIDS WHO DIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is for the kids who die
Last Line: Through the kids who die
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


KIN, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors & Ancestry; Negroes; American Blacks; Heritage; Heredity


KIND HEARTED WOMAN BLUES (VERSION 1), by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a kind-hearted woman : do anything in this world for me
Last Line: You have to kill me : just to have it on your mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KIND HEARTED WOMAN BLUES (VERSION 2), by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a kind-hearted woman : do anything in this world for me
Last Line: I can't give any more of my loving : because I just ain't satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KIND MAMA, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: She's a real kind mama : looking for another man
Last Line: Think my baby : trying to eagle rock
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KIND OF MAN HE IS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The look of him
Last Line: Which is %the kind of man he is
Subject(s): African Americans


KING OF SPADES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm the king of spades : and the women takes on over me
Last Line: Then again I will scratch for you little mama : ooo well well like a rooster scratch for a hen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KING SPIDER BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me be your king spider : I want to build my web on your wall
Last Line: And now the way that I feel this morning : ooo well really now I got to ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KING: APRIL 4, 1968, by GERALD WILLIAM BARRAX    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was a child
Last Line: Though my stomach is still in alabama pig %pens
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


KINGFISH BLUES, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: Little minnows in the river : kingfish in the deep blue sea
Last Line: That's why so many women : crying those kingfish blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KISS REQUESTED, by EDA LOU WALTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kiss me good night
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


KISSIE LEE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Toughest gal I ever did see
Last Line: And she died with her boots on switching blades %on talladega mountain in the likker raids
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Revenge


KISSING SONG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: A sleish o' breadan' butter fried
Last Line: Caze I'se gwine away to leave you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


KITCHENETTE BUILDING, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan
Last Line: We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


KITTY WITH A LONELY EYE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: He went down to this cabin do'
Last Line: Johnny make kitty ki o
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


KNEEL ON THIS CARPET, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jes choose yo' eas'; jes choose yo wes'
Last Line: An' den rise up upon yo' feet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


KNOCKIN' MYSELF OUT, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen girls and boys : I've got one stick
Last Line: But it's the only thing : ease my heart about my man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KNOWING, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: We furthest away from our african mother
Last Line: Our differences are our blessings
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Culture Conflict; Ethnic Identity; Women


KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I always like summer / best
Last Line: And sleep
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Americans; Appalachia; Family Life; Knoxville, Tennessee; Summer; United States; Women; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives; America


KO-KO-MO BLUES, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now my first love is in texas : my [next one, second] lives in kokomo
Last Line: And you know : that you have I say done me wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KOKOMO BLUES, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : baby don't you want to go
Last Line: My train is ready : and I'm going to kokomo
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


KU KLUX, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They took me out
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Ku Klux Klan; Negroes; American Blacks


KU KLUX, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They took me out
Last Line: Look me in face %and tell me you believe in %the great white race
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Ku Klux Klan


KYLE'S WORRIED BLUES, by CHARLIE KYLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm worried now : but I won't be worried long
Last Line: I saw two little monkeys : doing the monkey jellyroll
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


L AND N BLUES, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The l and n is a fast train : also that I n c n
Last Line: When she left me good people : she rode that l and n
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LABOR BLUES, by TOM DICKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said good morning captain : said good morning shine
Last Line: For your shoes unfastened : and your skirt don't fit you right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LABOR STORM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now it is time %for the strike-breakers to come out
Last Line: Workers beware! %it's almost %here
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LADDERS, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Filene's department store
Last Line: Monkey? Girl? Answer me
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Department Stores


LADY IN CABARET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She knows %the end of the evening will come
Last Line: Just that much more %a bore
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LADY'S BOOGIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: See that lady / dressed so fine?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


LADY'S BOOGIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: See that lady %dressed so fine?
Last Line: Way up in the treble %the tingle of a tear. %be-bach!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LADY'S DAYS, by LARRY NEAL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: More song. Birds follow the sun
Last Line: Reason for towns, faces, moans ...
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


LADY, LADY, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lady, lady, I saw your face
Last Line: Where the good god sits to spangle through.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LADY, YOUR CLOCK AIN'T RIGHT, by KI KI JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every man that comes to see you : in this neighborhood
Last Line: It used to be on the *centre* : close to your back door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAMENT FOR DARK PEOPLES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was a red man one time
Last Line: Now I herd with the many -- %caged in the circus of civilization
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LAMENT OF A VANQUISHED BEAU, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Willy is a silly boy
Last Line: That I 'most ever had
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LAMENT OVER LOVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I hope my child'll %never love a man
Last Line: Gonna think about my man -- %and let my fool-self fall
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LANE IS THE PRETTY ONE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her veins run mogen david
Last Line: Love %dear sister
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Sisters


LANGSTON HIGH SCHOOL, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear son, %my school was doing well until three weeks ago
Last Line: Hope you will continue to do well. %your father, %frank c. Long
Subject(s): African Americans


LAPLEGGED DRUNK AGAIN, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've been drinking all night long : I've started again today
Last Line: Love will drive you to many places : sometimes where you don't belong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAST AFFAIR: BESSIE'S BLUES SONG, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Disarticulated / arm torn out
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Singing & Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937); Songs


LAST AFFAIR: BESSIE'S BLUES SONG, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Disarticulated %arm torn out
Last Line: I'm not the same as I used to be %this is my last affair
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


LAST CALL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I look out into the yonder
Last Line: Still I call you now. %I'm game
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LAST CHANCE BLUES, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said hey baby : I give you your last chance
Last Line: I done everything baby : can't get along with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAST CHANCE BLUES, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said hey mama : I'll give you your last chance
Last Line: I begun ??? *to worry* : that's just what I should
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAST DIME BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I once have had money : but now I'm down to my last dime
Last Line: Well now don't be no fool : ooo well well and give it to her all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAST FAIR DEAL GONE DOWN, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you cry about a nickel : you die about a dime
Last Line: She wouldn't cry : but the money ain't mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAST GO ROUND, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey listen at me mama : don't be all night
Last Line: And she treats me nice : around her house
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAST MAN LIVING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When the last man living
Last Line: Cause I don't want no jive
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LAST MINUTE BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Minutes seem like hours : hours seem like days
Last Line: Tell them you don't know the writer : but ma rainey put it on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAST NIGHT, by ETHEL M. CAUTION    Poem Source                    
First Line: Last night I danced on the rim of the moon
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


LAST NOTE TO MY GIRLS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My girls / my girls
Last Line: My girls my more than me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Girls


LAST NOTE TO MY GIRLS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My girls %my girls
Last Line: My girls %my more than me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Girls


LAST OF JACK (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a liddle dog, his name wus jack
Last Line: An' dat wus de las' o' poor liddle jack
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LAST PRICE OF THE EAST, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Futile of me to offer you my hand
Last Line: Before you are king %he'll come to town
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LAST QUATRAIN OF THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: After the murder, %after the burial
Last Line: Chaos in windy grays %through a red prairie
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Lynching; Till, Emmett (1941-1955)


LAST TIME BLUES, by CHARLIE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Babe just as sure as a blackbird : flies in the skies above
Last Line: It may be my last time baby : knocking on your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LATE CORNER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The street light %on its lonely arm
Last Line: Oh, lonely light! %oh, lonely cross!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LATE LAST NIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: So I was cryin' %on account of %you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LATE ONE NIGHT I WUZ MAKIN' MY ROUN', OVERTOOK, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LAUGH AND GRIN BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now when you happy mama : everybody smiles with you
Last Line: Says you need not ask for no small favors : just go ahead laugh and grin
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAUGHERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dream-singers, %story-tellers
Last Line: Loud-mouthed laughers in hands of fate
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LAW GONNA STEP ON YOU, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I done told you told you : I told you too
Last Line: You better draw : your business in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAWD, DESE COLORED CHILLUM, by RUBY C. SAUNDERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I get my degree
Last Line: Lawd, dese chillum won't let you be %white for nothing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LAWDY LAWDY WORRIED BLUES, by BLIND DARBY    Poem Source                    
First Line: What's on your worried mind
Last Line: You're the only woman : can give my poor poor heart ease
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAWYER CLARK BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now got offices in town : resident out on *sentry* road
Last Line: He the first man that proved : that water run upstream
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAZY MAN BLUES, by SIPPIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wake up man : see how bright the sun does shine
Last Line: Because you's the laziest man : that I ever had
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LAZY WOMAN'S BLUES, by BLANCHE CALLOWAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: A lot of these women : too lazy to put up with none of good man's dirt
Last Line: But the truth *is* ??? : and I surely have to carry it on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEAD HEARTED BLUES, by BERTHA HENDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby baby : I am so lonesome for you
Last Line: Blues is driving me crazy : must be reaping what I sow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEADBELLY, by SYBIL KEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Was arrested for %hard, hard living
Last Line: Sorry you ever %was born
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song And Music


LEADBELLY GIVES AN AUTOGRAPH, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pat your foot / and turn the corner. Nat turner, dying wood
Last Line: Burned to death / in south carolina
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Ledbetter, Huddie [leadbelly] (1888-1949); Negroes; American Blacks


LEADBELLY GIVES AN AUTOGRAPH, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pat your foot %and turn the corner. Nat turner, dying wood
Last Line: Burned to death %in south carolina
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


LEAGUE OF DEFENSE, by MELBA JOYCE BOYD    Poem Source                    
First Line: When revolutionaries %are sent
Last Line: Before our sentence %is passed
Subject(s): African Americans


LEARN TO COUNT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Naught's a naught
Last Line: You hain't got no money
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


LEARNED NEGRO, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: There was a negro preacher, I have heard
Last Line: Our whole theology will be upsot
Subject(s): African Americans; Clergy


LEARNING TO COUNT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Naught's a naught
Last Line: You hain't got no money
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LEARNING TO READ, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Very soon the yankee teachers / came down and set up school
Last Line: As the queen upon her throne.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Americans; Bible; Schools; Slavery; Southern States; United States; Students; Serfs; South (u.s.); America


LEAVE MY MAN ALONE, by JANE LUCAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Didn't get this man : for nobody else
Last Line: Mama I'm going to : kill you dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEAVENWORTH PRISON BLUES, by BO JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't go no money : nobody will loan me none
Last Line: Says I done killed my rider : and I got them leavenworth blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEAVIN' HOME, by WILLIE REED    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to leave you : leaving some old day
Last Line: Girl that's the very reason : I'm bound to jail today
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEAVIN' TOWN BLUES, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I tell you mama : now I'm sure going to leave this town
Last Line: I can't live over here mama : a long way from my home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEAVING HOME BLUES, by WALTER RHODES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I dreamt a dream : I never dreamt before
Last Line: Well the life you're living : honey'll be the death of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEAVING TOWN BLUES, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm leaving town baby : because you know you treats me wrong
Last Line: And I won't be dead : baby but I ain't coming here no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LECTRIC CHAIR BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walked to the jail with my partner : asked him how come he's here
Last Line: There wasn't no blood left in my heart : and they brought my electrocuted daddy to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEDA 2: A NOTE ON VISITATIONS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes another star chooses
Last Line: Is the only shining thing.
Subject(s): African Americans; Guests; Leda; Mythology - Classical; Negroes; American Blacks; Visiting


LEDA: 1, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is nothing luminous
Last Line: Fucking god fucking me.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Curses; Leda; Mythology - Classical; Black Heritage


LEE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My mother's people
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers; Generals; Lee, Robert Edward (1807-1870); Slavery; Southern States; Virginia (state); Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs; South (u.s.)


LEE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My mother's people
Last Line: Chaining his mother to lee
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers; Generals; Lee, Robert Edward (1807-1870); Slavery; Southern States; Virginia (state)


LEFT ALONE BLUES, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said the woman I'm loving : caught the train and gone
Last Line: Mama sure as I told you : I fall down on my knees
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEGACIES, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her grandmother called her from the playground
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ethnic Groups - United States; Grandparents; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers


LEGACIES, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her grandmother called her from the playground
Last Line: Said what they meant %and I guess nobody ever does
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ethnic Groups - United States; Grandparents; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations


LEGACY: MY SOUTH, by DUDLEY RANDALL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: What desperate nightmare rapts me to this land
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.)


LEGACY: MY SOUTH, by DUDLEY RANDALL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: What desperate nightmare rapts me to this land
Last Line: Famished upon the plow, and overhead %a lean bird circles
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States


LEMON'S WORRIED BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to tell you why : I got lemon's lowdown worried blues
Last Line: His man better watch his footsteps for the hen : now doggone his ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEND ME YOUR LOVE, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now lend me your love : baby please lend me your love
Last Line: But some day I'm going to find another woman : is going to buy your love mortgage out
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LENIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lenin walks around the world
Last Line: There rises a red star
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LENOX AVENUE BAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Weaving %between assorted terrors
Last Line: In this neon place
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LENOX AVENUE: MIDNIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The rhythm of life %is a jazz rhythm
Last Line: Midnight, %and the gods are laughing at us
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LEROY, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I wanted to know my mother when she sat
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


LEROY, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I wanted to know my mother when she sat
Last Line: Useful parts, the sweet meat of my feelings. And leave %the bitter bullshit rotten white parts %alon
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


LESSON, by HUMBERT WOLFE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It was 1963 or 4, summer
Last Line: With him, I kept thinking, fixed against noise %from the dark
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Fathers


LESSONS FROM A MIRROR, by THYLIAS MOSS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Snow white was nude at her wedding, she's so white
Last Line: Know that more than white is missing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LESSONS FROM A MIRROR, by THYLIAS MOSS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Snow white was nude at her wedding, she's so white
Last Line: When you look at me, %know that more than white is missing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: All, all the stretch of these great green states - %and make america again!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Civil Rights Movement; Freedom


LET HER GO, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have never been worried : like I'm worried today
Last Line: I did not think my baby : would go out and stay all night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET ME IN YOUR SADDLE, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You is built for speed : and fast just like twenty grand
Last Line: I'm a good jockey rider : and I don't stay there too long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET ME PLAY YOUR VENDOR, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: First time I heard your music : I was just sixteen
Last Line: I can't play it right now : I'll play it later on tonight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET ME ROLL YOUR LEMON, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here sweet baby : I never have been down
Last Line: I want to roll your lemon baby : just before I go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET ME SQUEEZE YOUR LEMON, by CHARLIE PICKETT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you got fruit on your tree : lemons on your shelf
Last Line: Will you let me tell you baby : what it was all about
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET YOU MONEY TALK, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let your money talk let your money talk : let your money talk let your money ta
Last Line: Don't stand around looking cute : and on a bum
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET YOUR LOVE COME DOWN, by BERTHA HENDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let's get our gauge up papa : let our love come down
Last Line: Can't get my gauge up : and let my love come down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET'S GET DRUNK AGAIN, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I got the whiskey : and you got the gin
Last Line: Since you don't hold back baby : honey in rubbing with me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET'S GO RIDING, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now come on girl : let's go out and have some fun
Last Line: I want you to go out riding with me : and have a good time today
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET'S HAVE A NEW DEAL, by CARL MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now everybody's crying : let's have a new deal
Last Line: I'm sitting right here : waiting on that brand new deal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LET'S MARRY' COURTSHIP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh miss lizie, how I loves you
Last Line: Let's git married if dey say 'not'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LETTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear mama, %time I pay rent and get my food
Last Line: Your son baby %respectably as ever, %joe
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LETTER FROM SPAIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear brother at home: %we captured a wounded moor today
Last Line: And he didn't understand. %salud, %johnny
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)


LETTER TO ANNE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Since I left you, anne
Last Line: Have I seen anything else but you, %anne
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LETTER TO MY SISTER, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It is dangerous for a woman to defy the gods
Last Line: The gods their god-like fun.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


LETTER TO THE ACADEMY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The gentlemen who have got to be classics and are now old
Last Line: We want to know what in the hell you'd say?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Revolutions


LETTERS FROM A NEW ENGLAND NEGRO, by SHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And every memner rejoiced
Last Line: Waiting is upon myself
Subject(s): African Americans


LEVEE BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down in the levee : camp number nine
Last Line: Just to cure to blues : the blues of the leveecamp girl
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEVEE BOUND BLUES, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a brown in my town : sweet as any gal could be
Last Line: I feel like leaving : if it takes me all night long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEVEE CAMP BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I worked in a leveecamp : just about a month ago
Last Line: I'm going to keep on winding : because I'm the best old winder in town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEVEE CAMP MOAN, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am sorry : that I can't take you
Last Line: Going back to the one I love : and acknowledge that I done wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LEVEE CAMP MOAN BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord they accused me of murder: I haven't harmed a man
Last Line: Oh if she don't come on the big boat: she better not land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LIARS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is we who are liars
Last Line: It is we with the civilized souls who are liars
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LIBATIONARY CHANT-PRAYER FOR MALCOLM AND HIS SACRED AUTOBI, by JR. LOUIS C. YOUNG    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ancestor malcolm
Last Line: Please accept this %offering
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


LIBERTY AND PEACE, A POEM, by PHILLIS WHEATLEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lo! Freedom comes. The prescient muse foretold
Last Line: And heavenly freedom spread her golden ray.
Alternate Author Name(s): Peters, Phillis
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Freedom; Love - Loss Of; Mortality; Liberty


LIFE IS FINE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went down to the river
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


LIFE IS FINE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went down to the river
Last Line: I'll be dogged, sweet baby, %if you gonna see me die %life is fine! %fine as wine! %life is fine!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LIFE IS JUST A BOOK, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Life is just a book : every day is a brand new page
Last Line: Standing around : depending on the w p a
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LIFE OF LINCOLN WEST, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ugliest little boy
Last Line: It comforted him
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The trees paint their reflections
Last Line: In a little yellow book
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): Family Life; Mississippi River; African Americans; Relatives


LIFE SAVDR BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's raining and storming on the sea : we're miles and miles from shore
Last Line: We say we live in new york city : red white and blues brought us all the way through
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LIGHT, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Mine already is %an afrikan name
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; U.s. - Race Relations; Virginia (state)


LIKE A PHOENIX, by SIBYL RAE COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You are a %wonder
Last Line: Like a phoenix %you'll rise
Subject(s): African Americans


LIKE DECORATIONS IN A NIGGER CEMETERY, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the far south the sun of autum is passing
Subject(s): African Americans; Cemeteries; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Graveyards; South (u.s.)


LIKE DECORATIONS IN A NIGGER CEMETERY, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the far south the sun of autum is passing
Last Line: One of the leaves that have fallen in autumn? %but the wise man avenges by building his city in snow
Subject(s): African Americans; Cemeteries; Southern States


LIKES AND DISLIKES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I sho' loves miss donie! Oh, yes, I do
Last Line: An' she laks to pout
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs; Likes And Dislikes


LIKEWISE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The jews: %groceries %suits %fruits %watches
Last Line: Sometimes I think %jews must have heard %the music of a %dream deferred
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Jews


LILL' ANGELS, by BEATRICE WITTE RAVENEL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Mammy rocks the baby
Last Line: Se . . . Ebbenty-t'ree. . . .
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


LILY KIMBALL BLUES, by SAM TOWNSEND    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me lilly kimball : what did you do to me
Last Line: Take me back lilly : I'll be a different man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LIMEN, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All day I've listened to the industry
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping; Nature; Trees


LIMEN, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All day I've listened to the industry
Last Line: Tireless, making the green hearts flutter
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping; Nature; Trees


LINCOLN MONUMENT: WASHINGTON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let's go see old abe
Last Line: Of time -- %old abe
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Holidays; Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.c.


LINCOLN THEATRE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The head of lincoln looks down from the wall
Last Line: Press hands together, laughing at her song
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LINCOLN UNIVERSITY: 1954, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is the dream grown young
Last Line: Brightly burning
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LINEAGE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My grandmothers were strong
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Alienation (social Psychology); Alphabet Verse; Ancestors & Ancestry; Women; Estrangement; Outcasts; Heritage; Heredity


LINEAGE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My grandmothers were strong
Last Line: My grandmothers were strong. %why am I not as they?
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Alienation (social Psychology); Alphabet Verse; Ancestors And Ancestry; Women


LINES, by SAMUEL ALFRED BEADLE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How I love my country you have heard
Last Line: And blind to your faults as to mine.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Racism; Spanish-american War (1898); Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


LINES, by SARAH LOUISA FORTEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: From fair jamaica's fertile plains
Last Line: Might lean to earth to hear
Alternate Author Name(s): Ada
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LINES TO A NASTURTIUM (A LOVER MUSES), by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Flame-flower, day-torch, mauna loa
Last Line: Beating, beating.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


LINES TO A SOPHISTICATE, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Never would I seek
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


LINES, SUGGESTED ON READING 'AN APPEAL' BY A.E. GRIMKE, by SARAH LOUISA FORTEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: My spirit leaps in joyousness tow'rd thine
Last Line: Accursed thing, this achan in our camp, %may be removed
Alternate Author Name(s): Ada
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LIQUOR STORE BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if you're ever on *fourth street* : I'll tell you what to do
Last Line: You ask him for a favor : he won't make you ashamed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LISTEN CHILDREN, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: We have always loved each other %children all ways %pass it on
Subject(s): African Americans


LISTEN HERE BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sweet girls, sweet girls
Last Line: Don't you fool wid no men cause %they'll bring you misery
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LISTEN TO MA, by HOCIEL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I grow lonely : day by day
Last Line: You're always welcome : in her home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITANY OF BLACK HISTORY FOR BLACK PEOPLE, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For all our noble heritage
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - History


LITTLE BLACK GIRLS, THE ORIGINAL EVE (SPREADIN' MORE BEAUTIF, by KAREN WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: A %bodacious %black %bad
Last Line: One of the true joys of motherhood
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


LITTLE BLACK POEM 4 LARRY, by LESLIE REESE    Poem Source                    
First Line: A big black man with a big black smile holds
Last Line: Holds my smaller black hand and %protects me
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


LITTLE BOY BLUE, by ROBERT LOCKWOOD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Little boy blues : please come blow your horn
Last Line: I believe to my soul : that the little girl is out of town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE BOY WHO COULDN'T COUNT SEVEN (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count one
Last Line: Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought he's gwine to heaben
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE BROWN BABY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes
Last Line: Little brown baby wif spa'klin eyes!
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Children; Babies; Negroes; American Blacks; Infants


LITTLE CATS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What happens to little cats
Last Line: As mean as they are strong
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE COW AND CALF IS GONNA DIE BLUES, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey hey hey : hey hey hey hey hey
Last Line: Hey pretty mama : please don't tell on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE DOGS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a liddle dog; his name wus ball'
Last Line: An' w'en he died, I buried 'im in de san'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE GIRL BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Little girl little girl : I got something I want to say to you
Last Line: Well I said that I always love you : and sonny boy don't care where you go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE GIRL IN ROME, by OTTO VIRGIAL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a letter this morning : from that girl in rome
Last Line: He said baby can't quit me : ain't no need of you trying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE GIRL'S DREAM WORLD, by DELLA BURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I remember the time
Last Line: Could it be that %it never %was?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LITTLE GREEN TREE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It looks like to me
Last Line: Them cool green leaves %is waitin' to shelter me %o, little tree!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE GREY DREAMS, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


LITTLE HAT BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh the train pass by : oh with my sweet baby inside
Last Line: Another year you hear me moaning : lord let thy will be done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE LAURA BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Little laura was a gal : she was sixteen
Last Line: She had dream all about loving : and she know just what to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE LEG WOMAN, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well look here mama : let your daddy see
Last Line: Sweetest honey : now come from no bee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE LYRIC (OF GREAT IMPORTANCE), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I wish the rent
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


LITTLE LYRIC (OF GREAT IMPORTANCE), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I wish the rent
Last Line: Was heaven sent
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE MECCA, by BETH BROWN PRESTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sweet honey, shut dat door'
Last Line: Down to the corner
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


LITTLE MORE WATER (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fetch a liddle mo' water, buddie
Last Line: Way down in de old wheat field
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE NEGRO FLY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dere's a liddle nigger fly
Last Line: But he don't know 'is a, b, c's
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE OLD BLACK HISTORIAN (FOR JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN), by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
Last Line: Can't even say 'good morning' %without tears in his eyes
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE OLD LETTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It was yesterday morning
Last Line: Can take a person's life
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE PICKANINNY (NURSERY RHYME) (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Me an' its mammy is both gwine to town
Last Line: Mammy! How de baby grow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE QUEEN OF SPADES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm she is a little queen of spades : and the men will not let her be
Last Line: Let's we put our heads together : ooo fair brown then we can make our money green
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE RED HEN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My liddle red hen, wid a liddle white foot
Last Line: Come, bring it on, honey, an' let's git through
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE ROCK BLUES, by PEARL DICKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I started to heaven : but I changed my mind
Last Line: And if you don't want me baby : you don't have to use me as no fool
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE ROOSTER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: U had a liddle rooster
Last Line: Wants dat rooster fer deir beau
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE SAM, by JOHN TROTWOOD MOORE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lo, de cabin's empty
Last Line: Will take dis po' ole nigger home, to be wid little sam.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Slavery; Serfs


LITTLE SARAH, by JAMES YANK RACHEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I got up this morning : a light all in my room
Last Line: And I'm going to slip right back home : to my same old used-to-be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LITTLE SISTER, WON'T YOU MARRY ME?, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Liddle sistah in de barn, jine de weddin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE SLEEPING NEGROES (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One liddle nigger a-lyin' in de bed
Last Line: Dey'd better hop out, if dey wants to git fed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE SON, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The very acme of my woe
Last Line: In turmoil and delight.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Mothers


LITTLE SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Carmencita loves patrick
Last Line: Weaving our bright ribbons %into a rainbow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lonely people %in the lonely night
Last Line: Work to salt %their dream away
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE SONG ON HOUSING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here I come!
Last Line: White folks, fly! %here am I!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LITTLE SWEETHEART DOWNTOWN (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a little sweetheart, she lived downtown
Last Line: I hope she never seed dat morning gown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LITTLE UNDERSTANDING, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: And god bless aunt edna
Last Line: Daddy love her
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Mothers


LIVE AND LET LIVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Maybe it ain't right %but the people of the night
Last Line: Will give even %a snake %a break
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LIZA JANE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Whooper liza a pretty liddle gal
Last Line: But I'se comin' back 'gain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LIZA MAY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Little brown face full of smiles
Last Line: Liza may.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Mothers


LOCK AND KEY BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Springtime coming : and the grass all growing green
Last Line: I ain't going to tell the northern women : what the southern women can do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOCK STEP BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I used to take my feet : in a midnight tramp
Last Line: I'm screaming for my mama : can't make no time at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOCUST TREES, by MARGARET L. THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: No locust grows alone
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


LONE WOLF BLUES, by OSCAR WOODS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord my mother told me : when I was quite a child
Last Line: If that don't bring her : I know my shotgun will
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONELY BOY BLUES, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Charles, solitary sentry
Last Line: After he had to stay here %all by himself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


LONELY EAGLES, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Being black in america
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Aviation & Aviators; Air Warfare; World War Ii; African Americans - Military; Family Life; James, General Daniel 'chappie' (1920-78); Airplanes; Air Pilots; Second World War; Relatives


LONELY EAGLES, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Being black in america
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life; James, General Daniel 'chappie' (1920-78; Relatives


LONELY EAGLES, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Being black in america
Last Line: I used his mattress %for the rest of the tour. %it still bothers me, sometimes: %I was sleeping %on
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life; James, General Daniel "chappie" (1920-78


LONELY NOCTURNE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When dawn lights the sky
Last Line: But me -- %when dawn lights the sky
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LONELY ONE IN THIS TOWN, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because I'm a stranger here : everybody turned their back on me
Last Line: I believe I'll go right back : to grand old tennessee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME ATLANTA BLUES, by BOBBY GRANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm so lonesome : I'm so lonesome and I'm so blue
Last Line: If I can't find my baby : I'll be so kind to meet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: The blues came down my alley : and stopped right at my door
Last Line: It takes all twenty-two : to run my good man down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME BLUES, by HENRY WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you ever wake up lonesome : all by yourself
Last Line: I ain't had no righteous woman : since my baby blowed this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME CORNER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went down to the corner
Last Line: Is who I want to see
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LONESOME DAY BLUES, by RUBY GLAZE    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can go : you can stay
Last Line: You was standing in your back door : with a hung down head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME DAY BLUES, by JESSE JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord today has been : a long lonesome day
Last Line: But I believe my partner : lord got a lifetime here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME DREAM BLUES, by ALICE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a dream last night : babe I can't understand
Last Line: But when you think of your loving : I know that you cannot behave
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME HOME BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lonesome place : don't seem like it's home to me
Last Line: Says I'll acknowledge now pretty baby : that I treated you mean
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME HOME BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Won't you wash my jumper : starch my overalls
Last Line: I ain't got no woman : speak in my behalf
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME HOUSE BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a dream last night : all about my gal
Last Line: It has settled on my brain : and it hurts my tongue to talk
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME LOVESICK, by BLANCHE CALLOWAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lonesome lovesick blues will make you feel so lonely : when you're left all alo
Last Line: My heart is aching : gee I'm all confused
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME MAN BLUES, by GEORGE TOREY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby how long baby how long : *long* before you bring your *load* back home
Last Line: Some man had my woman : and the worried blues had me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME MIDNIGHT BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm lonesome I'm lonesome : and I got them lonesome midnight blues
Last Line: My daddy was leaving : and the blues had me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME MIDNIGHT DREAM, by WILLIE HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you just listen closely : tell you just what I mean
Last Line: Why when I came to find out : that it was just a lonesome midnight dream
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME PLACE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I got to leave this town
Last Line: This life's so weary, %'s 'bout to overcome me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LONESOME ROAD BLUES, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You did cause me to weep : you did cause me to moan
Last Line: These blues : going to let me rest
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME SHARK BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Out across the hill : I built a lonesome shack
Last Line: So when we part : be hard to find a ??? *beans*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME SWAMP RATTLESNAKE, by JAYDEE SHORT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way lonesome : out in some swamp I know
Last Line: When the rattlesnake crawl : there ain't nobody can tell you what to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONESOME WEARY BLUES, by BERTHA CHIPPIE HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I'm alone : I long to see my used-to-be
Last Line: If I ever lose these blues : never be worried again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG AGO BLUES, by HENRY TOWNSEND    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm can't you remember baby ; long long time ago
Last Line: I'm going to stay down on the levee : babe until you change your ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG AND TALL, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I love you mama : but you don't even care for me
Last Line: Now if you mess with me mama : I'm sure going to turn your damper down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG DISTANCE BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hello central : give me long-distance please
Last Line: Because I'm tired : of making all these nights alone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG DISTANCE MOAN, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm flying to south carolina %I gotta go there this time
Last Line: This long distance moan %about to worry me to death this time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG LASTIN' LOVIN', by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wonder why : my partner sitting around looking sad
Last Line: Lord when she starts to loving : man it ain't in the book
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG LONESOME BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well the blues come to texas : loping like a mule
Last Line: Can't go look down the street : but she's always raising sand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG LONESOME DAY BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes today has been: a long old lonesome day
Last Line: Woman *use the jelly*: I like those old-time ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG OLD ROAD, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a long old road : but I'm going to find the end
Last Line: Found my long lost friend : and I might as well stayed at home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG TALL MAMA, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got a long tall mama : she stands about seven feet nine
Last Line: To satisfy that woman : takes more than a bumblebee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG TRAIN BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: She walked down in the yard : caught the longest train she seen
Last Line: Take it down ??? : I'm getting sick and about to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONG TRIP, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sea is a wilderness of waves
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Sea; Negroes; American Blacks; Ocean


LONG TRIP, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sea is a wilderness of waves
Last Line: The sea is a desert of waves, %a wilderness of water
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Sea


LONG VIEW: NEGRO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Emancipation: 1865
Last Line: Becomes so small %again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LONG WAY FROM HOME, by LOUISE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I woke up this morning : blues all around my bed
Last Line: Well I done cried I cried : lord have mercy on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONGING FOR MY SUGAR, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm longing for my sugar : and I don't want no one else
Last Line: Thinking the woman that I love : ain't been treated right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LONGINGS, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: To dance -
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Longing


LOOK FOR YOU YESTERDAY, HERE YOU COME TODAY, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Part of my charm
Last Line: & tonto way off in the hills %moaning like bessie smith
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


LOOK HERE MAMA BLUES, by UNCLE BUD WALKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I I want to tell you : what I know about you
Last Line: Oh let me tell you : what my used-to-be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOOKING, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You have no word for soldiers to enjoy
Last Line: Nor the heaviest haul your little boy from harm
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


LOOKING FOR A COUNTRY UNDER ITS ORIGINAL NAME, by COLLEEN JOHNSON MCELROY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Gold will not buy this voyage
Last Line: Their mysteries so perfect even their undoings %seem as planned as way signs on a map
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LOOKING FOR A FIGHT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down town de yudder night
Last Line: Fer to shoot dem niggers down one by one
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LOOKS, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I stood on the curve in the road by my grandmama's
Last Line: If nothing else of this town %existed
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


LORD'S PRAYER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Our father which art in heaven
Last Line: Amen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


LORD, OH LORD BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm going away baby : just to wear you off my mind
Last Line: Now and you don't treat me : nothing baby like you used to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOST ALL I HAD BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : a thousand things on my mind
Last Line: If I don't go crazy : then I will lose my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOST BABY POEM, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The time I dropped your almost body down
Last Line: My life will keep silent %listening to %my body breaking
Subject(s): Abortion; African Americans - Women; Death - Children


LOST WANDERING BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm leaving this morning : with my clothes in my hand
Last Line: That's the reason why : mama's got the lost wandering blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOST YOUR HEAD BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was with you baby : when you didn't have a dime
Last Line: I'm a good gal : but I've just been treated wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOUIE, by SYBIL KEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Can send you
Last Line: Jass, jass, jass! %(oh yeah)
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Music And Musicians


LOUIS ARMSTRONG, by LAWSON FUSAO INADA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pops' place is one great kitchen
Last Line: For you to follow on home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Music And Musicians


LOUIS ARMSTRONG, by ERNST MOERMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Suddenly in the midst of a game of lotto with his sisters
Last Line: They suck me out of the world
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Jazz; Music And Musicians


LOUISE, by BIG BOY TEDDY EDWARDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Standing on the corner
Last Line: Was louise coming : coming to get her man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOUISE LOUISE BLUES, by JOHNNIE TEMPLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Louise : is the sweetest gal I know
Last Line: If she don't strike deep water : I swear she'll never land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOUISIANA BOUND, by CHARLEY TAYLOR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh baby you now that I love you : that is the reason you treat me so unkind
Last Line: And when I come back baby : I don't want you to call my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Love is a wild wonder
Last Line: That little spark is love %dying in the dark
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LOVE AGAIN BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My life ain't nothin'
Last Line: But you got to love again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LOVE DREADLOCKED, by ANEB KGOSITSILE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because you are truly 'monumental'
Last Line: Yes, you know %certainly
Subject(s): African Americans


LOVE IN VAIN, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I followed her to the station : with a suitcase in my hand
Last Line: Well the blue light was my blues : and the red light was my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVE IS JUST A THING OF FANCY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: But ugly'll hol' 'er own
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LOVE LETTER, by CAROLE CLEMMONS GREGORY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dear samson %I put your hair
Last Line: Love - delilah
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Delilah (bible); Samson; Women; Women In The Bible


LOVE ME, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I tried hard : a long time
Last Line: We should love some : every night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVE ME LIKE YOU USED TO, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Please come back and love me like you used to : I think about you every day
Last Line: I wish I had you here : to hold my aching head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVE MY STUFF, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love my stuff babe : I want to give it *a hop*
Last Line: I'm going to go to the river : and stop at dago hill
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVE NOTE: 1. SURELY, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Surely you stay my certain own, you say
Last Line: And I doubt all. You. Or a violet
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


LOVE NOTE: 2. FLAGS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Still, it is dear defiance now to carry
Last Line: Or like the tender struggle of a fan
Subject(s): African Americans – Military; Forgiveness


LOVE PICTURES YOU AS BLACK AND LONG-FACED, by LANCE JEFFERS    Poem Source                    
Last Line: In your wheat-strewn bed's the planetary gust %of your people's victory
Subject(s): African Americans


LOVE SONG FOR ANTONIA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I should sing %all of my songs for you
Last Line: I would still give you my love %though you never looked at me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LOVE SONG FOR LUCINDA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Love, %is a ripe plum
Last Line: Would never lose your breath. %do not climb too high
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LOVE WITH A FEELING, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you're going to have a woman : love here with a thrill
Last Line: The way you got doing babe : won't take your life
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVE-CHANGING BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: My love don't change : there's going to be some stealing done
Last Line: My woman done left me : I got these love-changing blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVER'S LANE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: My name is washboard sam : but many call me loving joe
Last Line: And they will all tell you : that loving sam is the man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVER'S RETURN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My old time daddy
Last Line: But the devil told me: %damn a lover %come home to die!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LOVERS' GOODNIGHT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Cotton fields white in de bright moonlight
Last Line: Hain't no need a-stayin' ontel nex' day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


LOVESICK BLUES, by BERTHA CHIPPIE HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lonesome lovesick blues will make you feel so lonely : when you're left all alo
Last Line: My heart is aching : gee I'm all confused
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOVING LADY BLUES, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I never felt so worried : till I found the loving lady blues
Last Line: For I done got worried : with that gal of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN DESPONDENT BLUES, by LENA HENRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel worried : I feel sad
Last Line: When I think of how he left me : I can't help but cry
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN DOG BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to be : your lowdown dog no more
Last Line: The train is at the station : my mind's made up to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN HOUND BLUES, by HOUND HEAD HENRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now run here pretty mama : tell papa where you been so long
Last Line: I looked over in the corner : my poor grandma *what* had them too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN LOVING GAL, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen folks : to my moan
Last Line: But that gal : was the cause of it all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN MOJO BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love my baby : better than a farmer likes his jersey cow
Last Line: The way she bumps over the hill : it would make a panther squall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN RASCAL, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: You's a lowdown rascal : just as mean as you can be
Last Line: But now when you get broke and hungry : ooo well well please now don't you worry me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN ROUNDER BLUES, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just a worried old rounder : with a troublesome mind
Last Line: I feel so disgusted : I've got them lowdown rounder blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN WAYS, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen little baby : do you think I'm going to be your fool
Last Line: Now when I leave her this time : I swear I'm going away to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW DOWN WOMAN, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey baby ; why you acting so lowdown
Last Line: I'm going to stop these lowdown women : because I'm going to start raising hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW LAND BLUES, by BERTHA CHIPPIE HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to marry : ain't going to settle down
Last Line: Don't believe I'm a donkey : put me in a stall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW LAND MOAN, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down to the levee : and [over, out] to the freight house yard
Last Line: I tried to love you so hard : but I found out there's no use
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOW TO HIGH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How can you forget me?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


LOW TO HIGH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How can you forget me?
Last Line: Ignore me though I pay your fees. %how can you forget me? %but you do
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


LOW-DOWN MISSISSIPPI BOTTOM MAN, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the lowlands of mississippi : that's where I was born
Last Line: I'm just a lowdown man : always feeling lowdown and blue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LOWLAND BLUES, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wonder why : that southbound train don't run
Last Line: I'm just like a big mule baby : I ain't got no stall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LUCK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes a crumb falls
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Luck; Negroes; American Blacks


LUCK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes a crumb falls
Last Line: Love is given, %to others %only in heaven
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Luck


LUCKY ROCK BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going to new orleans : to find that lucky rock
Last Line: Just to ease my mind : of all this trouble I've got
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


LUCY AND HER GIRLS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lucy is the ocean
Last Line: Lucy / was going
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Girls


LUCY AND HER GIRLS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lucy is the ocean
Last Line: Lucy %was going
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Girls


LUCY ONE-EYE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: And her wrinkled ways, %the darling girl
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


LULLABY, by GLADYS MAY CASELY HAYFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Close your sleepy eyes, or the pale moonlight will steal you
Last Line: In place of mammy's bibini, asleep on his wee bed
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


LULLABY: FOR A BLACK MOTHER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My little dark baby
Last Line: For your sleep-song lullaby
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Lullaby (for A Black Mother
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


LUMUMBA'S GRAVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lumumba was black
Last Line: Tomorrow will mark %it everywhere
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Lumumba, Patrice (1925-1961)


LUNCH IN A JIM CROW CAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Get out the lunch-box of your dreams
Last Line: And, like an atom bomb, bursts apart
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Jim Crow Ca
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Railroads


LUTHER, by WILLIAM STANLEY MERWIN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That old slider, the prince of falsehood
Last Line: Is black. He is black. I have made him so
Alternate Author Name(s): Merwin, W. S.
Subject(s): African Americans; Luther, Martin (1483-1546); Preaching And Preachers


LYNCHED NEGRO, by MAXWELL BODENHEIM    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your downcast, harlequin, defenceless face
Last Line: Corrects the tongues of bungling, churlish men.
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


LYNCHING, by DOROTHEA MATHEWS    Poem Source                    
First Line: He saw the rope, the moving mob
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


M AND O BLUES, by WILLIE BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now when I leave here : I'm going to catch that m and o
Last Line: But she never showed up : at the shack last night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


M. AND O. BLUES, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby's gone : and she won't come back no more
Last Line: She didn't know how much I loved her : or else she wouldn't have left at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


M. AND O. BLUES NO. 3, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a railroad man : and I love that m and o
Last Line: I'm going to leave here people : going to catch that m and o
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MA LORD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ma lord ain't no stuck-up man
Last Line: An' be ma friend through eternity.'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MA RAINEY, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When ma rainey comes to town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Rainey, Ma (1886-1939); Singing & Singers; Women; Songs


MA RAINEY, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When ma rainey comes to town
Last Line: She jes' gits hold of us dataway
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Rainey, Ma (1886-1939); Singing And Singers; Women


MACOMBREY QUEEN, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hear the boat a-whistlin', comin' roun' the bend
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MACON GEORGIA CUT-OUT, by BOBBY LEECAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if you want to learn this dance : don't do it in a *pout*
Last Line: If you want to do this dance : macon cutout
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAD DOG BLUES, by ROSIE MAE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Read my search warrant lady : I'm just looking for my man
Last Line: I'd rather we both to be dead : than to see him with someone else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MADAM AND HER MADAM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I worked for a woman
Last Line: I said, madam, %that may be true %but I'll be dogged %if I love you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND HER MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had two husbands
Last Line: He said, in me %you've got no trust %I said, I don't want %my heart to bust
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE ARMY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They put my boy-friend
Last Line: A powerful man!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE CENSUS MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The census man
Last Line: Furthermore, rub out %that mrs., too %I'll have you know %I'm a madam to you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE CHARITY CHILD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once I adopted %a little girl child
Last Line: Last time I told her, %report, my eye! %things is bad %you figure out why!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE CRIME WAVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I said, I believe %this world's gone made
Last Line: (course you always got %that other thing)
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE FORTUNE TELLER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Fortune teller looked in my hand
Last Line: For one more doller and a half, %I'll read your other palm
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE INSURANCE MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Insurance man %I heard his knock
Last Line: Who would bury you %I said why?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE MINISTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Reverend butler came by
Last Line: After rev. Butler %went away %so I ain't in no mood %for sin today
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE MOVIEW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I go to the moview
Last Line: And there ain't no %romance any more
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE NEWSBOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Newsboy knocks %I buy the defender
Last Line: In the papers, too %wouldn't you?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE NUMBER WRITER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Number runner %come to my door
Last Line: The runner said, madam, %that's all very well %but suppose %you go to hell?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE PHONE BILL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You say I o.K.Ed / long distance?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MADAM AND THE PHONE BILL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You say I o.K.Ed %long distance?
Last Line: You say I gave my o.K. %well, that o.K. You may keep %but I sure ain't gonna pay!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM AND THE RENT MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The rent man knocked
Last Line: I ain't pleased! %I said, neither am I %so we agrees!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Landlords And Tenants


MADAM AND THE WRONG VISITOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A man knocked three times
Last Line: And buy her some chicken %I said better buy two %cause I'm still kickin'!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM'S CALLING CARDS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had some cards printed
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MADAM'S CALLING CARDS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had some cards printed
Last Line: To my pedigree %alberta k. Johnson %american that's me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM'S CHRISTMAS (OR MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I forgot %to send a card to jennie
Last Line: Cards or no cards %here's howdy
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MADAM'S PAST HISTORY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My name is johnson
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; United States; Negroes; American Blacks; America


MADAM'S PAST HISTORY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My name is johnson
Last Line: I do cooking, %day's work, too ! %alberta k. Johnson %madam to you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; United States


MAGALU, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Summer comes / the ziczac hovers
Last Line: For a creed that will not let you dance?
Variant Title(s): Magula
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Missionaries & Missions


MAGGIE CAMPBELL BLUES, by TOMMY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm who's that yonder : coming down the road
Last Line: And if I meet my good gal : well I won't be back at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAGIC, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Practice makes perfect, the old folks said
Last Line: She would make it to paris one day
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MAGIC, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Practice makes perfect, the old folks said
Last Line: She would make it to paris one day
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MAGNOLIA FLOWERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The quiet fading out of life
Last Line: I didn't mean to stump ma toe on you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MAILMAN BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mailman : please stop by my box today
Last Line: You know I'm looking for a letter from my babe : some of my people might be dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAKE/N MY MUSIC, by ANGELA JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My colored childhood was mostly music
Last Line: I found billie %holiday - an learned %how %to cry
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; African Americans - Women; Jazz; Music And Musicians


MALCOLM, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nobody mentioned war
Last Line: Screaming through the streets
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


MALCOLM, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nobody mentioned war
Last Line: And from their holes black eagles flew %screaming through the streets
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM, by NUBIA KAI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good men don't die
Last Line: I will tell my children %these things %and they will listen %malcolm...Malcolm
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Do not speak to me of martyrdom
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


MALCOLM, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Do not speak to me of martyrdom
Last Line: But what could have been %floods the womb until I drown
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM, by WELTON SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I cannot move %from your voice
Last Line: You must try it, if not now %very soon
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Those who say they knew you
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


MALCOLM, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Those who say they knew you
Last Line: And enjoyed a joke %and loved to laugh
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM REMEMBERED (FEB. '77), by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Malcolm / callin you back thru years
Last Line: Until our victory, comrade malcolm, until our victory!
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


MALCOLM REMEMBERED (FEB. '77), by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Malcolm %callin you back thru years
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM SPOKE/WHO LISTENED?, by HAKI R. MADHUBUTI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He didn't say
Last Line: If we don't listen
Alternate Author Name(s): Lee, Don L.
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM X, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Original / ragged-round
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


MALCOLM X, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Original %ragged-round
Last Line: Who was a man
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM X, by VERNON E. HITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: One a valley among the peaks of humanity
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALCOLM X, by ROXANNE WHITAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Against the bloody blue
Last Line: Man %to the last
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MALTED MILK, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I keep drinking malted milk : trying to drink my blues away
Last Line: I have a warm old feeling : and the hair rising on my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MALTESE CAT BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rats is mean in my kitchen : and I lost my maltese cat
Last Line: And a good strong brownskin : man it's tight like that
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA AND DAUGHTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mama, please brush off my coat
Last Line: So I can brush your back, I say
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Daughters


MAMA DON'T ALLOW NO. 1, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: No we don't care : what the mama don't allow
Last Line: We going to play washboards : anyhow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA DON'T ALLOW NO. 2, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says we don't care : what mama don't allow
Last Line: We going to easy-woodle : anyhow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA YOU DON'T KNOW HOW, by PAPA HARVEY HULL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ooh : I ain't got no mama now
Last Line: Because the landlady's liquor : lord its coming too slow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA YOU DON'T MEAN ME NO GOOD, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love you mama : but you don't mean me no good
Last Line: What it takes to please : I'm going to carry that around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA'S ADVICE, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well well I loved my little girl : and I loved her for myself
Last Line: Well well well if she do : well well she sure don't feel my care
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA'S GONE GOODBYE, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: For years you dog me around : but now is the time
Last Line: All I need is some good daddy : turn my damper down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA'S QUITTIN' AND LEAVIN'--PART 1, by MAGNOLIA HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel bluer this morning : than I ever felt before
Last Line: But it's going to hurt you to your heart : when I leave for a while
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA'S QUITTIN' AND LEAVIN'--PART 1, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Talking about changing men : mama you been saying that stuff all over town
Last Line: And rather than see someone else mistreat you : I'd rather keep you and mistreat you myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA'S QUITTIN' AND LEAVIN'--PART 2, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you drinking you talk too much mama : forgive me if you please
Last Line: And you can do just as you please : and I'll act just like some mother's child
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA'S QUITTIN' AND LEAVIN'--PART2, by MAGNOLIA HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm tired of being scolded : when I know I'm doing to best I can
Last Line: I'll give you one more chance ; to make a man out of yourself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA, 'TAIN'T LONG FO' DAY, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wake up mama : don't you sleep so hard
Last Line: Maybe : the sunshine'll drive these blues away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA, DON'T RUSH ME BLUES, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Paid my room rent last night : half past ten
Last Line: You better stop your sister : from doing her *gait*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMA, DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW?, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got a knock-kneed mama : down in tennessee
Last Line: You can't switch your tail : like I switch mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMLISH BLUES, by ED BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Used to be my sugar : you ain't sweet no more
Last Line: And the blind man looked at you : sure look good to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMMA, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't know what to do with myself : at night
Last Line: The sort that will thrill me : from my head to my feet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAMMA'S DARLING (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wid flowers on my shoulders
Last Line: I'se so tired stayin' to myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MAMMY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm waiting for ma mammy, -- %she is death
Last Line: I'm waiting for ma mammy, -- %death
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MAMMY SUE, by MARY C. HERGET    Poem Text                    
First Line: In the dim days of the long ago
Last Line: "hummin', hummin', hummin'."
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Household Employees; Singing & Singers; Sleep; Servants; Domestics; Maids; Songs


MAMMY, IS MASSA GWINE TO SEE ME TOMORROW? (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Oh, water and pray
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was a boy then.
Last Line: When he's %a man
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MAN GROUBLE BLUES, by JAYBIRD COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Trouble worried trouble : I been having all my days
Last Line: Now my baby has a-quit me : talked all out of my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAN I LOVE IS OH SO GOOD, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: The man I love : is oh so good to me
Last Line: Meals with him : all taste like wedding cake
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAN INTO MEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A nigger comes home from work
Last Line: To the man %who becomes %men
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MAN KILLING BROAD, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You've got a hatchet under your pillow baby : you got ice pick in your hand
Last Line: Trying to steal my life : to have your old used-to-be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAN O' WORDS AN' NOT O' DEEDS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Is lak a gyarden full o' weeds
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MAN OF MY OWN, by RUTH MARY WILLIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I went down on eighteenth street : didn't have no hat
Last Line: So why fetch me : no train I'm on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAN STEALER BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to bed last night : and the blues wouldn't let me rest
Last Line: Said he ain't had no woman to love him : lord like I done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAN TROUBLE BLUES, by JAYBIRD COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man gets in trouble : every woman throws him down
Last Line: When I'm in my good whiskey : this is the way I sing my blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAN YOU WON'T GIVE ME NO MONEY, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Man you won't give me no money : you won't buy me no clothes to wear
Last Line: Don't forget these last words : you sure got to come under my rule
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MANY DIE HERE, by GAYL JONES    Poem Source                    
Last Line: You, who have let my people die without a name
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MANY THOUSAND GONE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: No more auction block for me
Last Line: No more mistress' call for me, %many thousand gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs; Freedom; Slavery


MARCH MOON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The moon is naked
Last Line: Don't you know %it isn't nice to be naked?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MARCUS GARVEY, by JR. DOUGHTRY LONG    Poem Source                    
First Line: When garvey, round and full like the buddha shook
Last Line: Garvey, garvey %you must have known %that sleep is the brother of death
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Garvey, Marcus (1887-1940)


MARCUS TOUSSAINT, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Marcus is very conspicuous
Last Line: To help protect my hide
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


MARIA DE LAS ROSAS, by BECKY BIRTHA    Poem Source                    
First Line: I go to visit where she stays
Last Line: Put the rose ub my hair %it smells like her
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


MARKET, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ragged boys %lift sweets, haggle
Last Line: Looks down with eyes %of sunstruck glass
Subject(s): African Americans


MARKET STREET, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dusky harlem %here in the middle west
Last Line: And I have not escaped it yet
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City); Market Street, St. Louis


MARRIED MAN BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you lose your money : please don't lose your mind
Last Line: Man's a fool : if he thinks he's got a whole woman by himself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MARRIED WOMAN BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now don't ever take : a married woman to be your friend
Last Line: I ain't crazy faro : woman that I ever seen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MARRIED WOMAN BLUES, by GEORGE TOREY    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you ever been mistreated : then you know how mistreated feels
Last Line: And my heart struck sorrow : and the tears come easing down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MARTIN, by ROXANNE WHITAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: His voice was
Last Line: Can save %us all
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


MARTIN LUTHER KING, by NAOMI FLOWE FAUST    Poem Source                    
First Line: Martin luther king, jr
Last Line: For the gifts to freedom he bore. %they shall call him the b-l-e-s-s-e-d martyred king
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


MARTIN LUTHER KING, by IME IKIDDEH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Marcus %malcoln %martin %you grandchildren of uncle tom
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Garvey, Marcus (1887-1940); King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968); Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


MARTIN LUTHER KING, by AMIN KASSAM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Under abraham's vacant eyes
Last Line: With the voice of man %buried in his neck
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


MARTIN LUTHER KING, by AGNES ROBERTSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a dream
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


MARY ANNA CUT OFF, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going mary anna : I'm riding that old engineer
Last Line: I'm going to see that black gal : boys so help me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MARY COME ON HOME, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stopped little mary : across the creek
Last Line: Ask anybody : little mary in town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MARY JOHNSON BLUES, by MARY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I once was a married woman : sorry the day I ever was
Last Line: I once was a married woman : sorry the day I ever was
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MASK, by IRMA MCCLAURIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hanging on the wall, an iron face watches me
Last Line: The mask contains a deeper blues than those I know %carving out my heart with yesterday's pain
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


MASON-DIXON BLUES, by MATTIE HITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down : below the mason-dixon line
Last Line: But it will never cure : the mason-dixon line
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MASQUERADE, by CAROLYN M. RODGERS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You think you %need me
Last Line: Ultimately realize the specific beauty or ugly %innards of %our %selves
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MASSA'S IN DE COLD GROUND, by ANONYMOUS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Round de meadows am a ringing
Last Line: "down in de corn fields, etc"
Subject(s): African Americans;death;slavery;tears; "negroes;american Blacks;dead, The;serfs;


MASTER HAD A BRAN' NEW COAT, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MASTER IS SIX FEET ONE WAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mosser is six foot one way, an' free foot tudder
Last Line: But a liddle mo' holier dan righteous
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MASTER KILLED A BIG BULL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: An' give poor nigger de chitlins. %sho! Sho!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MASTER'S 'STOLEN' COAT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole mosser bought a brand new coat
Last Line: But he's greener dan a gourd
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MATCH BOX BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm sitting here wondering : will a matchbox hold my clothes
Last Line: If my mind don't change : I'll never knock here no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MATCH BOX BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to the river : going to walk down by the sea
Last Line: Baby the more you cry : the further you drive me away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MATCH BOX BLUES, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sitting down here wondering : would a matchbox hold my clothes
Last Line: Lord : have mercy on me
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MATERNITY, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Proud?
Last Line: I view this babe of sorrow!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; Babies; Negroes; American Blacks; Infants


MATTINATA, by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I think of the hosts little ones
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


MAX ROACH - THE RHYTHM WIZARD, by AVOTCJA    Poem Source                    
First Line: One very special day
Last Line: Into a musical marriage, pre-arranged by fate %and the universe will never be the same
Subject(s): African Americans; Roach, Max (b. 1924)


MAXWELL STREET BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was walking down morgan : stopped on maxwell street
Last Line: Because I swear I don't walk : said buly buly buly how do you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAYBE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I asked you, baby
Last Line: You told me that you didn't, %but you thought you would
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MAYBE I'LL LOAN YOU A DIME, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now once I lived a life : of a millionaire
Last Line: Bring me the titanic : that sailed the sea
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAYBE IT'S THE BLUES, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Something pounding : in my breast
Last Line: If I only had someone : just to drive my tears away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MAZIE DIES ALONE IN THE CITY HOSPITAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I hate to die this way with the quiet
Last Line: God! Why did you ever curse me %makin' me die this way
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Cabaret Girl Dies On Welfare Islan
Subject(s): African Americans; Death


MCDONOGH DAY IN NEW ORLEANS, by MARCUS B. CHRISTIAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The cotton blouse you wear, your mother said
Last Line: How dear comes beauty when a skin is black.
Subject(s): African Americans; Beauty; Negroes; American Blacks


ME AN' MY LOVER, WE FALL OUT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: An' dats de way dat big fuss start
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ME AND MY BUDDY, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Me and my buddy : I mean he is my friend
Last Line: Because we got wise to women : ooo well well we knows what it's all about
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ME AND MY CAPTAIN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Me an my captain don't agree
Last Line: Just laughing to keep from crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


ME AND MY CHAUFFEUR BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Won't you be my chauffeur : I want someone to drive
Last Line: Then he can be my little boy : yes I'll feed him good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ME AND MY GIN, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stay away from me : because I'm in my sin
Last Line: I don't want no pork chop : just give me gin instead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ME AND MY SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black %as the gentle night
Last Line: Me and my %song
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ME AND MY WHISKEY, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I'm in my whiskey : I don't care what I say
Last Line: Wild women and whiskey : can make a fool out of me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early this morning : when you knocked upon my door
Last Line: So my old evil spirit : can get a greyhound bus and ride
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ME AND THE MULE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My old mule / he's got a grin on his face
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


ME AND THE MULE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My old mule %he's got a grin on his face
Last Line: You got to take me %like I am
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ME, MYSELF, AND I, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody wants to know : how do memphis slim get by
Last Line: I said baby at this particular time : it's just me myself and I
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN ACTIN' MAMA, by ELIJAH JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I can remember my baby : it was late one friday night
Last Line: Now you even had me down walking baby : I could hardly but crawl along
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN BLACK MOAN, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a mean black moan : and it's lying front of my door
Last Line: But when the strike is over : lord I will be all right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN CONDUCTOR BLUES, by ED BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: That same train : same engineer
Last Line: Some train don't run : why be some walking done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN JUMPER BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel like jumping : through the keyhole in your door
Last Line: I had to talk and plead : for to keep him from blowing me d own
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN MISTREATER BLUES, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: You's a mean mistreating mama : and you don't mean me no good
Last Line: When the woman that you loving : is loving someone else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN MISTREATER MAMA, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: You're a mean mistreater mama : and you don't mean me no good
Last Line: When the one that you love : is loving someone else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN OLD 'FRISCO BLUES, by ARTHUR BIG BOY CRUDUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well that mean old old frisco : and that lowdown santa fe
Last Line: I might leave : because I don't feel welcome here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN OLD BED BUG BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes bedbugs sure is evil : they don't mean no good
Last Line: Got myself a wishbone : wish they cut their own doggone throats
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN OLD BEDBUG BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Man those bedbugs sure is evil : he sure don't mean me no good
Last Line: Because the mean old bedbug : told me I can't live there no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN OLD TWISTER, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now this dark cloud is rising : and it's thundering %all around
Last Line: Says I got everybody happy : around here in my neighborhood
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEAN PAPA, TURN IN YOUR KEY, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mean papa turn in your key : because you don't live here no more
Last Line: I think there'll be trouble : and I had better go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEANDERING: 1. MERRY-GO-1 ROUND, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Kaycee night tripper
Last Line: To ack her eight o'clock scholar %off to school
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


MEANDERING: 2. DARK SHADOWS (TAKE 1), by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: At an alley exit
Last Line: For the niggers in the band
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


MEANDERING: 3. HALLELUJAH, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: There is evil going on on 12th street
Last Line: Won't be worth the stay %no way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


MEDGAR & MYRLIE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Medgar rarely %spoke his feelings
Last Line: Tears, his blood
Subject(s): African Americans; Evers, Medgar (1925-1963); Love


MEDICINE MEN, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Slavers stole them out of akebulan
Last Line: Furious movement of african life %claiming its own
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - History; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Movement; Protest, Social; Slavery


MEET ME AROUND THE CORNER, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Meet me around the corner baby : bring my boots and shoes
Last Line: Got a lien on her body : got a mortgage on her soul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MELLOW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Into the laps %of black celebrities
Last Line: Wired for killing %which makes it %more thrilling
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MEMO TO NON-WHITE PEOPLES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They will let you have dope
Last Line: Exactly the same
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MEMORIAL: 1. THE SUPREMES-CIZ THEY DEAD, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The supremes done gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; African Americans - Women; Supremes, The (singing Group)


MEMORIAL: 1. THE SUPREMES-CIZ THEY DEAD, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The supremes done gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; African Americans - Women; Supremes, The (singing Group)


MEMORIAL: 2. BOBBY HUTTON, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I didn't know bobby
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MEMORIAL: 3. REV PIMPS, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sisters %git yr-blk-asses
Last Line: To any revolutionary %u dig?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MEMORY, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ask me to tell how it feels
Last Line: She smiles, ask me %how it feels
Subject(s): African Americans; Childhood Memories; Memory; Mothers And Daughters; Prejudice


MEMORY, by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have seen the robins
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


MEMPHIS BLUES, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nineveh, tyre / babylon
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MEMPHIS BLUES, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nineveh, tyre %babylon
Last Line: De win' sing sperrichals %through deir dus'
Subject(s): African Americans


MEMPHIS BOUND BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: You've got to drift to leave me : you're going to leave your home some day
Last Line: My man is gone and left me : gone to memphis tennessee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEMPHIS BOY--BLUES, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going out west partner : going to marry me an indian squaw
Last Line: Lord I ain't going to stay with no woman : lord no great long time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEMPHIS JUG--BLUES, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey drop down drop down : mama like drops of rain
Last Line: Lord I can see everything : that my easy roller do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEMPHIS MAN, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Memphis man : comes knocking at the door
Last Line: He could write a book : on his loving ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEMPHIS MINNIE-JITIS BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : the meningitis killing me
Last Line: I heard my ??? Companion say : I will see your smiling face again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEMPHIS ROUNDERS BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now what makes memphis women : love a rounder so
Last Line: Know if you hear me doing any singing : I'll be standing around my door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEMPHIS TOWN, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Went to the station : to get me a train
Last Line: Going down to memphis : see my gal again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEMPHIS YO YO BLUES, by HATTIE HART    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : feeling sad and blue
Last Line: Listen women : I don't mean to start no row
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEN FOOLER BLUES, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a girl : give her everything I had
Last Line: Well she's got something on the under : seep just like a *pool hall eye*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MEN WORKING, by SUSIE DAWSON JOHNSON    Poem Text                    
First Line: Slick and languid blacks in garments dimmed
Last Line: Sun-drenched in sweat this lazy summer morn.
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor & Laborers; Negroes; American Blacks; Work; Workers


MENINGITIS BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I come home one saturday night : pull of my clothes and lie down
Last Line: I'm spinning I'm spinning baby : my head is nearly down in to my knees
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MENTORS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For I am rightful fellow of their band
Last Line: Light is the midnight for mine and theirs
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


MERCY SEAT, by BRUCE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: The cafe society was a cottonless plantation
Last Line: Of a woman they would pick her gardenia to pieces, %petal by petal
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


MERRY CHRISTMAS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Merry christmas, china
Last Line: Let merry christmas gas the air
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MERRY-GO-ROUND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where is the jim crow section
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks


MERRY-GO-ROUND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where is the jim crow section
Last Line: Where's the horse %for a kid that's black?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Protest


MESSAGE TO THE PRESIDENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mr. President, kindly please
Last Line: Segregation in the u.S.A
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I came in from the roar
Last Line: Of an asphodel
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MEXICAN MARKET WOMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This ancient hag
Last Line: And the sun has made %her skin so brown
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor And Laborers


MICHAEL ROW THE BOAT ASHORE, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "michael row de boat ashore, / hallelujah!"
Last Line: "singer row to save your soul, / hallelujah!"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


MICROSCOPE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In sixth grade, science was a puzzle
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


MICROSCOPE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In sixth grade, science was a puzzle
Last Line: Up close could lose its luster
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


MIDDLE PASSAGE, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jesus, estrella, esperanza, mercy
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MIDDLE PASSAGE, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jesus, estrella, esperanza, mercy
Last Line: Voyage through death %to life upon these shores
Subject(s): African Americans


MIDNIGHT BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the morning : right between midnight and day
Last Line: If your coming don't bring sunshine : it sure god will bring rain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MIDNIGHT BLUES, by WILLIAM MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some people say : that the midnight blues ain't bad
Last Line: Going to carry it in my pocket : and make you stay at home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MIDNIGHT BLUES, by HANNAH SYLVESTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daddy daddy : please come back to me
Last Line: To face this cruel world : world all by myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MIDNIGHT BLUES, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daddy daddy : please come back to me
Last Line: To face this cruel world : well all by myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MIDNIGHT CHIPPIE'S LAMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I looked down 31st street
Last Line: So nobody can't low-rate you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MIDNIGHT DANCER: TO A BALCK DANCER IN THE LITTLE SAVOY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wine-maiden %of the jazz-tuned night
Last Line: The grapes of joy %and dripped their juice %on you?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MIDNIGHT HOUR BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the wee midnight hours : long before the break of day
Last Line: So I guess that's why : I've had these midnight hour blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MIDNIGHT RAFFLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I put my nickel
Last Line: My bread wasn't buttered %on neither side
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MIDNIGHT SPECIAL BLUES, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you get up in the morning : when the ding-dong rings
Last Line: Looking for some sergeant : to release some man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MIDNIGHT WEEPING BLUES, by NELLIE FLORENCE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I moaned I moaned : I cried the whole night long
Last Line: Said I'm right upset : and I've got those weeping blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MIDWAY, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Text                 Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: I've come this far to freedom and I won't turn back
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks


MIDWAY, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I've come this far to freedom and I won't turn back
Last Line: Mighty mountains loom before me and I won't stop now
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Social Protest


MIDWINTER BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the middle of the winter
Last Line: Won't need no flowers from the store.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MIGRANT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: (chicago) %daddy-o %buddy-o %works at the foundry
Last Line: But if he wasn't in a hurry %he wouldn't write so %bad that way, %daddy-o
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MIGRATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A little southern colored child
Last Line: One might make a story %charting tomorrow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MIGRATION, by PINKIE GORDON LANE                        Poet's Biography
First Line: The winter birds / are flying from the north
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Birds; Migration


MIGRATION, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The winter birds %are flying from the north
Last Line: Land, and time a revolving %flame
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Birds; Migration


MILITANT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let all who will
Last Line: To strike your face
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MILK COW BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hollering good morning: I said blues how do you do
Last Line: Lord the little woman I love mama: have done drove me from her door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MILK COW BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now asked sweet mama : let me be her kid
Last Line: But it's a slow consumption : killing you by degrees
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MILK COW BLUES, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen to my story now : please listen to my song
Last Line: Can't you imagine how I feel now : I done told my real milkcow bye bye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MILK COW BLUES--NO. 4, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can't get my milk in the morning : I can't get my cream no more
Last Line: I don't mind her drinking her whiskey : but please don't ballyhoo
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MILKCOW'S CALF BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me milkcow : what on earth is wrong with you
Last Line: She been suckling some other man's bullcow : ooo lord in a strange man's town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MILL MAN BLUES, by BILLY BIRD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yond comes a woman : with a peck of corn on her back
Last Line: Said I'm worried now baby : won't be worried long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MILTON, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O, poet gifted with the sight divine!
Last Line: For thy not sightless eyes the veil was riv'n %redemption's problem unto thee well solved
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MIND READER BLUES, by BERTHA LEE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I can see : just what's on your mind
Last Line: Well I'm worried now : and I won't be worried long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MINGLEWOOD BLUES, by ASHLEY THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't you never : let no woman rule your life
Last Line: Says you coming back baby : and I'll be almost dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MINING CAMP BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once I had a daddy : and he worked down in a hole
Last Line: And I'm nearly dying : with these mining camp blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MINNIE SINGS HER BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Cabaret, cabaret
Last Line: Blue, blue, blues! %I'd sho have them blues
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MINOR MIRACLE, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Which reminds me of another knock-on-wood
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Regret; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


MINSTREL MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Because my mouth
Last Line: You do not know %I die
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MINUTE MAN BLUES--PART 1, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every since every since : I [first] left my mother's door
Last Line: I've got a v-eight ford now sweet mama : lord you know I'm a minuteman
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MINUTE MAN BLUES--PART 2, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My tires ain't going to fail me : and my motor it is good and strong
Last Line: This minuteman is on that lonesome highway : and I swear it won't be long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISERABLE SINNER, by SUZANNE OWENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am a child of chance with a window brush
Last Line: I draw power. I walk barefoot
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Capital Punishment; Crime And Criminals; Death - Children; Murder; Pregnancy; Rape; Sin


MISERY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Play the blues for me
Last Line: S got to hear a blues %for her misery
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MISERY BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early this morning : when everything was still
Last Line: The next thing I give him : will be six feet of ground
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISERY BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love my brownskin : indeed I do
Last Line: Work is the thing : that's breaking my heart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISS ANNIE MORGAN, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I waved to miss annie morgan this morning
Last Line: That's why I waved at miss annie
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


MISS BLODGER (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De rats an' de mice, dey rund up stairs
Last Line: She 'spects to hit me, but I'se gwineter dodge her
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MISS BLUES'ES CHILD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If the blues would let me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Children; Negroes; American Blacks


MISS BLUES'ES CHILD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If the blues would let me
Last Line: In my heart I'm crying, %I'm just miss blues'es child!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Children


MISS HANDY HANKS, by ARCHIE LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got spreading mustard from north to south
Last Line: Seeds taste good : right in your mouth
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISS LEE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Miss lee appeared
Last Line: Valentine untouched
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


MISS LOUISA BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now ever since louisa you been gone : my life don't seem the same
Last Line: Now but I'm scared that when you get back : louisa you ain't going to have no place to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISS MEAL CRAMP BLUES, by ALEC JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I'm broke and hungry : and my money's all gone
Last Line: Right now I could eat more : than a whole carload of tramps
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISS PEARL, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: She told immigrant stories
Last Line: Up in shorter
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


MISS ROSIE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I watch you / wrapped like garbage
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MISS ROSIE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I watch you %wrapped like garbage
Last Line: Through your destruction %I stand up
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MISS SLIPPY SLOPPY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole miss slippy sloppy jump up out'n bed
Last Line: Dat he won't want no dinner, but a hole in de ground
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MISS TERRAPIN AND MISS TOAD (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: As I went marchin' down de road
Last Line: For I didn't know zackly which to choose
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MISSING MAMA, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Last year when mama died
Last Line: I think about the good things now
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


MISSION OF THE FLOWERS, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a lovely garden, filled with fair and blooming flowers
Last Line: And lay her fairest buds and flowers upon the altars of love and truth
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MISSIONARIES IN THE JUNGLE, by LINDA PIPER    Poem Source                    
First Line: In the clearing sands
Last Line: Administering to garrulous black ghetto residents
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MISSISSIPPI, by E. ETHELBERT MILLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Death surrounds itself with the living
Subject(s): Names; African Americans; Racism; Mississippi; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


MISSISSIPPI BO WEAVIL BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a little boll weevil : she's moving in the air
Last Line: Next time I seen you : you have your family there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISSISSIPPI BOTTOM BLUES, by KID BAILEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down in mississippi : where I was bred and born
Last Line: Nothing I had did : but was something she had heard
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISSISSIPPI JAIL HOUSE GROAN, by RUBIN LACY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Eee laying in jail now : with my back turned to the wall
Last Line: If my woman kills me now : lord I'll pray to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISSISSIPPI LEVEE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Been workin' on de levee
Last Line: From washin' over me?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MISSISSIPPI MOAN, by UNKNOWN+210    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey : something going on wrong
Last Line: Lord I tried and tried : and I just can't let her go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISSISSIPPI RIVER BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mississippi river : is so long deep and wide
Last Line: Lord I'm going to get me a good girl : or jump overboard and drown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTER CHARLIE, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Why shouldn't I take a chance mama : when good luck comes along
Last Line: Says I felt so lonesome : I didn't have my baby by my side
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTER SANDMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sandman walks abroad tonight
Last Line: Has a dream in his sack to fit each child just right
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MISTREATED BLUES, by HENRY TOWNSEND    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby mistreat me : night and day
Last Line: And some old day pretty baby : you'll do like I want you to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTREATED THE ONLY FRIEND YOU HAD, by JAMES+(2) COLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mistreat me baby : mistreat your only friend
Last Line: I'm going to shoot my baby : just to see her fall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTREATIN' BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you mistreat me : oh baby drove me from your door
Last Line: For the gal that I'm crazy about : have took my appetite
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTREATIN' MAMA, by JAYBIRD COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I done told you mama : ain't going to tell you no more
Last Line: Lord I can't *let its* continue : don't care what I do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTREATIN' MAN, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: If your heart ain't iron : it must be marble stone
Last Line: Sometime I believe I do : sometime I believe I don't
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTREATIN' WOMAN BLUES, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boys have you ever had a woman : and she didn't mean you no good
Last Line: Because she's only been *you* : I cant tell *you about the* mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MISTREATING MAN BLUES, by SARA MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got the blues : since I made up my mind
Last Line: *that's why* I can't go on : loving a mistreating man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MITCHELL CASE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see by the papers
Last Line: Let alone having to take that dollar %to go and sue
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MOAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm deep in trouble
Last Line: Somewhere in yo' sky. %yes, lord!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MOANIN' BLUES, by JOHN D. FOX    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I got a letter from my baby : and it said that she was dying
Last Line: ??? *has beaten* mama : you're going to be sorry some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOANIN' THE BLUES, by ALLEN SHAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I woke up this morning : mama's feeling bad
Last Line: Crying mmm : don't nobody know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOBILE-BUCK, by JAMES EDWIN CAMPBELL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O, come erlong, come erlong
Last Line: Well done, meh lady!
Subject(s): African Americans; Dancing & Dancers; Gullahs; Negroes; American Blacks


MOJOE BLUES, by CHARLEY LINCOLN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh the mojo blues mama : crawling across the floor
Last Line: That must not been : them lowdown things I had
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOLLY COTTAINTAIL, OR, GRAVEYARD RABBIT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole molly cottontail, %at night, w'en de moon's pale
Last Line: My luck, it won't be fer sale
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MOLLY MAN, by MOSES MASON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Molly man's coming : I hear his voice
Last Line: Says I can't hardly get them : out of my can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOLLY MEANS, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Old molly means was a hag and a witch
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MOLLY MEANS, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Old molly means was a hag and a witch
Last Line: O molly, molly, molly means %lean is the ghost of molly means
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MOLLY MOOR, by GEORGE FAREWELL    Poem Text                    
First Line: Tully, the queen of beauty's boast
Last Line: When she is up to ceres gone.
Subject(s): African Americans; Courts & Courtiers; Negroes; American Blacks; Royal Court Life; Royalty; Kings; Queens


MOM IS WOW!, by JULIA FIELDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mothers and finders and keepers
Last Line: They are teachers of duties and rights. %mom is wow!
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


MONKEY MAN BLUES, by CRIPPLE CLARENCE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some of these old days mama : some of these old and lonely nights
Last Line: Because when I try to love you right baby : seems like my loving won't do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MONKEYIN' AROUND, by JAKE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to buy me a pistol : hang it up side the wall
Last Line: When he knows anything : she done got his dollar and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MONOTONY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Today like yesterday
Last Line: Tomorrow like today
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MONROE'S BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Monroe's fell on evil days
Last Line: Monroe sings a little blues %my woman and my friend is dead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MONTGOMERY, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: White woman have you heard %she is too tired to sit in the back
Last Line: Seats will ride through twon %I walk for my children %my feet two hundred years old
Subject(s): African Americans; Civil Rights Movement; Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Poetry And Poets


MONTMARTRE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pigalle: %a neon rose
Last Line: The petals %fall
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MONUMENT IN BLACK, by VANESSA HOWARD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Put my black father on the penny
Last Line: All my black brothers in vietnam %resting idle in unkempt graves
Subject(s): African Americans


MONUMENTS FOR A FRIENDLY GIRL AT A TENTH GRADE PARTY, by WILLIAM EDGAR STAFFORD    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The only relics left are those long
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915)


MOOCH RICHARSON'S LOW DOWN BARREL HOUSE BLUES PART 1, by MOOCH RICHARDSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got something :some people call it worse than blues
Last Line: *sitting by the* ??? Lord :
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOON GOING DOWN, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh the moon is going down : baby sun's about to shine
Last Line: I got to see my rider : where she's getting her dough
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOON OF HUNGER, MOON OF COYOTE HOWL, by JUDY JORDAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Heat waves rose with gas fumes from the pump
Last Line: Earth this dark, dark star
Subject(s): Automobiles - Service Stations; African Americans; Family Life; Poverty; Gasoline Stations; Filling Stations; Automobile Repair Shops; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


MOONLIGHT IN VALENCIA: CIVIL WAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Moonlight in valencia
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Spanish Civil War (1936-1939); Negroes; American Blacks


MOONLIGHT IN VALENCIA: CIVIL WAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Moonlight in valencia
Last Line: Bombers over %valencia
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)


MOONLIGHT IS MY SPREAD, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The blue sky is my blanket : and the moonlight is my spread
Last Line: If the woman that you were loving : would mistreat you both night and day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOONLIGHT NIGHT: CARMEL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tonight the waves march
Last Line: And beating the land's %edge into a swoon
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Sea; Seashore


MOONSHINE, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got to leave this town : I've got to go before the sun go down
Last Line: I done made up in my mind : not to sell moonshine no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOONSHINE, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now and it's moonshine : moonshine do harm to many men
Last Line: Moonshine will make you curse out : most anybody you meet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOONSHINE BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've been reeling and a-rocking : hounded like a hound
Last Line: I'm going to stop : my running around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MORNING, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The mist has left the greening plain
Last Line: "'tis morning, 'tis morning."
Subject(s): African Americans; Morning; Negroes; American Blacks


MORNING AFTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was so sick last night I
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (music); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


MORNING AFTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was so sick last night I
Last Line: You jesta little bit o' woman but you %sound like a great big crowd
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians


MORNING AFTER - LOVE, by KATTIE M. CUMBO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Clouds fill the sky
Last Line: On the morning after - love %I walk
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MORNING DUKE ELLINGTON PRAISED THE LORD, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: A dip-dip %a dip-a-de-do. Do!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Ellington, Edward Kennedy ("duke")


MORNING LIGHT (THE DEW-DRIER), by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Text                    
First Line: Brother to the firefly
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


MORNING LIGHT (THE DEW-DRIER), by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brother to the firefly
Last Line: Shall shape the earth for that fresh dawning %after the dews of blood?
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


MOSEKA'S WAY, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sound of thunder in her voice
Last Line: Where the heart sings, weary %but free
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


MOSES AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: He held the %record album high
Last Line: And even now %I still do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Bible; Davis, Miles (1926-1991); Music And Musicians; Preaching And Preachers; Sermons; Ten Commandments


MOSQUITO MOAN, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lamp sits in my kitchen : mosquitoes all around my screen
Last Line: I stepped back in my kitchen : and they springing up in my back yard
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOTHER CATHERINE, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My name is catherine
Last Line: And showering down her blessings on her people
Subject(s): African Americans


MOTHER IN WARTIME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As if it were some noble thing
Last Line: Not that both %might lose
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MOTHER LOVE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mom says %she remembers
Last Line: I cried & she %was there
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Mothers


MOTHER SAYS I AM SIX YEARS OLD (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mammy says dat I'se too young
Last Line: Jes since I'se gwine to heaben
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MOTHER TO SON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Well, son, I'll tell you
Last Line: And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Mothers; Negroes; American Blacks


MOTHER TONGUE, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama, %it is with a thief's luck
Last Line: Prepare to birth myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers; Women


MOTHER TONGUES-III, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just think, all those tongues
Last Line: People of africa, were %standing upright
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Art And Artists; Ethnic Identity; Poetry And Poets; Rwanda; U.s. - Race Relations


MOTHER'S HABITS, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have all %my mother's habits
Last Line: No longer caring %either
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MOTHERHOOD, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Don't knock on my door, little child
Last Line: I cannot give you birth.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Variant Title(s): Black Woman
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Despair; Mothers; Pregnancy


MOTHERLAND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dream of yesterday
Last Line: In her bitter sorrow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MOTHERLESS CHILD BLUES, by ELVIE THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother told me : just before she died
Last Line: Didn't have no blues : I couldn't be satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOTHERLESS CHILE BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I mistreat you gal : I sure don't mean no harm
Last Line: If the lbues overtake me : going to rock on away from here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOTTO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I play it cool
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MOTTO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I play it cool
Last Line: My motto, %as I live and learn %is %dig and be dug %in return
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MOURNING POEM FOR THE QUEEN OF SUNDAY, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lord's lost him his mockingbird
Subject(s): African Americans; Mourning; Negroes; American Blacks; Bereavement


MOURNING POEM FOR THE QUEEN OF SUNDAY, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lord's lost him his mockingbird
Last Line: Who would have thought, %who would have thought she'd end that way?
Subject(s): African Americans; Mourning


MOURNING SLAVE FIANCEES (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lokk down dat lonesome road! Look down!
Last Line: Lef' many a mile behin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MOVE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They had begun to whisper
Last Line: Move / away
Subject(s): African Americans; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Negroes; American Blacks


MOVE, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Charlie eye-balls the dentist's
Last Line: To his move %from kid %to can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


MOVE THAT THING, by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Last night : my gal went to bed
Last Line: You haven't laid an egg : since I don't know when
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MOVIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The roosevelt, renaissance, gem, alhambra
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Motion Pictures; Negroes; American Blacks; Movies; Cinema


MOVIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The roosevelt, renaissance, gem, alhambra
Last Line: (hoolywood %laughs at me, %black %so I laugh back)
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Motion Pictures


MOZELLE BLUES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mozelle : why can't we get along
Last Line: Every time I hear somebody speaking about you : I will beat you in the *b w o l*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. CONDUCTOR MAN, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got up this morning : hear the train whistle blow
Last Line: Lord and the woman I been loving : she don't want me no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. CRUMP DON'T LIKE IT, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: If mr crump don't like it : he ain't going to have it here
Last Line: Don't like my fruit : let my orange juice be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. DEVIL BLUES, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good morning mr devil : I come here to chain you down
Last Line: I'm going to ask dr jesus : if the devil ever been there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. FREDDIE'S KOKOMO BLUES, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Won't you come on baby come on baby : let's go back to kokomo
Last Line: When that train leaves tomorrow morning : I want to catch that morning train and ride
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. FURRY'S BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wish I had : my poor heart in my hand
Last Line: I'm going away to leave you : it will be too late to pray
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. HUGHE'S TOWN, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My mama told me : my sister too
Last Line: Tell them : huddie ledbetter's done been here and gone
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. JOHNSON SWING, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Want all of you people to listen : while my guitar sings
Last Line: If you were born with that rhythm : honest you can't never go wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. JOHNSON'S BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want all you people to listen to my song
Last Line: Remember me : after the days I'm gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. LESTER, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I used to feel ugly
Last Line: And I go right on %loving it
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


MR. MCTELL GOT THE BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm leaving town : baby going to leave my home
Last Line: Some of these nice-looking women : going to take me to my grave
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. SO AND SO BLUES, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Babe I feel so worried : yeah and I feel so low
Last Line: *you're off having a binge* : you don't come home at all at night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MR. SYKES BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm I done you wrong : but I won't do that no more
Last Line: I'm watching everybody : I'm only watching my only best friend
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MRS. JOHNSON OBJECTS, by CLARA ANN THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come right in this house, will johnson
Last Line: An' jest let me ketch you chasin' %aft' them white trash anymo'
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women


MRS. SMALL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mrs. Small went to the kitchen for her pocketbook
Last Line: Of the world's business
Subject(s): Women's Rights; African Americans – Women; Insurance & Insurance Agents


MUD-LOG POND (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: As I stepped down by de mud-log pond
Last Line: An' I give him a dollar fer to let me pass
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MUDDY WATER BLUES, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know you heard the story : listen now people I know the song
Last Line: Now before I'd stay with you : and take these lowdown dirty things you do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MUHAMMAD ALI, by NAOMI FLOWE FAUST    Poem Source                    
First Line: In large numbers %we disdain guys and gals
Last Line: He's king of the ring, %and he's 'the greatest.'
Subject(s): African Americans; Ali, Muhammad (cassius Clay); Boxing And Boxers


MULATTO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am your son, white man!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MULATTO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am your son, white man!
Last Line: I am your son, white man %a little yellow %bastard boy
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MULATTO LULLABY, by RALPH DICKEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Be my stillborn son my son
Last Line: Like you soaked in my womb
Subject(s): African Americans


MULE'S KICK, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Is dis me, or not me
Last Line: On de t'other side de creek
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MULE'S NATURE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you sees a mule tied up to a tree
Last Line: It makes no diffunce what 'comes of a fool
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'm laying here in this jailhouse : scared as any fool can be
Last Line: And here they got me charged : with murder in the first degree
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MUSE & DRUDGE (2), by HARRYETTE MULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why these blues come from us
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MUSHY LOVE, by KATHERINE HENDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pick me up : don't let me go
Last Line: Because everybody's crazy : about mushy love
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MUSIC, by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Music! Lilting, soft and languorous
Last Line: Music! With you, soul on your parted lips! %music - is you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Nelson, Alice Dunbar (moore)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MY ANGEL, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: No one can hurt me %an angel comes to guard
Last Line: Snatches me away %from all danger
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


MY ARKANSAS, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is deep brooding
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Arkansas


MY AUNT ELLA MAE, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She was the first to tell me of juneteenth
Subject(s): Aunts; African Americans; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


MY BABE MY BABE, by BILL WILBER    Poem Source                    
First Line: My babe my babe : sure is good to me
Last Line: I didn't have to do nothing : but lay around and throw it away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BABY, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I taken my baby : to the candy stand
Last Line: She fell on her face : about the moneyman
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BABY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se de daddy of dis liddle black baby
Last Line: An' he kick lak a pony eatin' clover
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY BABY DON'T WANT ME NO MORE, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't believe : my baby wants me no more
Last Line: Done left my good man : all on account of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BABY LEFT ME, by ROBERT PETWAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby left me this morning : she did not even shake my hand
Last Line: I'm going to leave in the morning now partner : with that little sweety sure god on my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BABY MADE A CHANGE, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now peoples I believe : somebody oh somebody's changed that lock on my door
Last Line: Oh said you keep on fooling around sonny boy : says I swear one of them going to change your name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BABY'S DOGGIN' ME, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now she dog me every morning : she dog me late at night
Last Line: I love that little old woman : better than any woman that I ever seen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BABY'S GONE, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby's gone : and I'm almost in my grave
Last Line: Says my good gal she's gone : she didn't mean me no good at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BACK TO THE WALL, by IRENE SCRUGGS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody is screaming trouble : times ain't like they used to be
Last Line: Well a single man's all right : but he ain't got that married man's touch
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BELOVED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Shall I make a record of your beauty
Last Line: Years and paint you in the poem
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MY BLACK GAL BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black gal she took meth : gave my brown *to her* death
Last Line: I turned back my *chivver* : blues all in my bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BLACK MAMA--PART 1, by SON HOUSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well black mama : what's the matter with you today
Last Line: I wouldn't mistreat you baby : for my weight in gold
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BLACK MAMA--PART 2, by SON HOUSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I solemnly swear : lord I raise my right hand
Last Line: That's all right mama : your troubles will come some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BLACK NAME BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I can hear my black name a-ringing : all up and down the line
Last Line: Now I was just thinking my woman didn't love me : I hope she ain't in love with nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY BOY, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I hear you singing happily
Last Line: Before it melts in tears!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


MY BOYS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My boys beauty is
Last Line: Questioning over and over - %what is the meaning of this?
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Boys


MY BROTHER IS HOMEMADE, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Grew darker %than most
Subject(s): African Americans; Brothers


MY BROWN MAMA BLUES, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Won't you tell me mama mama : what have I said *or done*
Last Line: Lord it's soon in the morning : going to believe I'll leaving here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY CRIME BLUES, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got the blues for my baby : she got the blues for I say me
Last Line: It ain't no fine for you : get ready for the electric chair
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY DAD IS A MAGICIAN, by LESLIE REESE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Frederick douglass, crispus attucks, toussaint l'ouverture
Last Line: Old alabama negro straightener for burroughs, corp
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


MY DADDY WAS A MOVIN' MAN, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: We drinking whiskey : champagne and wine
Last Line: Sell your stuff : to who you please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY DADDY'S FINGERS MOVE AMONG THE COUPLERS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: What do the couplers know %about being locked together?
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


MY DOG, CUFF (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a liddle dog, his name wus cuff
Last Line: An' I guess dat speech is long enough
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY DOGGONE LAZY MAN, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: He ain't worth the salt : that goes in his bread
Last Line: The fool sat there : too tired to stand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY DREAM ABOUT BEING WHITE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hey music and me / only white
Last Line: Wake up / dancing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MY DREAM ABOUT BEING WHITE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hey music and me %only white
Last Line: So I take them off and %wake up dancing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


MY DREAM BLUES, by BLACK BOTTOM MCPHAIL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to tell all you people : my dream I had one week ago
Last Line: Then I can sleep at night : and won't have to dream no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY DREAMS, MY WORKS, MUST WAIT TILL AFTER HELL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I hold my honey and I store my bread
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


MY DREAMS, MY WORKS, MUST WAIT TILL AFTER HELL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I hold my honey and I store my bread
Last Line: To honey and bread old purity could love
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


MY FAMILY OF PEOPLE: DAD, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My daddy drives a train
Last Line: Sometimes, he plays our piano
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


MY FAMILY OF PEOPLE: MOM, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mommy wears flat earrings
Last Line: Then mommy marks essay after essay
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


MY FATHER, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: With springtime my father comes alive
Last Line: Now I live in the flow of that green time, %and my father lives there too
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


MY FATHER'S HEROES, by ALLISON JOSEPH    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Not jfk, not mlk
Last Line: The last words %she'd give them
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Athletes; Fathers; Jazz; Music And Musicians


MY FATHER'S STORY, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is an ancient story
Last Line: Mindless of the winter's blast.
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


MY FEET JUMPED SALTY, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Then the cow jumped salty : lord because it was against her rule
Last Line: Now if you think that I liked it : ooo well you just a black eyed fool
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY FIDDLE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If my old fiddle wsu jes in chune
Last Line: Hurrah fer my old fiddle an' bow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY FIRST AND MY SECOND WIFE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My fust liddle wife wus short an' fat
Last Line: Den we'd be troubled in min'!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY FOLKS AND YOUR FOLKS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you an' yo' folks
Last Line: Lak me an' my folks
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY FRIEND, by SAMUEL ALLEN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I have a friend
Last Line: Instead of him - my friend
Alternate Author Name(s): Vesey, Paul
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism


MY FRIEND BLIND LEMON, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dreamed last night : and all that night before
Last Line: You's a long time coming : daddy but you welcome here
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY GAL TREATS ME MEAN, by WILEY BARNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take your picture : make it in a frame
Last Line: In the corner : can get what I want
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY GAL'S DONE QUIT ME, by LUKE JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well a-my gal had quit me : the talks all over town
Last Line: Kept a-feeling my pocket : and I didn't have a lousy dime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY GEORGIA GRIND, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look here papa : I don't mean no harm
Last Line: Going down in georgia : where I get my grinding done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY GIFT TO YOU, by JOHARI MAHASIN RASHAD    Poem Source                    
First Line: My gift to you - a ring
Last Line: Like arms to encircle you %with space to allow you to grow
Subject(s): African Americans


MY GRATITUDE, by CORNELIUS ROBERT EADY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm here %to tell you
Last Line: I have proof, %and a job that comes %as simple to me %as breathing
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry And Poets


MY GREY PONY, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got me a pony lord : and she already trained
Last Line: Well well why break her heart : you know ooo lord treat her this way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY HANDY MAN, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Whoever said : a good man hard to find
Last Line: I got a fresh place : every day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY HEART BELONGS TO DADDY, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take me, charlie says
Last Line: Indifference, says nothing more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


MY HEART HAS KNOWN ITS WINTER, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A little while spring will claim its own
Last Line: My heart has known its winterand carried gall
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MY HEART HAS KNOWN ITS WINTER, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A little while spring will claim its own
Last Line: My heart has known its winter and carried gall
Subject(s): African Americans


MY HEART'S GONE A-WEEPING (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come un'er! Come un'er! My honey, my love, my heart's above
Last Line: Case my heart's gone a weepin, 'way down below de trees
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY HERO; TO ROBERT GOULD SHAW, by BENJAMIN GRIFFITH BRAWLEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Flushed with the hope of high desire
Last Line: And galahad to me.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers


MY JOHN BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: You take a southbound *regular* : you ride my weary blues away
Last Line: If I find her with my john : I'll slice and I'll cut and send her to her grave
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY LAST NAME, by NICOLAS GUILLEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ever since school
Last Line: Foreign and free as the air
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors And Ancestry; Ethnic Identity; Freedom; Slavery


MY LITTLE DREAMS, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm folding up my little dreams
Last Line: Tonight, within my heart.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Dreams; Nightmares


MY LITTLE GIRL, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I say my little girl : just as sweet as she can be
Last Line: But the way you doing : I swear it's coming back home to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY LITTLE MACHINE, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh yes :something getting wrong with my little machine
Last Line: Baby you is so sweet : but you just won't be true
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY LITTLE PIG (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: You see: I had a liddle pig
Last Line: Dat he learn in de cool
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY LORD, WHAT A MORNING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Look in my god's right hand, %when de stars begin to fall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY LOVES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I love to see the big white moon
Last Line: But better than all these things I think, %I love my lady love
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MY MAMA MOVED AMONG THE DAYS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Then seemed like she turned around and ran %right back in %right back on in
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers; Women


MY MAMA WAS A SAILOR, by JULIUS DANIELS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mama was a sailor : she love the ocean life
Last Line: Tell them julius daniels : done been here and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY MAN BLUES, by ALICE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man my man : treats me so lowdown
Last Line: Says I'm sorry for you woman : another woman has taken your place
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY MAN IS BOOGAN ME, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just one thing : I want my man to know
Last Line: And he knows doggone well : the times is done got hard
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY MAN JUMPED SALTY ON ME, by ROSETTA CRAWFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going down to the river : take a rope and a rock
Last Line: Cut him if he stands still : shoot him if he runs
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY MAN LET ME PULL YOUR COAT, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All praise be to %allah
Last Line: Labbayka! %my man-let me
Subject(s): African Americans


MY MAN'S UP THE RIVUH, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY MARY BLUES, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early one morning : *my mind* ???
Last Line: That's when I get back home : can't anyone tell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY MEAN BABY BLUES, by WILLIE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When my baby left me : she didn't even say goodbye
Last Line: Some day you doing to want to love the poor boy : and I'll be done changed my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY MELLOW MAN, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : oh my mellow man
Last Line: But that ain't his name : his name is plain leroy
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY MULE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Las' saddy mornin' mosser said
Last Line: An' I rid him till I thought he'd bust
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY NATURAL MAMA, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My natural mama %is gingerbread
Last Line: Is gingerbread, %brown and spicy sweet
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME, by STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The sun shines bright on our old kentucky home
Last Line: For our old kentucky home far away.
Variant Title(s): My Old Kentucky Home, Good-night!;my Old Kentucky Home, Negro Song
Subject(s): Absence; African Americans; Homesickness; Kentucky; Separation; Isolation; Negroes; American Blacks


MY OTHER MOTHER, by EVA JOOR WILLIAMS    Poem Text                    
First Line: When did I know you first? I cannot say
Last Line: "mah lil w'ite chilluns of mah earthly home?"
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Child Care; Mothers; Baby Sitters; Governesses


MY PEOPLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The night is beautiful
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Poem
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


MY PEOPLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The night is beautiful
Last Line: Beautiful, also, is the sun. %beautiful, also, are the souls of my people
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Poe
Subject(s): African Americans


MY ROAD IS ROUGH AND ROCKY, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You don't believe I'm traveling : on the road somewhere
Last Line: I could hear something pushing : all around my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY SILVER DOLLAR MAMA, by HOUND HEAD HENRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The gal I love : she lives on a silver dollar
Last Line: But the gal on the dollar : that's the sweetest baby for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY SPECKLED HEN (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Somebody stole my speckled hen
Last Line: Member dat hen wid 'er shinin' wing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MY WASH WOMAN'S GONE, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby's *deaf-toweled* : can't hardly hear
Last Line: Cried lord have mercy : if you please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY WELL IS DRY, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I never missed my water : not until my well went dry
Last Line: Says I got a hard-hearted woman : and she don't know how to treat me right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY WIFE DROVE ME FROM THE DOOR, by CHARLEY LINCOLN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I came home this morning : my wife she met me at the door
Last Line: Say I got a brown : says I can hear her laugh
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY WOMAN'S GONE WRONG, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I woke up this morning : my woman was standing over me
Last Line: Because you got me all wrong baby : honey that was another man's wife
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


MY WONDERFUL TRAVEL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I come from ole virginny
Last Line: A-pickin' up de pies
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MYSTERIOUS FACE WASHING (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wash my face in de watah
Last Line: An' I dries it in de sun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


MYSTERY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When a chile gets to be thirteen
Last Line: A jack-leg preacher, a ph.D. %the mytery %and the darkness %and the song %and me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


MYTHMAKER, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We lived by the words / of gods, mythologies
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


MYTHMAKER, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We lived by the words %of gods, mythologies
Last Line: Not like now. Not like now
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


NAACP, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I see by the papers
Last Line: To break old jim crow's course
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Civil Rights Movement


NADHVILLE STONEWALL BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I stayed in jail : it was thirty long days
Last Line: I get out I'm going to that woman : and I'll be right back again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NAI, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nai a shimmering silvered colored lake
Last Line: She is the geechee %in me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NANA, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My heart, listen
Last Line: Speak if you will, for both of us
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Hearts; Love


NAOLA BEAUTY ACADEMY, NEW ORLEANS, 1945, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Made hair? The girls here
Variant Title(s): Naloa Beauty Academy, New Orleans, Louisiana 1943
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


NAOLA BEAUTY ACADEMY, NEW ORLEANS, 1945, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Made hair? The girls here
Last Line: Light, slight, and polite. %not a one out of place
Variant Title(s): Naloa Beauty Academy, New Orleans, Louisiana 194
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


NAOMI WATCHES AS RUTH SLEEPS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She clings to me
Last Line: I can grieve in peace.
Subject(s): African Americans; Naomi (bible); Peace; Women In The Bible; Negroes; American Blacks


NAPPY EDGES (A ACROSS COUNTRY SOJOURN), by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: St. Louis - such a colored town - a whiskey
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NAPPY EDGES (A ACROSS COUNTRY SOJOURN), by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: St. Louis - such a colored town - a whiskey
Last Line: This is my space %I am not movin
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NAPPY HEAD BLUES, by BOBBY GRANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you hear me walking : turn your lamp down low
Last Line: And you must a-want me : to lay down and die for you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NAPTOWN BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nobody knows old naptown : baby like I do
Last Line: Because there ain't nobody : knows old naptown like I know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NARROW FACE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+219    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can talk about burnt liver : but narrow-face is the meat I crave
Last Line: *johnny* it with you : and eat those narrow-face too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NASHVILLE LADIES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dem nashville ladies dress up fine
Last Line: Big pig! Liddle pig! Root hog, or die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NASHVILLE WOMEN'S BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Folks up north : you all have heard the blues
Last Line: They way they strut : is really no bluff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NAT TURNER, by NUBIA KAI    Poem Source                    
First Line: This feelin is limestone
Last Line: Blows %so freely %thru your soul %this way
Subject(s): African Americans; Turner, Nat (1800-1831)


NATCHA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Natcha, offering love
Last Line: Come drink, kisses. %a long, dream night with me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NATIVE, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Down the unspun swerve of trackless weeds
Last Line: Conveys to seed
Subject(s): African Americans


NATIVE ABROAD (TO EARL ANDERZA), by J. ANTHONY STOWERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I must have a culture
Last Line: That's my culture! My love! %my country!
Subject(s): African Americans


NATURALLY, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Since naturally black is naturally beautiful
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Pride; Self-esteem; Self-respect


NATURALLY, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Since naturally black is naturally beautiful
Last Line: Proud beautiful black women %could better make use %black bread
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Pride


NAUGHTY CHILD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The naughty child
Last Line: In a very nice town
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NEAR WALDO TEE-DO GAVE ME A SUIT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Near waldo tee-do is my sweetheart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NECESSITY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Work? / I don't have to work
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Men; Negroes; American Blacks


NECESSITY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Work? %I don't have to work
Last Line: Which is why I reckon I does %have to work after all
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Men


NEED MORE BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Need-more : it has hung a-many men
Last Line: Get all my loving : you let mr so-and-so go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEEDIN' MY WOMAN BLUES, by ROBERT HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby's gone : please don't wait till day
Last Line: Ain't nothing in this world boys : lord for your black man to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEEDLE AND THREAD, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had a needle and a thread
Last Line: And fly to the eastern shore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEGRO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am a negro
Last Line: Black like the depths of my africa.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blacks - History; Negroes; American Blacks


NEGRO AND THE POLICEMAN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old mistah policeman, tu'n me loose
Last Line: Well, hello, sarah jane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEGRO BAKER MAN (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Patty cake! Patty cake! Nigger baker man
Last Line: An' scrub 'im off good fer de ole san' man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEGRO DANCERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Me an' ma baby's
Last Line: Two mo' ways to do de charleston!'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Dancing And Dancers


NEGRO GHETTO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I looked at their black faces
Last Line: Their far-too-humble feet
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NEGRO GIRL, by IRENE COOPER ALLEN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Negro girl, - tall, dusky - skinned diana
Last Line: Ignorant, are you happy?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Cosmetics; Slavery; Serfs


NEGRO IN NEW YORK, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I had forgotten so much in the south
Last Line: For this is one thing that you do not know, new york
Subject(s): African Americans; New York City


NEGRO LAUGHS BACK, by MARY JENNESS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You laugh, and I must hide the wound
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NEGRO LAUGHTER, by ANITA SCOTT COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NEGRO MOTHER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Children, I come back today
Last Line: For I will be with you till no white brother %dares to keep down the children of the negro mother
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Mothers


NEGRO MOTHER TO HER CHILD, by VICTOR JEREMY JEROME    Poem Source                    
First Line: Quit yo' wailin' honey bo'
Last Line: Brek dat prison down
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


NEGRO PEDDLER'S SONG, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Good lady, %I have corn and beets
Last Line: And also sweet potat-y
Subject(s): African Americans; Peddlers And Peddling


NEGRO SERVANT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All day subdued, polite
Last Line: O, sweet reief from faces that are white
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NEGRO SOLDIER'S CIVIL WAR CHANT: OLD ABE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole abe (god bless 'is ole soul!)
Last Line: An' de slave'll be free %in dese hard times
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEGRO SOLDIERS, by ROSCOE C. JAMISON    Poem Text                    
First Line: These truly are the brave
Last Line: That those who mock might find a better way!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Soldiers


NEGRO SOLDIERS OF AMERICA: WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING FOR, by LUCIAN B. WATKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: We fight-and for democracy
Last Line: Peace and its happiness at home!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; World War I


NEGRO SPIRITUAL: I THANK GOD I'M FREE AT LAS', by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Free at las' - free at las'
Last Line: I thank god I'm free at las'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


NEGROES, by MAXWELL BODENHEIM    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The loose eyes of an old man
Last Line: Softened in a long-forgotten cradle.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


NEGROES, by CHARLES REZNIKOFF    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: One night in april or may
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Cruelty; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


NEGROES LYNCHED IN MISSISSIPPI, by JOHN FREEMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: So always, justice drowsy and hate rising
Last Line: Proffering his blood to pleasure antichrist.
Subject(s): African Americans; Capital Punishment; Jesus Christ; Lynching; Mississippi; Murder; Negroes; American Blacks; Hanging; Executions; Death Penalty


NEGROES NEVER DIE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nigger! Nigger never die!
Last Line: Whirl, an' give his feet a fling. Nigger! Nigger!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEHI BLUES, by BLIND JOE REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some girls wear short dresses : some of these married women wear them too
Last Line: They work hard all the time : trying to stay in these young men's ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEHI MAMA BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: White man take the blues : he walk to the river and sit down
Last Line: The nehi women keep me : everywhere I go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEIGHBOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Down home / he sets on a stoop
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City); Negroes; American Blacks


NEIGHBOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Down home %he sets on a stoop
Last Line: Sometimes %he don't drink %true, %he just %lets his glass %set there
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City)


NEO-HOODOO MANIFESTO, SELS., by ISHMAEL REED    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Neo-hoodoo is a 'lost american church' updated
Last Line: You can't keep a good church down
Subject(s): African Americans; Religion


NEON SIGNS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wonder bar / wishing well / monterey
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City); Negroes; American Blacks


NEON SIGNS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wonder bar %wishing well %monterey
Last Line: Mirror-go-round %where broken glass %in the early bright smears re-bop %sound
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem (new York City)


NEPHEWS, by STELLA CREWS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When thesed tall black men
Last Line: The delicate gurgle of crib laughter %after a good tickle
Subject(s): African Americans


NESTING (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De jaybird build on a swingin' lim'
Last Line: An' de gander on de t'other side o' jordan
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEVER DRIVE A BEGGAR FROM YOUR STREET, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you see a blind man : on the street
Last Line: Never drive : a beggar from your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEVER GO WRONG BLUES, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now boys I once had a good woman : but I really did not treat her right
Last Line: Because a real good woman : can't be found every day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEVER LET YOUR LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND DO, by LIL JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had the blues last night : I've got them again today
Last Line: Don't let your left hand : know what your right hand do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEVER MIND BLUES, by GEORGIA BOYD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Never mind : honey never mind
Last Line: Spread your heart : babe just like mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEVER ON PRIME TIME, by LUCY E. THORNTON-BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man won't be %seen on television
Last Line: Wome wouldn't want %them any more
Subject(s): African Americans


NEVER SEEN THE LAKE SINCE GETTIN' UPSTAIRS, SELS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went right down to the muddy, muddy pond
Last Line: The fire kept a-runnin' out of joe gump's boots
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEVER TELL A WOMAN FRIEND, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you start telling her : he's got the stuff
Last Line: Because what you got must suit him : that's the surest sign
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW BLACK SNAKE BLUES--PART 1, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Something keep a-moaning : I don't know what it is
Last Line: The black snake is got the dough : you can't roll him from home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW BLACK SNAKE BLUES--PART 1, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: In my path lay a black snake : about eight or nine inches long
Last Line: Wonder if he's got another woman : lord since he been gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW BLACK SNAKE MOAN, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ooh : I ain't got no mammy now
Last Line: That old black snake mama : done run my darling home
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW BUMBLE BEE, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a bumblebee : don't sting nobody but me
Last Line: He stinging somebody : everywhere he lands
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW CABARET GIRL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That little yaller girl
Last Line: Babe you can't %live that way
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NEW CALVARY, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The saintly congregation of calvary baptist church in birmingham (white)
Last Line: To the finest sermon he has ever preached
Subject(s): African Americans; Churches


NEW COME BACK BABY, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you must have a heart : like a rock in the sea
Last Line: But I like to please you : every once in a while
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW DAY, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She coaxes her fat in front of her
Last Line: If she understands at all what I am saying
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NEW DIRTY DOZENS, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want them banties : mixed up with my *dominics*
Last Line: They all got drunk : and showed their santa claus
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW FALLING RAIN BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Storm is rising : and the rain begin to fall
Last Line: Every once in a while : I can hear my baby call my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW FLOWERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So many little flowers
Last Line: But the newly budding blossoms %are equally gay
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Cycl
Subject(s): African Americans


NEW FOLK, by TERRANCE HAYES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I said folk was dressed in blues but hairier and hemped.
Last Line: "til it stilled. ""when the moon's black,"" I said. ""be faithful"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


NEW HIGHWAY NO. 51, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Highway fifty: runs right by my baby's door
Last Line: Come out to little tommy's cabin : he lives on highway fifty-one
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW HOUSE, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two years before we moved to ohio
Last Line: And not going back to grandmama's house
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


NEW HOW LONG HOW LONG BLUES--PART 2, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to the country : put my watch in pawn
Last Line: But I will ride the rods baby : to be with you again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW HUNTSVILLE JAIL, by JOE EVANS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Write me a letter : and send it by mail
Last Line: Cockroaches and chinches : begin to crawl over my breast
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW LOUISE LOUISE BLUES, by JOHNNIE TEMPLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Louise left me this morning : she never said a word
Last Line: But she cooked my breakfast : brings it to my bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES, by NOAH LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was born in the desert : I was raised in the lion's den
Last Line: Says there's womens in the camp : don't mean no man no good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW MOON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There's a new young moon
Last Line: Veiling her face like a virgin %waiting for a lover
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NEW SHAKE THAT THING, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: So cold up north : till the birds can't sing
Last Line: The train come along : and it broke my back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW SITTIN' ON TOP OF THE WORLD, by LONNIE CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Made a date today : early or late
Last Line: To keep these men : from stealing my loving from me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW SOMEDAY BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: When trouble first started : down in my front door
Last Line: You done made me love you : now your man done come
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I speak in the name of the black millions
Last Line: A new dream flames %against the %sun
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NEW ST. LOUIS BLUES: MARKET STREET WOMAN, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Market street woman is known fuh to have dark days
Last Line: Let her git what she can git, 'fo dey lays on de coolin' board
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Jazz; Music And Musicians


NEW STOCK YARD BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here men : what I've got to say
Last Line: Speak to mr kelly : he's the auctioneer
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW STOP AND LISTEN BLUES, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I went to the graveyard : and I peeped down in her face
Last Line: ??? : you didn't want ooo me nohow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW SUGAR MAMA, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sugar mama sugar mama : won't you please come back to me
Last Line: You know I don't like nothing but my sugar : and that's what it takes to ease my misery
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW TWO SIXTEEN BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a woman in dallas : got one in san antonio too
Last Line: Honey I'm going to stop in town : I believe that I haven't never been before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW WALTY DOG, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said come in here : and you shut that door
Last Line: She shakes her shimmy : to who she pleases
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW WAY OF LIVING BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a new way of living : everybody can catch on
Last Line: So if one wants to quit : I can turn her *go*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW YEAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The years %fall like dry leaves
Last Line: That another leaf has fallen
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NEW YORK BLUES, by BLIND ROOSEVELT GRAVES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a brown in new york : what I am afraid
Last Line: If I *just tell her* in her face baby : *that will* ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NEW YORKERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was born here
Last Line: She lifted her lips %in the dark: the same old spark!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; New York City


NEWLY WEDS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: First mont': 'set down in my cabin, honey!'
Last Line: You well to wuk as I
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NEXT WEEK SOMETIME, by ALEC JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went out last night I got drunk : I was in whiskey up to my head
Last Line: He says look here brother : when are you going to rest
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NIAGARA FALL BLUES, by KID COLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got the niagara falls blues : pretty mama keeps a-worrying you
Last Line: I looked around for my baby : daddy I can't use you yet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NICKEL'S WORTH OF LIVER BLUES, by EDITH NORTH JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bring me a nickel's worth of liver : a dime's worth of stew
Last Line: I'll kill you about him : and my hand won't even quiver
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NIGGER, by CARL SANDBURG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the nigger
Last Line: I am the nigger.
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


NIGGER IN A PHOTOGRAPH, by ECE AYHAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Accursed. The curse which with its curving unsheathed letter will never leave
Last Line: It is not out of pity, but I am worried it won't pass. The curve of the letter u
Subject(s): African Americans; Photography And Photographers


NIGGER ISLAND, by GARY FINCKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: At noon, near the river, the guide
Last Line: The hypnosis of names sending %us upland to our painless homes
Subject(s): African Americans; Revolutions; Slavery


NIGGER; A CHANT FOR CHILDREN, by FRANK HORNE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Little black boy %chased down the street
Last Line: Black face an' shiney eye, %nigger...Nigger...Nigger'
Subject(s): African Americans


NIGHT COMES WALKING, by ESTHER POPEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Night comes walking out our way
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NIGHT FUNERAL IN HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Night funeral
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


NIGHT FUNERAL IN HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Night funeral
Last Line: That poor boy's %funeral grand. %night funeral %in harlem
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NIGHT IS LIKE AN AVALANCHE, by BESSIE MAYLE    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NIGHT JOE LOUIS WENT 21-0 BY DROPPING TAMI MAURIELLO, by WILLIAM KLOEFKORN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm babysitting he garlow boy
Last Line: We'd otherwise indulge by crying
Subject(s): African Americans; Boxing And Boxers; Louis, Joe (1914-1981); Sports


NIGHT RAINS HOT TAR, by LANCE JEFFERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The night rains hot tar into my throat
Last Line: The coaldust in my veins to come to fire before I die!
Subject(s): African Americans


NIGHT SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the dark %before the tall
Last Line: Fainted away %in the %dark
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NIGHT TIME BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nighttime's falling : the day is almost dawned
Last Line: But I'm just broken-hearted : trying to overcome these nighttime blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NIGHT'S PROTEGE, by MARJORIE MARSHALL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Child of bewitching night
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NIGHT, DEATH, MISSISSIPPI, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A quavering cry. Screech-owl?
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry; South (u.s.)


NIGHT, DEATH, MISSISSIPPI, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A quavering cry. Screech-owl?
Last Line: O night betrayed by darkness not its own
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Southern States


NIGHT: FOUR SONGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Night of the two moons
Last Line: Night of the four songs unsung %sorrow! Sorrow! %sorrow!Sorrow!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NIGHTMARE BOOGIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had a dream %and I could see
Last Line: Rolling bass, %whirling treble %of cat-gut lace
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NIKKI-ROSA, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Childhood remembrances are always a drag / if you're black
Last Line: All the while I was quite happy
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Variant Title(s): Nikki-roasa
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; African Americans - Women; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Women


NINETIES, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Had to leave the south
Last Line: But would never live in %mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


NINETY-EIGHT DEGREE BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to get up in the morning: do like buddy brown
Last Line: If she don't love me: she won't love nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NINETY-NINE YEAR BLUES, by JULIUS DANIELS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm take me my pistol : three rounds of ball
Last Line: Give you ninety-nine : don't come back here no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO BABY BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey no more baby : I ain't got no more baby now
Last Line: That poor child got drownded : sailing after me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO DOUGH BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's a hard time now : good man can't get no dough
Last Line: I'm going to get me a job : keep coal in your cold kitchen range
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO EASY RIDER BLUES, by GERTRUDE PERKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I walked all night : got a few more miles to go
Last Line: When you ain't here to love me : I'll simply hey hey
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO EXCUSES, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: My last report card
Last Line: To love you
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


NO GOOD MAN, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm one woman : who can't use a no-good man
Last Line: That's a two-faced woman : and a lying man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO GOOD WOMAN BLUES, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a no-good woman : and she sure don't mean me no good
Last Line: But she's taught me a lesson : about no-good women and men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO GOOD WOMAN BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want no woman : partner that wants every man in town
Last Line: I'm going to fill you car with gasoline : and meet you going downtown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO GOOD WOMAN BLUES, by JESSIE BABYFACE THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: What makes some women : when you treat them so nice and kind
Last Line: Now you ain't got nobody : and a good man's hard to find
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO IMAGES, by WARING CUNEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She does not know / her beauty
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NO IMAGES, by WARING CUNEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She does not know %her beauty
Last Line: And dish water gives back no images
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NO JOB BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been walking all day : and all night too
Last Line: I got to get me another meal ticket woman : so I won't have to work no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO MATTER HOW SHE DONE IT, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know a gal : by the name of marylou
Last Line: She shook it for the judge : and put the cop in jail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO MORE GOOD WATER, by JAYBIRD COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says there's no more good water : because this pond is dry
Last Line: Hey pretty mama : tell me what have you done
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO MORE LOVE POEMS #1, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ever since I realized there waz someone callt / a colored girl an evil woman
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NO MORE LOVE POEMS #1, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ever since I realized there waz someone callt %a colored girl an evil woman
Last Line: I cdnt stand bein sorry & cololred at the same time %it's so redundant in the modern world
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NO MORE WOMAN BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord she won't pick cotton: girl won't pick no corn
Last Line: Lord I walked all last night: and all last night before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO NO BLUES, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : my good gal was gone
Last Line: I long to hear : some good gal call my good gal call my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO NO BLUES, by CURLEY WEAVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got up this morning : my good pal was gone
Last Line: Don't let no woman : make a fool out of make a fool out of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NO REGRETS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Out of love
Last Line: Though the return %be never
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NO ROOM TO POKE FUN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nev' min' if my nose are flat
Last Line: An' de bullfrog hain't no beauty
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NO WOMAN NO NICKEL, by AMOS EASTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm cold in hand : can't get nothing here
Last Line: Lord you know I want a friend : like the one that adam had
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOBODY KNOWS, by HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBERN    Poem Source                    
First Line: There was one old brother : by the name of mose
Last Line: Got way back : and done the double eagle rock
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOBODY KNOWS DE TROUBLE I'VE HAD, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
Last Line: "what make ole satan hate me so? O yes, lord! / because he got me once and he let me go, o yes, lord
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT, by BOBBY LEECAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I went downtown : along broadway
Last Line: He said he lost on that number : the very same way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once I lived the life : of a millionaire
Last Line: Nobody wants me : around their door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOBODY LOOKING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well: I look dis a way, an' I look dat a way
Last Line: An' I drink'd up all o' de beer
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


NOBODY UT MY BABY IS GETTING MY LOVE, by BESSIE BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now some folks say : that love is blind
Last Line: Because I don't believe : in that two-time stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOBODY'S DIRTY BUSINESS, by MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some of these mornings : going to wake up crazy
Last Line: Oh you take me back : I'll treat you better
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOCTURNAL SOUNDS, by KATTIE M. CUMBO    Poem Source                    
First Line: Trembling novemeber winds %steam whistling in tenement pipes
Last Line: Sleep comes to close the ears of %the mind to night sounds of this world
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Sound


NOCTURNE, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This cool night is strange
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NOCTURNE, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Listening for the sound %of my own %voice
Last Line: And the color of blue %everywhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOCTURNE AT BETHESDA, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I thought I saw an angel flying low
Subject(s): African Americans; Bible; Religion; Negroes; American Blacks; Theology


NOCTURNE AT BETHESDA, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I thought I saw an angel flying low
Last Line: You are sad. It is the same with me
Subject(s): African Americans; Bible; Religion


NOCTURNE FOR THE DRUMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gay little devils %that hide in gin
Last Line: The quick red hour %before the day
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOMEN (TO FEMI SODIPO AND MY AFRICAN-AMERICAN ANCESTORS), by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My sunlight came pre-packaged
Last Line: And having no need to let myself be robbed %a second time
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Fathers And Daughters


NONETTE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You wound my soul with a thousand spears
Last Line: But your poor heart breaks, too, and you, too, die
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NORDIC, by LILLIAN BYRNES    Poem Source                    
First Line: He takes his love much as he takes his wine
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NORTH BOUND BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going north child : where I can be free
Last Line: *so I won't be alone* : can hear my northbound blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NORTH MEMPHIS BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I tell all you people : you can rest at ease
Last Line: You go to north memphis cafe : get something you never had
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NORTHBOUN', by LUCY ARIEL WILLIAMS    Poem Text                    
First Line: O' de wurl' ain't flat
Last Line: I'm upward boun'.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


NORTHERN LIBERAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And so %we lick our chops at birmingham
Last Line: Where you, %not I %am
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOSTALGIA, by MARJORIE MARSHALL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I shall go forth from here
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


NOT A MOVIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Well the rocked him with road-apples
Last Line: But, thank god , he wasn't dead! %and there ain't no ku klux on a 133rd
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Elections; Harlem (new York City); Racism; Southern States


NOT ELSE -- BUT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hip boots %deep in the blues
Last Line: Do, jesus! %lord %amen
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOT I ALONE, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Because I am not just I alone
Last Line: And I cannot ignore it
Subject(s): African Americans


NOT OFTEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I seldom see %a kangaroo
Last Line: But there's no %picture
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOT THAT FAR: CANARY ISLANDS, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: We touched land
Last Line: A man of tenerife %gave me %his island
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: EGYPT, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Stone for stone
Last Line: I wasn't going that far
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: GIBRALTAR, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Great rocks frighten
Last Line: Little people
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: GREECE, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Marble cools
Last Line: Turned to dry stone %dusk
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: ITALY, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: In naples %it was beads
Last Line: With his blessed toes %kissed off
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: MADEIRA, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Go slowly
Last Line: To sweeten the air of madeira
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: PORTUGAL, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Once above the sea
Last Line: The ceiling fell down %on their heads
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: RHODES, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Something once bloomed
Last Line: White knights slept here
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: SPAIN, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Granada %seville and cordoba
Last Line: A matador buried his sword %in a bank of roses
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: THE HOLY LAND, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Along the way
Last Line: Held out his lamb for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: THE TRIP BACK, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: The whip will never tame
Last Line: And I can't see
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: TUNISIA, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Dragon seas breathed white death
Last Line: Now carthage grows daisies
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: TURKEY, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: Remember %the fiery blue of planets
Last Line: Do stab %the darkness
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT THAT FAR: YUGOSLAVIA, by MAY MILLER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis            
First Line: From the tender
Last Line: Time is turning in black hills
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


NOT WHAT WAS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: By then the poetry is written
Last Line: Before the rose had gone
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOTE IN MUSIC, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Life is for the living
Last Line: And death a note unsaid
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOTE OF HUMILITY, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When all our hopes are sown on stony ground
Last Line: An hour or two, but it will not be soon
Subject(s): African Americans


NOTE ON COMMERCIAL THEATRE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You've taken my blues and gone
Last Line: I reckon it'll be %me myself! %yes it'll be me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOTE TO ALL NAZIS FASCISTS AND KLANSMEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You delight, %so it would seem
Last Line: Out of you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NOTHIN IN RAMBLING, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I's born in louisiana : I raised in algiers
Last Line: But I'm going to stay right here : and eat these old charity beans
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOTHING BUT THE BLUES, by CLEO GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm so blue : just as blue as I can be
Last Line: Because these mens in atlanta : about to let my hambone spoil
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOTORIETY WOMAN BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a notoriety woman : she about to drive me wild
Last Line: Everybody knows : when my notoriety woman come to town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NOW'S THE TIME (TAKE 1): 1. CELERITY, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Drizzly dawn. She
Last Line: Johnson's hook and jab
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


NOW'S THE TIME (TAKE 1): 2. NOW'S THE TIME, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Later. Mama
Last Line: Think I must have said
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


NOW'S THE TIME (TAKE 1): 3. AFTER YOU'RE GONE, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Later. Down to their
Last Line: Leave her front door cracked
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


NOW'S THE TIME (TAKE TWO) BIRD, APPLE BOUND, BOARDS KAYCEE, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Perch-poised
Last Line: And hold on tight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


NUDE YOUNG DANCER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What jungle tree have you slept under
Last Line: To what clean boy have you offered your lips
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NUMBER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When faith in black candles
Last Line: That hasn't yet %been won? %???
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NUMBER 4, by JR. DOUGHTRY LONG    Poem Source                    
First Line: Where my grandmother lived
Last Line: Ethiopia, ethiopa %e-th-io-piaaaaa!
Subject(s): African Americans


NUMBER FIVE BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Number five number five : please bring my baby back to me
Last Line: Well I know you didn't love me : now I'm going to find me some other place to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NUMBER NINE BLUES, by BLIND CLYDE CHURCH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down on number nine : where the m and m men go
Last Line: Drink good whiskey : gin and wine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NUMBER THREE BLUES, by WALTER BUDDY BOY HAWKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I lost all my money : I got nowhere to go
Last Line: I got to stay there : to eat them all by myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


NUMBERED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I think my days are numbered
Last Line: I spend my nights with you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NUMBERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I ever hit for a dollar
Last Line: Combinate a little %with my rent
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


NUMBERS, LETTERS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If you're not home, where
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


NUMBERS, LETTERS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If you're not home, where
Last Line: Today is the history we must learn %to desire. There is no guilt in love
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


NUT FACTORY BLUES, by HI HENRY BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jellyroll keep working : just about sixteenth street
Last Line: Well you hear one jellybean ask the other one : which way did the good girl go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


O BLACK AND UNKNOWN BARDS, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O black and unknown bards of long ago
Last Line: You sang a race from wood and stone to christ.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Bards; Jesus Christ; Slavery; Serfs


O SOUTHLAND!, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O southland! O southland!
Last Line: The faint one at his side.
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Freedom; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States; Liberty; South (u.s.)


OCTOBER, by ISABEL NEILL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now gypsy fires burn bright in every tree
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


OCTOBER 16: THE RAID, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Perhaps / you will remember
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


OCTOBER 16: THE RAID, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Perhaps %you will remember
Last Line: You will recall %john brown
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OCTOBER LAMENT, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Frame angular, skeleton
Last Line: Upon my wilted spirit %drop by mournful drop
Subject(s): African Americans


ODE TO BIG TREND, by TERRANCE HAYES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pretty soon the negroes were looking to get paid.
Subject(s): Labor & Laborers; African Americans; Work; Workers; Negroes; American Blacks


ODE TO DINAH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the quarter of the negroes %where to snow now acclimated
Last Line: And by mistake shot out the light
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ODE TO ETHIOPIA, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: O mother race! To thee I bring
Last Line: Of ethiopia's glory.
Subject(s): African Americans; Ethiopia; Negroes; American Blacks


OF DE WITT WILLIAMS ON HIS WAY TO LINCOLN CEMETERY, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: He was born in alabama
Last Line: Nothing but a plain black boy.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


OF EARTH, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: A mountain %is earth's mouth
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


OF MEN AND CLOUDS, by SHIRLEY HAYDEN-WHITNEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Men like clouds must cry sometime
Last Line: To cry sometime
Subject(s): African Americans


OF WALTER WHITE'S FATHER IN THE RAIN, by JR. HOUSTON A. BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Denied %like bessie
Last Line: Passing in the rain, separate, %and forever unequalled
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Racism; Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


OFF FROM RICHMOND (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se off from richmon' sooner in de mornin'
Last Line: Fer I mus' see my donie wharever she may stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OFFICE BUILDING: EVENING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When the white folks get through
Last Line: But just wait, chile...
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OFFICIAL NOTICE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear death: %I got your message
Last Line: With his blood %is sealed
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OH AMBULANCE MAN, by HATTIE HART    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey daddy hey daddy : don't let me cry in vain
Last Line: And you ought to be careful : how you handle my jellyroll
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OH GO TO SLEEP, MY BABY (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OH LAWDY MAMA, by CURLEY WEAVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Meet me down at the river : bring me my suit of clothes
Last Line: I may be back in june baby : may be back in first of may
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OH OH LONESOME BLUES, by SIX CYCLINDER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I had wings baby : just like a morning dove
Last Line: That is why you hear me : singing these lonesome blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OH RED, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh red : wish you were dead
Last Line: You didn't have no right : raise no hell nohow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OH, ANNIE, OH!, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OH, JOE, PLAY THAT TROMBONE, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: It makes me crazy : when you blow it up high
Last Line: That give me such a *kicking and a twicking* : around my heart
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OH, MY GOLDEN SLIPPERS AM LAID AWAY, by JAMES A. BLAND    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; Marriage; Shoes; Negroes; American Blacks; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Boots; Sneakers; Shoemakers


OH, WHEN I GIT MY NEW HOUSE DONE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OH, WHEN THIS EARTHLY TENEMENT, by SARAH LOUISA FORTEN    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Thou may attain a brighter home %a home beyond the sky
Alternate Author Name(s): Ada
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


OHIO RIVUH, SHE'S SO DEEP AN' WIDE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OIL WELL BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: There ain't nothing mama : no use ???
Last Line: When I starts to drilling : you hear women hollering too black bad
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OL' DOC' HYAR, by JAMES EDWIN CAMPBELL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ur ol' hyar lib in ur house on de hill
Last Line: Een de mighty fine house on de mighty high hill!
Subject(s): African Americans; Greed; Gullahs; Negroes; American Blacks; Avarice; Cupidity


OLD AGE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Having known robins on the window sill
Last Line: How do you feel'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OLD AUNT KATE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jes look at ole aunt kate at de gyardin gate
Last Line: She's a fine playmate
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD BLACK CAT BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe: that I got those black cat blues
Last Line: Lord if the black cat blues don't leave me mama: lord I've got to get further down the road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD BLACK GNATS (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dem ole black gnats, dey is so bad
Last Line: Fer I cain't git out'n here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD BLACK MEN, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They have dreamed as young black men dream
Last Line: As though they did not care.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): Old Age; African Americans; Dreams; Disappointment; African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks; Nightmares; Negroes; American Blacks


OLD BLACK MEN, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They have dreamed as young men dream
Last Line: As though they did not care.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


OLD BLACK MEN SAY, by JAMES ANDREW EMANUEL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: They say 'son' %(always start with son)
Last Line: Whatever they raised - %them old black men
Subject(s): African Americans


OLD DEVIL, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go back old devil : and look up on your shelf
Last Line: You don't need no man baby : don't know you in the dark when he feel
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD DOG QUEENIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Barking at the scenery
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OLD FOLKS STARTED IT, by MINNIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Talks about your *miller* : *he's from shore to shore*
Last Line: A woman with the strut : can always get a man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD GRAY GOOSE IS DEAD (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go and tell aunt betsie
Last Line: And he have bit off her head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD GRAY HORSE CAME TEARIN' THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Say, don't you want to go?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD GRAY MINK, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I once did a think dat I would sink
Last Line: An' he's killing an' eatin' chicken still
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD HEN CACKLED (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De ole hen she cackled
Last Line: She cackled in de pot
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD JIM CANAN'S, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wished I was back : at old jim canan's
Last Line: That's the reason why : I wished I was back at jim canan's
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD JOE, WHAT IS THE MATTER? (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: My horses go lookin' up hill
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD LIBERIA IS NOT THE PLACE FOR ME, by JOSHUA MCCARTER SIMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Come all ye colonizationists
Last Line: In old america!
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Colonialism; Liberia; Negroes; American Blacks


OLD LOUISIANA GAL (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come, honey come, come go wid me
Last Line: Hawk and buzzard went to lunch, ole louisiana gal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD MAN'S SONG (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old man, old man, and what's your sons names?
Last Line: And catchin' dem possum dey's cahrlie at de wheel
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD MOLLY HARE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: I hain't got no time fer to talk to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD ORIGINAL KOKOMO BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now one and one is two mama: two and two is four
Last Line: You mess around here pretty mama: you going to catch you a lot of hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD ROCK ISLAND BLUES, by LONNIE COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got the rock island blues : waiting for the rock island train
Last Line: Just tell lonnie coleman : done been to your town and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD ROUNDERS BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going to marry : ain't going to [be no settling, settle] down
Last Line: I got to dreaming so : I was talking all out of my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD SAILOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He has been %many places
Last Line: Lament him %everywhere
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OLD SECTION BOSS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I once knowed an ole sexion boss but he done been laid low
Last Line: You see; dat's de way de hoosiers feeds way our in arkansaw
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLD SLAVE WOMAN, by JOYCE SIMS CARRINGTON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                
First Line: She is like a wrinkled apple
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


OLD TAYLOR, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I love to sing : that good old taylor blues
Last Line: He going to give us a little drink : just before he go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD TIMBROOK BLUES, by JOHN BYRD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old timbrook was a black horse : black as any crow
Last Line: Old mrs went to the race track : and lost all her mon'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD TIME RIDER, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Believe I'll take : my old-timey rider back
Last Line: Says I can't do nothing : till that woman come back to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OLD WALT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Old walt whitman / went finding and seeking
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry & Poets; Whitman, Walt (1819-1891); Negroes; American Blacks


OLD WALT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Old walt whitman %went finding and seeking
Last Line: Old walt whitman went seeking %and finding
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry And Poets; Whitman, Walt (1819-1891)


OLD WOMAN IN THE HILLS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once: dere was an ole 'owan
Last Line: It mus' 'ave been bones
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OLE MAN KNOW-ALL, HE COME 'ROUND, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: But he knowed too much to go dat way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OMI ROSE, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Her face was such a warm doll
Last Line: Our baby - omi!
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


OMNI-ALBERT MURRAY, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: (three four) the ancestors are humming: write a poem, girl
Subject(s): African Americans; Ellington, Edward Kennedy ('duke'); New York City; Negroes; American Blacks; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple


OMNI-ALBERT MURRAY, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: (three four) the ancestors are humming: write a poem, girl
Last Line: Omni-albert murray omni omni albert murray
Subject(s): African Americans; Ellington, Edward Kennedy ("duke"); New York City


ON A CHRISTMAS NIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In bethlehem on a christmas night
Last Line: Be happy, happy, everyone %on a christmas night!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas


ON A HIGHWAY EAST OF SELMA, ALABAMA; JULY 1965, by GREGORY ORR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As the sheriff remarked: I had no business being there. He was
Last Line: And still he refuses to swallow.
Subject(s): African Americans; Mississippi; Prisons & Prisoners; Racism; Selma, Alabama; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


ON A PALLET OF STRAW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They did not travel in an airplane
Last Line: They found the lord of all!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas


ON BEING BROUGHT FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA, by PHILLIS WHEATLEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land
Last Line: May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
Alternate Author Name(s): Peters, Phillis
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - Women; Love - Loss Of; Mortality


ON BEING HEAD OF THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I will look with detachment %on the signing of contracts
Last Line: I am love
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ON DIVERSE DEVIATIONS, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When love is a shimmering curtain
Last Line: And no curtain drapes the door
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ON DIVERSE DEVIATIONS, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When love is a shimmering curtain
Last Line: Where love is the scream of anquish %and no curtain drapes the door
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ON IMAGINATION, by PHILLIS WHEATLEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thy various works, imperial queen, we see
Last Line: Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.
Alternate Author Name(s): Peters, Phillis
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Love - Loss Of; Mortality


ON LISTENING TO THE SPIRITUALS, by LANCE JEFFERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When the master lived a king and I a starving hutted slave beneath the lash
Last Line: A passionate heaven rose no god in heaven could create!
Subject(s): African Americans


ON THE BANKS UV THE OLE TENNESSEE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ON THE BIRTH OF BOMANI, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We have taken the best leaves
Last Line: Art that made you fill your heart
Subject(s): African Americans; Love - Cultural Differences; United States - Race Relations; Negroes; American Blacks


ON THE BIRTH OF BOMANI, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We have taken the best leaves
Last Line: May the love in the art that made you %fill your heart
Subject(s): African Americans; Love - Cultural Differences; U.s. - Race Relations


ON THE COAST OF MAINE, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ancestral, alone, under stone they lie
Last Line: Gulls, %scouting and %crying
Subject(s): African Americans


ON THE DEATH OF LISA LYMAN, by DELLA BURT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I had become callous like most
Last Line: Talk is too unreal
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ON THE DEDICATION OF DOROTHY HALL, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Not to the midnight of the gloomy past
Last Line: The striving women of a struggling race.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Tuskegee Institute


ON THE EDGES, by KAREN HALLIBURTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: How those ink-colored %dungarees
Last Line: On the edges %of a minute
Subject(s): African Americans


ON THE ROAD AGAIN, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wouldn't want a black woman : tell you the reason why
Last Line: Come on mama : let's get on the road again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ON THE STEPS, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Had never seen a crack pipe till
Last Line: All couldn't do any better
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


ON THE TURNING UP OF UNIDENTIFIED BLACK FEMALE CORPSES, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mowing his three acres with a tractor
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Corpses; Cadavers


ON THE TURNING UP OF UNIDENTIFIED BLACK FEMALE CORPSES, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mowing his three acres with a tractor
Last Line: That digs me up with this pen %and turns my sad black face to the light
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Corpses


ON THE UPTOWN LEXINGTON AVENUE EXPRESS: MARTIN LUTHER KING, by DURIEL E. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: This moring/ there is a woman giving a sermon/ her voice trembling over
Last Line: To get off the train/ or scream/ but the doors and my throat are closed
Subject(s): African Americans; Subways


ON THE WALL, by LOUISE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'm going to memphis : come to stop at cincinnat'
Last Line: Well I'm going to leave here :
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ON TOP OF THE POT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wild goose gallop an' gander trot
Last Line: Walk about, ladies, on top o' de pot
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ON WITNESSING THE RECEIPT HONORARY DEGREE BY STERLING BROWN, by BETH BROWN PRESTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Although the chaos of those walls
Last Line: Ain't no rush, bebby, %long ways to go
Subject(s): African Americans; Brown, Sterling (1901-1989)


ONCE, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Green lawn / a picket fence
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Southern States; South (u.s.)


ONCE, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Green lawn %a picket fence
Last Line: The very %tips %of her %fingers
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Southern States


ONE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lonely %as the wind
Last Line: Lonely %as a bottle of licker %on a table %by itself
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ONE AND TWO BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you want me to love you : *keep much*
Last Line: Be a long-tailed one : have plenty of jack
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ONE LETTER HOME, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe I'll write : just one more letter home
Last Line: Now tell me what is the reason : that a-we can't get along
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ONE MAN NAN, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The very thought of sam sinking : that's my *cup*
Last Line: It's going to be my place : to pick him up
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ONE MORE S IN THE U.S.A., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Put one more s in the u.S.A.
Last Line: Will be the u.S.S.A. Then
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ONE MORE RIVER, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "o, jordan bank was a great old bank!"
Last Line: Dere ain't but one more river to cross
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


ONE MORE TIME, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can't sleep no more : can't get her off my mind
Last Line: Lord and if that don't do it : might be one more rounder gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ONE THING I DONT NEED', by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Steda bein sorry alla the time %enjoy bein yrself
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ONE THOUSAND NINE-HUNDRED & SIXTY-EIGHT WINTERS, by JACKIE EARLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got up this morning
Last Line: White %snow!
Subject(s): African Americans


ONE TIME BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ah : the rising sun going down
Last Line: I'll get up every morning : work hard all day for you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ONE WAY GAL, by WILLIAM MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's one thing I like : about that gal of mine
Last Line: She takes the blues away : and satisfies my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ONE-WAY TICKET, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I pick up my life
Last Line: Gone out west, %gone!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ONLY DUMB GUYS FIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Only dumb guys fight
Last Line: Only dumb guys fight
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ONLY IN THIS WAY, by MARGARET GOSS BURROUGHS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Not by wayout hairdos, bulbous afro blowouts, and certainly
Last Line: Only in this way to lay the groundwork for the change to come - %for the future - for your century
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ONLY LOVE I KNOW (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Johnny had a little girl and she walk'd around
Last Line: Come in the ring and bow to him low
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ONLY WOMAN, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now this was my sad story : I never will forget the day
Last Line: Lord I'm sorry you couldn't be here now : to have the last few words with me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ONLY WOMAN BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I want to tell you 'bout that woman
Last Line: Woman's gonna mistreat me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OPEN LETTER TO THE SOUTH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: White workers of the south
Last Line: Today, %we're man to man
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OPOSSUM HUNT (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Possum meat is good an' sweet
Last Line: Twus de bigges' eatin' in de lan'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OPPRESSION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now dreams %are not available
Last Line: And the song %break %its jail
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ORANGE CHIFFON, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If orange chiffon sadness %flowered from my chin of three bumps
Last Line: And my shadow half the size of two dates %broke
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ORGAN GRINDER BLUES, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Organ grinder organ grinder : organ grinder play that melody
Last Line: If you are done : let mama grind awhile for you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ORIFLAMME, by JESSIE REDMOND FAUSET    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I think I see her sitting bowed and black
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers


ORIFLAMME, by JESSIE REDMOND FAUSET    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I think I see her sitting bowed and black
Last Line: Clutching our birthright, fight with faces set %still visioning the stars!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers


ORIGIN OF THE SNAKE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Up de hill an' down de level
Last Line: Devil come an' gits his own
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Animals; Black Songs; Snakes


ORIGINS, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm
Last Line: But the music %lives on in me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


ORISHA, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Across the flesh and feeling of soledad
Last Line: Immense in its infancy of these few words %orisha orisha satchmo orisha
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ORNITHOLOGY: GENEALOGY, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, my, addie
Last Line: She became his bride
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


ORONDE, by PAULETTE CHILDRESS WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: The tangles on my baby's head
Last Line: To run away %from me
Subject(s): African Americans


ORTHODOXIES 24, by ECE AYHAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: At the chapel of the three angels, a ritual. The scarlet
Last Line: Theodoros, the commander with the black dimple
Subject(s): African Americans; Churches; Slavery


OTHER SIDE, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I used to stand on top of the shed in the back of my
Last Line: Where I stood for a long time
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


OTHER SIDE OF JORDAN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, de devil an' black jack, dey wus a playin' seben-up
Last Line: Den he brung awau de balunce jes' a strutin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OTTAWA, MN, CEMETERY-1992, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: A million years ago
Last Line: Seem to squawk at the thought of it
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Racism; Slavery; U.s. - History


OUGHTA BE A WOMAN, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Washing the floors to send you to college
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights; Feminism


OUGHTA BE A WOMAN, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Washing the floors to send you to college
Last Line: Too much of a task for any one woman
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


OUR BLACK PEOPLE, by KALI GROSVENOR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Our black %people are
Last Line: For me and all %of you
Subject(s): African Americans


OUR CAT, by JAMES BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: She touches with her paw
Last Line: Fantastic family friend - firefur!
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Brothers And Sisters; Family Life


OUR GRANDMOTHERS, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She lay, skin down in the moist dirt
Subject(s): African Americans; Grandparents; Grandparents; Negroes; American Blacks; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers


OUR LAND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We should have a land of sun
Last Line: Oh, sweet away! %ah, my beloved one, away
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OUR OLD MULE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: We had an ole mule an' he wouldn' go 'gee'
Last Line: So he made me jump up an' outrun de jews
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OUT OF NOWHERE, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Whispers: listen
Last Line: Too pleased with himself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


OUT OF WORK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I walked de streets till
Last Line: And see what it would do to you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


OUT ON SANTA FE--BLUES, by ARTHUR PETTIES    Poem Source                    
First Line: The little woman in the cellar : the boss upstairs
Last Line: *it won't be love you* : back up this road I'm going
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OUT WEST BLUES, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I were laying upstairs mama : trying to take my rest
Last Line: And I'm out westbound : that's if the bull don't have me barred
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OUT WITH THE WRONG WOMAN, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to a party last night : I was dressed to kill
Last Line: When that lady opened that door : I said I'll never do this no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OUTCAST, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For the dim regions whence my fathers came
Last Line: Under the white man's menace, out of time.
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


OUTRUNNING THE DEVIL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went upon de mountain
Last Line: I'se tried dem other ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


OUTSIDE WOMAN BLUES, by BLIND JOE REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you lose your money : please god don't lose your mind
Last Line: While you're off with your woman : your wife could be at home beating you doing buddy what you tryin
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OVER TO MY HOUSE, by GEESHIE WILEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come around to my house : ain't nobody here but me
Last Line: Every married woman : got a back-door man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OVERTIME BLUES, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been working overtime baby : oh the sun got hot
Last Line: That's when you'll call for poor walter : but he won't be in your home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


OWL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: The dancing owl waves his spread tail feathers. I'm the owl
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PACK UP YOUR TRUNK BLUES, by TOMMIE BRADLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody here baby : seem to have a jolly time
Last Line: Now seem everything everything you do : it is to worry my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PACKING TRUNK BLUES, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm sitting down here wondering : would a matchbox hold my clothes
Last Line: You get half a gallon of whiskey : you get on your big drunk
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAGE 34, by HARRYETTE MULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: If your complexion is a mess
Subject(s): African Americans; Skin Color; Negroes; American Blacks


PAGE 35, by HARRYETTE MULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The essence lady
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


PAGE'S GEESE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole man page'll be in a turble rage
Last Line: An' sent de pay home be de gander
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PAINFUL BLUES, by RUTH MARY WILLIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My heart is painful : I believe my blues are pouring down
Last Line: He has me almost crazy : till I was satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAIR IN ONE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The strangeness
Last Line: Both at once %are sounded
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PALE LADY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pale, delightful lady
Last Line: Oh, pale, delightful lady, %how I love you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PALM SUNDAY, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So here come I
Last Line: And collards in the air
Subject(s): Palm Sunday; Homecoming; African Americans


PALM WINE SELLER, by GLADYS MAY CASELY HAYFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Akosua selling palm wine
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


PANAMA LIMITED, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't got nobody : take me to this train
Last Line: Mmm : mmm
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PANTHER SQUALL BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a sweet mama : she ain't low at all
Last Line: I bet you my last dollar : she don't put them jinx on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAPA, by NUBIA KAI    Poem Source                    
First Line: Papa, %when men like you die
Last Line: Will come and join you %at our lord's throne
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


PAPA LONG BLUES, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up early this morning : blues all around my bed
Last Line: You will call for me : and I'll be a thousand miles from home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAPA LOVES HIS LITTLE BABY (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Hush, hush a by
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PAPA WANTS A COOKIE, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama's baking cookies : out in the kitchen
Last Line: Mama just smiles : when she hear papa say
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAPA WANTS TO KNOCK A JUG, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw your mama : in kansas city
Last Line: It's four or five times : and then some more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAPA'S LAWDY LAWDY BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love my baby : and my baby do love me
Last Line: I got a wife got a girl : and I'm fooling on the outside too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAPI WAS A DANCING MAN, by AVOTCJA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Papi was 25 shades blacker than midnight
Subject(s): African Americans


PARADE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Seven ladies / and seventeen gentlemen
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


PARADE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Seven ladies %and seventeen gentlemen
Last Line: A chance to let %parade! %the whole world see %parade %old black me!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PARCHMAN FARM BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Judge give me life this morning : down on parchman farm
Last Line: But I hope some day : I will overcome
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PARISIAN BEGGAR WOMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once you were young
Last Line: Will kiss you again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PARK BENCH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I live on a park bench
Last Line: Move on over %to park avenue?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Homeless; Social Protest


PARK BENCHING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've sat on the park benches in paris
Last Line: Hungry days, %no jobs, %no work
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PARK WORKER, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: The harbor is as a baby's blue eye
Last Line: And moves down the incline toward the water
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Child Labor; Girls


PARODY ON 'NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP', by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Un-huh: 'now I lays me down to sleep'
Last Line: I hopes 'deir' ole jawbones'll break
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PARODY ON 'REIGN, MASTER JESUS, REIGN', by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, rain! Oh rain! Oh rain, 'good' mosser
Last Line: Wet ground grows grass best
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PARS DE HAT EROUN', by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ef yer wants ter gain de kingdom,'
Last Line: The end.
Subject(s): African Americans; Clergy; Deception; Money; Public Worship; Salvation; Negroes; American Blacks; Priests; Rabbis; Ministers; Bishops; Church Attendance


PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De second day of christmas, my true lover gave for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PARTY, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Carla jackson threw me a party before I went north
Last Line: I could never really come back
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


PASSAGE, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Got up %this morning at 2:45, breakfast at 3:30
Last Line: It must have been a whale!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


PASSING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On sunny summer sunday afternoons in harlem
Last Line: Harlem of the bitter dream, %since their dream has %come true
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PASSING LOVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Because you are to me a song
Last Line: You will not stay when summer goes
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PASSIONFRUIT, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here are rivers raining
Last Line: Of memories, lean veins of new loves
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Love; Passion


PASTORAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Between the little clouds of heaven
Last Line: The child, come back again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PATENT BROWN STOUT, by HORACE SMITH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A brewer, in a country town
Last Line: "and boil him down at every brewing?"
Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, Horatio
Subject(s): African Americans; Drinks & Drinking; Negroes; American Blacks; Wine


PATHOLOGICAL PUZZLE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There are so many diseases
Last Line: How any man %remains intact
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PATRIOTISM AND A PENSION, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ole fo'th ob july
Last Line: An' one jes' fo' comin' out alive.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans; Army - United States; Fourth Of July; Patriotism; Negroes; American Blacks; Independence Day


PATTIN' DAT CAT, by TEDDY BUNN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Marths's sitting : on up that fence
Last Line: Sashaying : all around the house
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAY ME NO WIND, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Have you woke up in the morning : *you weep and moan*
Last Line: Now I got me another woman : best in the neighborhood
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PAYING DEBTS WITH KICKS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I owes yo' daddy a peck o' peas
Last Line: I never fails to pay my debts
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PEA VINE BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I think I heard : the pea vine when she blowed
Last Line: She blowed just like : she wasn't going to blow no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PEACE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We passed their graves
Last Line: Who had gained %the victory
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PEACE CONFERENCE IN AN AMERICAN TOWN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At the back fence calling
Last Line: At the back fence calling %you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PEACH ORCHARD MAMA, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Peach orchard mama : you swore nobody'd pick your fruit but me
Last Line: Because when I gets mad : I acts just like a clown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PEACH ORCHARD MAMA, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Peach orchard mama : you swore no one get your fruit but me
Last Line: Now peach orchard mama since you been in trouble : you wish to god that I would die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PEACH ORCHARD MAMA, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Peach orchard mama : you swore wasn't nobody going to use your peaches but me
Last Line: Ever again I want a peach orchard mama : ooo well well widh to god that you would die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PEACHES, by KARLA FRANCESCA BRUNDAGE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your georgia peachtree accent
Last Line: Longing on the mississippi %for more fruit to eat
Subject(s): African Americans


PEACHES IN THE SPRINGTIME, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you give me peaches in the springtime : apples in the fall
Last Line: So I can see my good gal : when she try and pass me by
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PEACK COCKS POEMS, SELS., by SHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I never thought to see us
Last Line: Sista -- sista -- been and is
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Mothers And Daughters; Women


PEARLS, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was the hurt he didn't see
Last Line: Shimmering in her eyes
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Freedom; Love; Man-woman Relationships


PECULIAR FASCINATION WITH THE DEAD, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Light candles to honor the dead
Last Line: Whom you have every right %to love
Subject(s): African Americans; Death


PEEP SQUIRREL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Peep squir'l, ying-ding-did-lum
Last Line: I cotch you squir'l! Now stay, I say
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PEETIE WHEATSTRAW STOMP, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Women all raving : about peetie wheatstraw in this land
Last Line: The way I strut my stuff : ooo well now you never can tell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PEETIE WHEATSTRAW STOMP NO. 2, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody hollering : here come that peetie wheatstraw
Last Line: You can come up : and see me sometime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PENAL FARM BLUES, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early one morning : on my way to the penal farm
Last Line: My time is up : and penal farm has set me free
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PENITENTIARY, by BESSIE TUCKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aah ha ha : what's the matter with my man today
Last Line: You going to keep on *a-palling* : you going to wake up in your grave
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PENNIES FROM HEAVEN: WHAM BAM, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: A lush shadow-shape
Last Line: See you soon
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


PENNILESS BLUES, by WALTER ROLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been blue all night : what is I going to do
Last Line: And you know it's going to be some hell raised : lord if she don't bring some of my money back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PENNSYLVANIA STATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The pennsylvania station in new york
Last Line: To glorify the earth - and you - and me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Pennsylvania Station, New York City; Railroads


PENNSYLVANIA WOMAN BLUES, by SIX CYCLINDER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Working in the steel mills baby : handling ???
Last Line: Well they're so doggone evil : break up every woman's bone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PEOPLE GATHER, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They had it together
Last Line: But once
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


PEOPLE OF WATTS, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where we come from, sometimes, beauty
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): Los Angeles; African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE, by CHARLIE SPECKS MCFADDEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: People people : you don't know my mind
Last Line: You got a home : just as long as I've got mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PERIWINKLE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pennywinkle, pennywinkle, poke out yo' ho'n
Last Line: Jes stick out yo' ho'n all pinted to a tree
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PERSONAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In an envelope marked: personal
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


PERSONAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In an envelope marked: personal
Last Line: I have given my answer
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PERSONAL LETTER NO. 3, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nothing will keep
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


PERSONAL LETTER NO. 3, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nothing will keep
Last Line: I am tired %of it all
Subject(s): African Americans


PERSPECTIVE, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Some day
Last Line: That wound me!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


PETAL CHILD, by JOYCE CAROL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Laughing winds went sweeping by and found the first bud
Last Line: Wish your bloom a peaceful stay -- and color for your petaled eyes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Peace


PH.D., by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He never was a silly little boy
Last Line: And quite beyond his ph.D.'s small range
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PHILIPPINE ISLAND RHYME, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: See that monket up the cocanut tree
Last Line: All same to americano, %no hay dique
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PHONOGRAPH BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yeah but she got a phonograph : but it won't say a lonesome word
Last Line: I can bring your clothes back home : and try me one more time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PHRASEOLOGY, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I say things to myself %in a bitch of a syllable
Last Line: The impulsive foam %of a spastic
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


PIAF AND HOLIDAY GO OUT, by CAROL PEPPIS BERGE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bracelet eat into the flesh / the gangrene of
Last Line: It will be easier. Sing it loud
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Piaf, Edith (1915-1963); Singing And Singers


PIANO LESSONS, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's hard growing up in a family that
Last Line: Then dragged me forever away from culture in shorter
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


PICCOLO RAG, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: You talk about loving : that sure is *hit*
Last Line: You do that loving : let it go round and round
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PICK A BALE OF COTTON, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jump down, turn around to pick a bale of cotton
Last Line: Oh, lordy, pick a bale a day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


PICTURE GALLERY, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a tight corner of the house, we'd kept
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Art & Artists; Housekeeping; Paintings & Painters


PICTURE GALLERY, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a tight corner of the house, we'd kept
Last Line: Our lives suddenly beautiful, then
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Art And Artists; Housekeeping; Paintings And Painters


PICTURES TO THE WALL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Shall I tell you of my old, old dreams
Last Line: Or shall I keep quiet and let turn %my ugly pictures to the wall
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PIERROT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I work all day, %said simple john
Last Line: With the burgher's wife one june
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PIG IRON SALLY, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some folks say black is evil : but I will tell the world they're wrong
Last Line: And if you don't believe I'm dirty : you can watch my bogus stroke
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PIG MEAT BLUES, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: You may be little : you may have a tender snout
Last Line: Still you got your grunt ; but you done lost your root
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PIG MEAT MAMA, by MAE GLOVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a pigmeat mama : pigmeat's all I crave
Last Line: If I don't get my pigmeat : lord I'd rather be dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PIG MEAT PAPA, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Just look a-here mama : don't treat pigmeat the way you do
Last Line: Take a boat to china : then it's *catch us* anywhere
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PIG TAIL (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Run boys, run
Last Line: Hain't no nigger's bes' fare
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PIGGY-BACK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My daddy rides me piggy-back
Last Line: Has had enough to do
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PIGMEAT BLUES, by GEORGIA+(2) WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know this is pigmeat : the kind that you won't regret
Last Line: *register it poor on* china : *span* the test sanywhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PILE DRIVIN' BLUES, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Drove so many piles : my hammer's all worn out
Last Line: You have broke my hammer : my hammer's out of line
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PINEAPPLE SURPRISE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Grandma wasn't much for hugging
Last Line: Baked for nobody else but me
Subject(s): African Americans; Cakes; Food And Eating; Grandparents; Love


PINEBLUFF ARKANSAS, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ooo well I got a little woman : in pinebluff arkansas
Last Line: She said I declare if you want me daddy : you better hurry home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PINEY WOODS MONEY MAMA, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord heavy-hipped mama : she done moved to the piney wood
Last Line: But that fool just off and left me : she done moved to the piney wood
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PIRATE LEGEND, by DUBOSE HEYWARD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Under the feet of a tall machine
Last Line: Driven city stumbled from its sleep.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


PISTOL SNAPPER BLUES, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can tell my dog : anywhere I hear him bark
Last Line: That's a lying woman : and a monkey-man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PITCHIN' BOOGIE, by WILL EZELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now look here girl : put on your best dress
Last Line: Close the door : ain't going to let nobody up here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PITY THIS POOR ANIMAL, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: And walks on grass %and has no need for fire
Subject(s): African Americans; Ethnic Groups - United States


PLAINT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Money and art
Last Line: Are far apart
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PLANT FLOWERS ON MY GRAVE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Darling, soon I shall be sleeping
Last Line: Of my lover I wish to keep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PLANTATION HYMN, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hear dat rum'lin' in de sky!
Last Line: As he goes walkin' by!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs; Jesus Christ; Slavery; Negro Spirituals; Serfs


PLASTER (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dey sticked a plaster on his back
Last Line: An' drawed 'em up to glory
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PLAY IT A LONG TIME AGO, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Play it a long time ago : your mama's feeling blue
Last Line: That you have come : to have to plink
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLAYING POLICY BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Numbers numbers : about to drive me wild
Last Line: I'm going to keep playing policy : till some good luck comes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLAYLAND, by MARK DOTY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The black piano player's straightened hair
Last Line: "continues, yes, light the light, I’ll be home, late tonight,
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


PLAYLAND, by MARK DOTY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The black piano player's straightened hair
Last Line: Continues, yes, light the light, I'll be home %late tonight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


PLEADIN' FOR THE BLUES, by BERTHA CHIPPIE HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm not crying : pleading at your feet
Last Line: I will leave anybody : that treats me like you do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLEADING BLUES, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Folks you don't know : how worried must I be
Last Line: Now one gal is in jail : and the other one is in the pen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLEASE BABY, by LONNIE CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Please baby please baby : won't you come back to your daddy one more time
Last Line: I got to take my meals : and can't eat a bite
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLEASE BABY, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Please baby please baby : won't you come back to your daddy one more time
Last Line: Please baby please baby : I need you here to carry my loving on
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLEASE DON'T ACT THAT WAY, by TOMMIE BRADLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes I wonder : I want to go back home
Last Line: I took all my money : and I brought it home to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLEASE DON'T GO, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now baby please don't go : baby please don't go
Last Line: Don't call my name you got me way down here : wearing the ball and chain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLEASE DON'T MISTREAT ME, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Please don't mistreat me : if you don't want me around
Last Line: Lord I wouldn't say hard things to you mama : to make you hang your head and cry
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLEASE MA'AM, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Been begging you : all night long
Last Line: Begging you : babe if you please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PLYMOUTH ROCK BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got so many chickens : can't tell my roosters from my hens
Last Line: I don't want them banties : mixed up with my plymouth rocks
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PNEUMATIC BLUES, by BLIND CLYDE CHURCH    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can go to the ocean : you can go to the deep blue sea
Last Line: But to keep down trouble : mama guess I better go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PNEUMONIA BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm aching all over : believe I got the pneumonia this time
Last Line: Tell my good gal I'm going : but I'm still a-standing pat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PO' BOY BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I was home de %sunshine seemed like gold
Last Line: I's so weary %I wish I'd never been born
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PO' OLE SLAVE IS GONE TO REST, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PO' SHINE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: We can't do me lak you done po' shine, - paid off evuh
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


POEM, by CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the earnest path of duty
Last Line: We would win a wreath immortal %whose bright flowers n'er fade and die
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


POEM, by GLORIA T. HULL    Poem Source                    
First Line: What you said %keeps bothering me
Last Line: Our labor is more important than %our silence
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


POEM, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Little brown boy / slim, dark, big-eyed
Last Line: You are.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Children; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


POEM - TO THE BLACK BELOVED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ah, my black one
Last Line: Pale in the light %of thy nightness
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM ... FOR A LOVER, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I would give you %the blue-violet dreams
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


POEM ABOUT POLICE VIOLENCE, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell me something
Last Line: You think the accident rate would lower subsequently
Subject(s): United States - Race Relations; Racism; African Americans; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry; Negroes; American Blacks


POEM AT THIRTY, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is midnight
Last Line: Of the night.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


POEM COMPOSED FOR .. THE VIGILANT COMMITTEE OF PHILADELPHIA, by DANIEL ALEXANDER PAYNE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Rise, god of freedom! From thy throne of light
Last Line: "be free! Be free! Ye ransomed lands, be free!"
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Slavery; United States; Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States; Serfs; America


POEM FOR AN INTELLECTUAL ON THE WAY UP TO SUBMIT TO HIS LADY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Do not call me dr.
Last Line: Just call me turtle dove
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM FOR BLACK HEARTS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For malcolm's eyes, when they broke
Last Line: We fail, and white men call us faggots till the end of %the earth
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


POEM FOR BLACK RELOCATION CENTERS, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Flukum couldn't stand the strain. Flukum
Last Line: The enemy far away on the other side of the sea
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM FOR FLORA, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When she was little
Last Line: And she would think %I want to be %like that
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM FOR HALFWHITE COLLEGE STUDENTS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Who are you, listening to me, who are you
Last Line: You might be surprised right out the window, whistling dixie on the way in
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


POEM FOR HALFWHITE COLLEGE STUDENTS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who are you, listening to me, who are you
Last Line: You might be suprised right out the window, whistling dixie on the way in
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


POEM FOR MY FATHER, by ERICA ANNETTE PIERCE    Poem Source                    
First Line: He stood but 5'10
Last Line: Cast a giannt shadow
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


POEM FOR MY FATHER, by QUINCY TROUPE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Father, it was an honor to be there, in the dugout
Last Line: Father, a harbinger, of shock waves, soon come
Subject(s): African Americans; Baseball; Fathers & Sons; Sports; Negroes; American Blacks


POEM FOR MYSELF, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was born in mississippi
Last Line: Gonna be free in mississippi %or dead in the mississippi mud
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM FOR NANA, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What will we do %when there is nobody left %to kill?
Last Line: God knows I hope he's right
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


POEM FOR SOME BLACK WOMEN, by CAROLYN M. RODGERS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am lonely
Last Line: Add here detract there %lonely
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


POEM FOR YOUTH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Raindrops %on the crumbling walls
Last Line: About sun-filled rain %drowning yesterday
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM OF PRAISE, by JENNIFER E. SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hollywood is %gold
Last Line: Yo rhythmic %rivers
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM ON MY FORTIETH BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER WHO DIED YOUNG, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Well I have almost come to the place where you fell
Last Line: Running like hell and if I fall / I fall
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Death; Mothers & Daughters; Dead, The


POEM ON MY FORTIETH BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER WHO DIED YOUNG, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Well I have almost come to the place where you fell
Last Line: Running like hell and if I fall %I fall
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Death; Mothers And Daughters


POEM SOME PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dull unwashed windows of eyes
Last Line: Will the machinegunners please step forward?
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Men


POEM TO A DEAD SOLDIER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ice-cold passion %and bitter breath
Last Line: Have lost your youth now %with the vilest of whores
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Death


POEM TO NEGRO AND WHITES, by MAXWELL BODENHEIM    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The elevator rises, negro men
Last Line: The mutual rescues, quiet, understood.
Subject(s): African Americans; Racial Equality; Stock Exchange; Negroes; American Blacks


POEM TO THRILL THE NAACP OR A BLACK FAMILY MOVES ..., by MBEMBE MILTON SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: He was black, yes
Subject(s): African Americans; Civil Rights Movement


POEM TO UNCLE SAM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Uncle sam %with old jim crow
Last Line: Tackle hitler -- %shoot jim down
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM [1], by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All the tom-toms of the jungles beat in my blood
Last Line: So strong, %so cold
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM [3], by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When young spring comes
Last Line: The old, old god of love %to please
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POEME D'AUTOMNE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The autumn leaves %are too heavy with color
Last Line: Will be their only %love
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POEMS FOR GORDON: BLACK DIAMOND, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The kids are practicing rock
Last Line: Their private hells suspended
Subject(s): African Americans


POEMS FOR GORDON: GORDON, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A man -- his jazz
Last Line: His silences tracking the %dawn
Subject(s): African Americans


POEMS FOR GORDON: SOUTH PAW BABY, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I tried to make you a right-handed soon
Last Line: But you couldn't find your mouth with a spoon
Subject(s): African Americans


POET TO BIGOT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have done so little
Last Line: My moment is %a flower
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POET TO PATRON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What right has anyone to say
Last Line: What poems today?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POKER WOMAN BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I love to gamble : and gambling's all I do
Last Line: Going to keep her with me : each and every day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POLICE DOG BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: All my life: I been a traveling man
Last Line: Before she sics : her police dog on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POLICE SERGEANT BLUES, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to tell you : baby tell you now
Last Line: Because the girl I love : she's not got a dime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POLICY BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey I wonder : where is that policy right man [at] now
Last Line: Just cut across on st lawrence avenue : and bring my money on home to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POLICY WHEEL BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now while you playing policy buddy : play four eleven and forty-four
Last Line: Think you going to get my money mama : that's your yas yas y as
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POLISHERS OF BRASS, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am thinking of the men who polish brass in georgetown
Last Line: Where they started, it has already tarnished, and the must begin again
Subject(s): African Americans


POLITICS, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mama's best friend in high school
Last Line: Shorter being unforgiving of that kind of thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


POLOCK BLUES, by JABO WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down way down : way down in polack town
Last Line: And *the luck of the fortune* mama : you may need me around some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POMP'S DEFENSE, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I stole dem breeches, I 'knowledge de corn
Last Line: Ter steal dem breeches ter be baptize' in.
Subject(s): African Americans; Baptism; Religion; Negroes; American Blacks; Christenings; Theology


PONY BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can catch my pony : saddle up my black mare
Last Line: I don't want to marry : just want to be your man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOLE COUNTRY BLUES, by EDDIE KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's nobody know : polk country like I do
Last Line: I'm going to sing this old song : everywhere I go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR BOY A LONG WAYS FROM HOME, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a poor boy : I'm a long way from home
Last Line: I want to hear : from that bobcat gal of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR BOY BLUES, by SAM BUTLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : blues all around my bed
Last Line: Lord lord : ain't going to moan no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR BOY BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I'm a poor boy : I'm going to and fro
Last Line: Lord I just want you : give this poor boy's heart some ease
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR BOY BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was down in louisiana : doing as I please
Last Line: And my home's on the water : and I sure don't like land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR BOY, LONG WAYS FROM HOME, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Been a poor boy : a long way from home
Last Line: I cried please ma'am : give me thirteen forty-nine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR COAL PASSER, by FRANK JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a poor coal loader : I'm in the mine
Last Line: Woman I swear : you's a no-good chick
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR GIRL'S RUINATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went to chicago
Last Line: Take what is in %consideration
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POOR HOUSE BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: The road to hardship : leads right to the poorhouse door
Last Line: In the poorhouse : I'll be till judgment day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR JOHN BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'd rather be dead : sleep in an old hollow log
Last Line: Lord I ain't crazy : about nobody I ever seen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR LAZARUS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: High sheriff tol' de deputy, 'go out an' bring me laz'us'
Last Line: Dat's my only son, lawd, lawd, dat's my only son
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


POOR LITTLE LAMB SAID 'MAMMY', by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old molly glascow, where is your lamb?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


POOR MAN BLUES, by HENRY TOWNSEND    Poem Source                    
First Line: And it's never mind never mind baby : I've got my doggone eyes on you
Last Line: I done give you my money : I can give you most anything
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR MAN'S BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr rich man rich man : open up you heart and mind
Last Line: If it wasn't for the poor man : mr rich man what would you do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR MAN'S FRIEND, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well well when you see * lindy women* : I want you to throw your wives in the v
Last Line: Well well it's find somebody : hey got a t model ford
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR ME, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You may go : you may stay
Last Line: I can see bertha lee : lord but she can't see me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


POOR ROVER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Rover was in clover
Last Line: Was gone. %poor rover!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POPLAR TREE, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oftimes I wish that I could be
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


POPPY FLOWER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A wild poppy-flower
Last Line: Withered and died
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PORT TOWN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hello, sailor boy
Last Line: Let's go sweetie! %come with me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PORTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I must say %yes, sir
Last Line: Gimme yo' shoes %to shine. %yes, sir!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Railroads


PORTER, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Suddenly / when I hear airplanes overhead
Last Line: He looks down. Then he looks at me and grins. / I took it, too!
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life; Aviation & Aviators; Relatives


PORTER, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Suddenly %when I hear airplanes overhead
Last Line: When I put it down %she handed me a dime %as a tip. %he looks down. %then he looks at me and grins.
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life


PORTRAIT, by CAROLYN M. RODGERS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mama spent pennies
Last Line: Fuh four black babies %college educashuns
Subject(s): African Americans


PORTRAIT IN GEORGIA, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hair--braided chestnut,
Subject(s): Lynching; Racism; Georgia (state) African Americans - Women; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


PORTRAIT OF MY FATHER, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: The first time I felt his hands lifting me up like a gust of wind taking a
Last Line: Nameless and unknown
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers; Portraits; Sermons


PORTRAITURE, by ANITA SCOTT COLEMAN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                
First Line: Black men are the tall trees that remain standing
Last Line: Black men are the tall trees that remain standing in a forest after a fire.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


POSSUM UP THE GUM STUMP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: You'll git de yudder kin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


POST WAR BALLAD, by DOROTHY VENA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If crispus attuck's statue
Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre


POSTCARD AT VERTIGO BOOKS IN D. C., SELS, by REETIKA VAZIRANI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the photo of billie holiday at the 1957 newport jazz festival
Last Line: Glamour-we look for it and it's not there
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Famous People; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Photography And Photographers; Singing And Singers


POSTCARD FROM SPAIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear folks at home: %I went out this mornin'
Last Line: Like I'm fightin' now for spain. %salud, %johnny
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


POT HOUND BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You must bring me a job : or money from anywhere
Last Line: And you's a dirty pot hound : dirtier than any man I seen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRAISES, by STEPHANIE MCCLAIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: They sing of my father
Last Line: Smelling kola nut and palmwine on his wine. I drank often
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


PRAISESONG FOR AUDRE LORDE, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It is looking at you
Last Line: Owning self, life, wealthy, %in their womaness
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Women


PRATT CITY BLUES, by BERTHA CHIPPIE HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pratt city : is where I was born
Last Line: Don't worry hot papa : I'm *driftrack* bound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRAYER, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saw a dark boy
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


PRAYER (2), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gather up %in the arms of your pity
Last Line: No love from above
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PRAYER FOR A WINTER NIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O, great god of cold and winter
Last Line: Where nothingness is everything and %everything is nothingness
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PRAYER MEETING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Glory! Hallelujah!
Last Line: A black old woman croons - %the dawn's a-comin'!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PRAYING BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Folks you don't know : half the trouble I've seen
Last Line: One man is in jail : the other one is in the pen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PREACHER BLUES, by HI HENRY BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you want to hear : preacher curse
Last Line: Better not catch you : at that house of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PREACHERS BLUES, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some folks say : a preacher won't steal
Last Line: ??? Over that preacher : you be done lost your wife
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PREACHIN' BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got up this morning : the blues walking like a man
Last Line: Going to the ??? : stay out there all day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PREACHIN' THE BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because just a little spirit : of the blues tonight
Last Line: Jumped up and done a shimmy : you ain't never seen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PREACHIN' THE BLUES--PART 1, by SON HOUSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh I'm going to get me religion : I'm going to join the baptist church
Last Line: Well if she don't have me : she won't have nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PREACHIN' THE BLUES--PART 2, by SON HOUSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey I'm going to fold my arms : I'm going to kneel down in prayer
Last Line: When the spirit comes sisters : I want you to jump straight up and down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRECIOUS FLOWERS, by GRETA DELPHINE WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: He brings me weeds
Last Line: And see them lying proudly in a bowl %my heart rejoices
Subject(s): African Americans


PRECIOUS THINGS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hol' my rooster, hol' my hen
Last Line: But pray don't tetch my sweet liddle lips
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PREFACE TO A TWENTY VOLUME SUICIDE NOTE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lately, I've become accustomed to the way
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers & Daughters; Negroes; American Blacks


PREFACE TO A TWENTY VOLUME SUICIDE NOTE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lately, I've become accustomed to the way
Last Line: Only she on her knees, peeking into %her own clasped hands
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers And Daughters


PREFERENCE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I likes a woman six or eight and ten years older'n myself
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Love - Age Differences; Negroes; American Blacks


PREFERENCE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I likes a woman six or eight and ten years older'n myself
Last Line: When she conversations with you %it ain't forever, gimme!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Love - Age Differences


PRELUDE TO OUR AGE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: History's long page
Last Line: Tomorrow %is another %page
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PRESCRIPTION FOR THE BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: All day long I'm worried : all night long I'm blue
Last Line: Then I'll sign a paper : died with heart disease
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRESENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: De lady I work for
Last Line: Yes, %he did
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PRESENTING A HAT TO PHOEBE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sister phoebe: happy wus we
Last Line: If you don't love me, it's sho' yo' own fault
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PRETTY, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Oh, I wish he'd hurry up!
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Fathers


PRETTY LITTLE GIRL (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Who's been here since I'se been gone?
Last Line: A pretty liddle gal, all dressed in red
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PRETTY LITTLE PINK, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My pretty liddle pink
Last Line: Long de river dat flows wid brandy
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PRETTY MAMA BLUES, by NOAH LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey pretty mama : can I get a job with you
Last Line: That was my mama my sister : my sweetheart and my wife
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRETTY MAMA BLUES, by JOE LINTHECOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here pretty mama : what's on your worried mind
Last Line: I'm going to grab that train : travel far down the road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRETTY PAIR OF CHICKENS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat box-legged rooster, an' dat bow-legged hen
Last Line: Dey thinks dey's looking fine, w'en dey needs lots of stitches
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PRETTY POLLY ANN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se gwineter marry, if I can
Last Line: I 'spec's I'll marry miss lize jane
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PRIME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Uptown on lenox avenue
Last Line: In the section of the niggers %where a nickel costs a dime
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PRIMER FOR BLACKS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Blackness/is a title
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


PRISON BLUES, by ALICE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh the judge he sentenced me : and the clerk he wrote it down
Last Line: Because the man I'm loving : I don't care where he *follow me* ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRISON CELL BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Getting tired of sleeping : in this lowdown lonesome cell
Last Line: I'm getting tired of sleeping : in this lowdown lonesome cell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRISON WALL BLUES, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When they bring you : through that gate
Last Line: You see the bottom of my feet so many times : you think I'm on my knees
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PRISONER'S BLUES, by MATTHEW MCCLURE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you ever get in trouble : and they take you down to jail
Last Line: That's the only thing I know : to cure a prisoner's blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PROBLEMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: 2 and 2 are 4
Last Line: Divided by 2?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PROJECT HIGHWAY, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well well well I've got to get some money : I wants to buy a v-eight ford
Last Line: Well well then I'm going to tell them don't get excited : oo o same ??? *bit* I was singing about be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PROJECTION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On the day when the savoy
Last Line: Wonderful!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Divine, Father (george Baker, 1877-1965); Harlem (new York City); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


PROLETARIAT SPEAKS, by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I love beautiful things
Last Line: And hurrying out, dab my unrefreshed face %with bits of toiletry from the ten cent store
Alternate Author Name(s): Nelson, Alice Dunbar (moore)
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


PROMISE, by JOHARI M. KUNJUFU    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am warm
Last Line: They will only know me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


PROMISED LAND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The promised land
Last Line: To a spot from which the land -- %still lies ahead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


PROMISES OF FREEDOM, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My ole mistiss promise me
Last Line: May de devil preach 'is funer'l song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


PROMISES OF FREEDOM: 1, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My ole mistriss promise me
Last Line: May de devil preach 'is funer'l song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PROMISES OF FREEDOM: 2, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My old mistress promised me
Last Line: Oh old mistress a long farewell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


PROOF, by BESSIE CALHOUN BIRD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Other loves I have known
Last Line: The gift sublime %the intransmutable verity
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


PROVE IT ON ME BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Went out last night, had a great big fight
Last Line: Sure got to prove it on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PSI, by MELVIN BEAUNORUS TOLSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Black boy
Last Line: Of white charybdis
Alternate Author Name(s): Tolson, Melvin
Subject(s): African Americans


PULLIN' SHORTER DOWN, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got the letter yesterday
Last Line: And now they're pullin' it all down
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


PURIFICATION OF THE TRIBE, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Used to be, %we threw our different ones
Last Line: A purification of the tribe
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Poetry And Poets; Slavery


PURPLE VEINS, by MILDRED FOWLER FIELD    Poem Text                    
First Line: He dreamed - just once - of touching a white woman
Last Line: Reeling trees and rippled purple silence!
Subject(s): African Americans; Colors; Racism; White (color); Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


PUSSY CAT BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh pussy cat pussy cat : where you been so long
Last Line: Says all around your mouth : is something like mud
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PUSSY CAT BLUES, by JANE LUCAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can play with my pussy : but please don't dog it around
Last Line: The rats may overtake you : need your pussy cat some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PUSSY CAT BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Pussy cat pussy cat : where have you been so long
Last Line: You sleep all day : run up the alley all night long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PUT IT WHERE I CAN GET IT, by HOCIEL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got something at home : on my shelf
Last Line: That every woman wants a man : that means her good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


PUZZLEMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't know why
Last Line: Can't afford that much
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


QUATRAIN: 2, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How strange that grass should sing
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


QUESTION (1), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When the old junk man, death
Last Line: Than the black torso of %a negro cotton-picker
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


QUESTION (2), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Said the lady, can you do
Last Line: And feed me too? %figurine %de-dop!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


QUESTION AND ANSWER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Durban, birmingham
Last Line: Why take it? %to remake it
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


QUESTION OF SINGING-PART I, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't know when it happened or why, she just stop singing
Last Line: Sometimes, in red winged dawns of african, free women
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Freedom; Pain; Singing And Singers


RABBIT FOOT BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Blues jumped a rabbit : run him one solid mile
Last Line: Reason I'm going home with you sugar : I ain't much hard to be fooled
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RABBIT HASH (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dere wus a big ole rabbit
Last Line: You's never tasted 'tall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RABBIT SOUP (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rabbit soup! Rabbit sop! %rabbit e't my tunnup top
Last Line: Makin' a pot o' rabbit soup
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RACCOON, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: The raccoon has a bushy tail
Last Line: Till old ringo bark
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RACCOON AND OPOSSUM FIGHT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De raccoon an' de 'possum
Last Line: Playin' lak he been dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RACE, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes I think about great-uncle paul who left tuskegee,
Last Line: Here a poem tells a story, a story about race
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


RACE QUESTION, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Would it please you if I strung my tears
Last Line: With jewels of my elegant pain
Subject(s): African Americans


RACE-STARTER'S RHYME, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One fer de money
Last Line: An' four fer to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RACKETEERS BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you got over fifteen grand : better split it ninety-nine different ways
Last Line: You can even move to west hell : doggone if they don't find you there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAG BABY, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yonder she goes : with a broom in her hand
Last Line: Sweep me off : for another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAG MAN'S SONG: 1 (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Any rags or any bones or any bottles today?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RAG MAN'S SONG: 2 (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rag man, rag man, bottles today
Last Line: Cryin' rags, old bones, and bottles today
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RAG, MAMA, RAG, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I'm going up to town : hat in my hand
Last Line: Ought to hear her hollering : don't murder me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAGTIME, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of ragtime
Last Line: And dare to dram of an equal world
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


RAID, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Late at night
Last Line: Where? %the man is there
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RAIDIN' SQUAD BLUES, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's too late too late : too late too late too late
Last Line: Now I'm in this raid : my friends have all thrown me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAILROAD AVENUE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dusk dark / on railroad avenue
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


RAILROAD AVENUE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dusk dark %on railroad avenue
Last Line: And leaving the untouched the box-car %some train has forgotten
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RAILROAD BILL, by WILL BENNETT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Railroad bill : ought to be killed
Last Line: Go through the world : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAILROAD BILL (1), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Railroad bill, railroad bill
Last Line: I'm going to ride old railroad bill
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


RAILROAD BILL (2), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Railroad bill, railroad bill
Last Line: Well it's ride, ride, ride
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Railroads


RAILROAD BILL, A CONJURE MAN; A HOODOO SUITE, by ISHMAEL REED    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Railroad bill, a conjure man
Last Line: Railroad bill was free
Subject(s): African Americans; Railroads


RAILROAD BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now if the train falls on the track : I'm alabama bound
Last Line: And if the seaboard god bless : I'm alabama bound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAIN-SONGS, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The rain streams down like harp-strings from the sky
Last Line: He plays upon the harp-strings of the rain.
Subject(s): African Americans; Rain; Negroes; American Blacks


RAINY DAY BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rainy day rainy day : you ought to hear my baby sing the blues
Last Line: Now when I get my money : babe I'm going to be ???Ing just like you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAINY NIGHT BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now it was early one morning mama: I was on my way to school
Last Line: Because the little woman I love mama: has a-drove me from her door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAINY SEASON LOVE SONG, by GLADYS MAY CASELY HAYFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Out of the tense awed darkness, my frangepani comes
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


RAISE A 'RUCUS' TO-NIGHT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two liddle niggers all dressed in white
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RAISINS AND ALMONDS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: To my little one's cradle in the night comes
Last Line: Sleep, my little one, sleep
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


RAM ROD DADDY, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a ramrodding daddy : I stays up on main street
Last Line: It ain't no other ramrodding daddy : can put his load below where I put mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAMBLER BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well the train's ??? : track's all out of line
Last Line: Lord but that brown in chicago : have put that jinx bug on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAMBLIN' MAN, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel like rambling : rambling stays on my mind
Last Line: Because I'm going to ramble : until the day that I die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAMBLIN' MIND BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I lay down last night : tried to take my rest
Last Line: Says a letter's too slow : and a telegram may get left
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAMBLIN' ON MY MIND, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got rambling : I got rambling [all] on my mind
Last Line: I got to leave my baby : but she treats me so unkind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAMBLING BLUES, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : with rambling on my mind
Last Line: I may not suit you : but I'll do the best I can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAMBLING BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early this morning : the blues come walking in my room
Last Line: The last time you were here : you made me cry and walk the floor
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAMROD BLUES, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wonder where is the ramrod : belongs to my gun
Last Line: When I ain't got the ramrod : belongs to my gun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RANDSOME TANTSOME (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RAP/HIP HOP, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of hip hop
Last Line: I see the rhythm of hip hop %and the rhythm lives on in me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


RASCAL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se de bigges' rascal fer my age
Last Line: He would a e't no, but you know he died
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RATION DAY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat ration day comes once a week
Last Line: An' ev'ry day'll be sund'y
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RATTLER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go call ole rattle from de bo'n
Last Line: Here rattler! Here!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RATTLESNAKE BLUES, by MARY JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rattlesnake treating papa : what makes you treat your mama so mean
Last Line: And I can tell by that : you ain't treating your mama right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RATTLESNAKE BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I say I'm just like a rattlesnake baby : I say in the middle of his coil
Last Line: If I leave here this morning : never say daddy how do you feel
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RAW HEAD ON BLOODY BONES (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't talk! Go to sleep!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RAZOR BALL, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down in atlanta at the razor ball : even at the razor ball
Last Line: Put me at the head of the list : and don't forget to call my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


REACHING' PETE, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you go to helena : stop on cherry street
Last Line: Every time he meet you : he's ready for plenty hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


REACTIONARY POET, by ISHMAEL REED    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If you are a revolutionary
Last Line: I likes to take it real slow
Subject(s): African Americans


READY, by PHOEBE CARY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Loaded with gallant soldiers
Last Line: Who was fitter to die than he!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Sailing & Sailors; United States - History; Seamen; Sails


REAL ESTATE BLUES, by WILL BENNETT    Poem Source                    
First Line: All I want is a new pair of shoes : that is all I pray
Last Line: For I didn't bring nothing to this old world : and I can't carry nothing away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


REAL FATHER, by BURNIECE AVERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some plant a seed and walk away
Last Line: We'll face this world together, %whatever the years my bring
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


REAL PEOPLE LOVES ONE ANOTHER, by ROB PENNY    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Backwards under the sun
Subject(s): African Americans


REASONS WHY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Just because I loves you --
Last Line: When you pass by
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RECEPTIVE PERSPECTIVE, by J. E. M. JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you're made to disremember the prince you are within
Last Line: Remember, brother, %we have not always been in this sad space
Subject(s): African Americans


RECKLESS BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was young : nothing but a child
Last Line: Come in pretty papa : mama wants some loving right now
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RECKLESS WOMAN, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: A woman gets tired : of one man all the time
Last Line: But I like as man men : I see is good to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RED BEANS AND RICE, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was down in georgia : I was doing mighty well
Last Line: Says I got where I can't get no loving : not until my payday comes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RED CLAY BLUES (BY HUGHES AND RICHARD WRIGHT), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I miss that red clay, lawd, I
Last Line: I got them red clay blues
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RED CROSS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The angel of mercy's
Last Line: And all because of negro blood
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RED CROSS BLUES, by SONNY SCOTT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me tell you : what the what the red cross people will do
Last Line: Because I can't take you down the hill : but I'll show you to the red cross store
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RED DIRT, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got me some red alabama dirt I keep
Last Line: Red, red dirt of alabama
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


RED HOT BLUES, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey get your partner : put on your dancing shoes
Last Line: But now she's gone : and I got these red-hot blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RED RIPE TOMATOES, by JACK KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a thirty-two twenty : shoots just like a forty-five
Last Line: They are going through the bushes : and they are going in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RED RIVER BLUES, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell me which a-way : do the red river run
Last Line: I love my baby : you going to let me be
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RED SEA, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When moses wuz leadin' the israelites, red sea
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs; Red Sea


RED SILK STOCKINGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Put on yo' red silk stockings
Last Line: Go out an' let de white boys %look at yo' legs
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REDHEAD WOODPECKER (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


REFLECTIONS AFTER THE JUNE 12TH MARCH FOR DISARMAMENT, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have come to you tonite out of the depths
Subject(s): African Americans; Disarmament; Negroes; American Blacks


REFLECTIONS AFTER THE JUNE 12TH MARCH FOR DISARMAMENT, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have come to you tonite out of the depths
Last Line: New people, who will live in peace %and honor
Subject(s): African Americans; Disarmament


REFLECTIONS, WRITTEN ON VISITING THE GRAVE OF A FRIEND, by ANN PLATO    Poem Text                    
First Line: Deep in this grave her bones remain
Last Line: We turn to dust, to sleep, to repose.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Friendship; Graves; Mortality; Tombs; Tombstones


REFUGEE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Loneliness terrific beats on my heart
Last Line: Where are you? Oh, where are you? %once so dear
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REJECTED BY ELIZA JANE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'en I went 'cross de cotton patch
Last Line: An' git choked on 'sugar cain'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RELIEF, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My heart is aching
Last Line: And fight another war, %or even two, %the one to stop 'em won't be me. %would you?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REMARKS ON COLOR, by CAROLYN D. WRIGHT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: 1. Highway patched with blacktop, service station at the crossroads
Last Line: 40. Take me witcha man when you go
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, C. D.
Variant Title(s): Remarks On Colou
Subject(s): African Americans; Colors; Thought


REMEMBER AND FORGET BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's so easy to remember : and it's so hard to forget
Last Line: Since the woman I loved have deceived me : ooo well well now I don't want nobody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


REMEMBERING AND HONORING TONI CADE BAMBARA, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How to respond to the genius
Last Line: Read everything? Saw everything?
Subject(s): Bambara, Toni Cade (1939-1995); African Americans – Women; Social Protest; Writing & Writers


REMEMBERING FANNIE LOU HAMER, by THADIOUS M. DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Precious night-blooming cereus %you flowered once in mississippi
Last Line: But for strong new growth %under midnight moons
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


REMEMBERING NAT TURNER, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We saw a bloody sunset over courtland, once jerusalem
Last Line: The marker split for kindling a kitchen fire.
Subject(s): African Americans; Jerusalem; Slavery; Turner, Nat (1800-1831); Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


REMEMBRANCE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To wander through this living world
Last Line: The flower no scent encloses
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RENEWED LOVE BLUES, by LITTLE BUDDY DOYLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now baby let's stop our foolishness : and try to renew love over again
Last Line: Maybe some day you will consider baby : lord and acknowledge that you have done wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RENT-PARTY SHOUT: FOR A LADY DANCER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Whip it to a jelly!
Last Line: I'm gonna kill that %man o' mine
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REPETITION (TAKE 1), by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lester knows his horn, they said
Last Line: Hoping some lester rubbed off, some sunk in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


REQUEST, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gimme $25.00 / and the change
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


REQUEST, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gimme $25.00 %and the change
Last Line: And the evening %won't bother me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REQUEST FOR REQUIEMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Play the st. Louis blues
Last Line: Like me left around
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REQUEST TO SELL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Gwineter ax my daddy to sell ole rose
Last Line: To take dat t'other nigger's beau
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


REQUIEM FOR MALCOLM X, by E. ERIC LINCOLN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You are malcolm x
Last Line: In this man's %america
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


RESONANCE, by CHRISTOPHER GILBERT    Poem Source                    
First Line: In a back room %upstairs crouched over crystal
Last Line: On the turntable, a lost double %octave rolling round through the air
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I move %into a neighborhood
Last Line: I reckon the wind %must care
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RESURRECTION OF THE DAUGHTER, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The family had been ill for some time
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): African Americans; Daughters; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


RESURRECTIONS: 36, by GLORIA CATHERINE ODEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was very small, I had a
Last Line: Dark and they took no notice of me
Subject(s): African Americans


RETURN, by JOHARI M. KUNJUFU    Poem Source                    
First Line: Things begin again
Last Line: And the earth is warm deep soft and full %when the quietness bursts
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


RETURN OF THE NATIVE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harlem is vicious / modernism
Last Line: Are so familiar
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


RETURN OF THE NATIVE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Harlem is vicious %modernism
Last Line: In joy, that our lives %are so familiar
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


RETURN TO SEA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Today I go back to the sea
Last Line: The broken edge of a dream
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REUNION, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I loved the apple-sweetness of the air
Last Line: On any stone, on any leaf or bark
Subject(s): African Americans


REUNION 2005, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thirty seconds into the barbecue,
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


REVELATION, by CAROLE CLEMMONS GREGORY    Poem Source                    
First Line: An old woman in me walks patiently to the hospital
Last Line: And looked so good %and when am I coming back to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


REVENUE MAN BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aw the revenue man is riding : boy you'd better look out
Last Line: I have been a good provider : but I believe I've been misled
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


REVERIE ON THE HARLEM RIVER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Did you ever go down to the river
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem River, New York; Negroes; American Blacks


REVERIE ON THE HARLEM RIVER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Did you ever go down to the river
Last Line: But who would miss me if I left?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Harlem River, New York


REVOLUTION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Great mob that knows no fear --
Last Line: Great mob that knows no fear
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


REVOLUTIONARY PETUNIAS, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sammy lou of rue / sent to his reward
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Murder


REVOLUTIONARY PETUNIAS, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sammy lou of rue %sent to his reward
Last Line: Don't yall forgit to water %my purple petunias'
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Murder


REWARD, by KEVIN YOUNG    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Run away from this sub- / scriber for the second time
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Slavery; Escapes; Black Heritage; Serfs; Fugitives


RHETORIC OF LANGSTON HUGHES, by MARGARET DANNER    Poem Source                    
First Line: While some 'rap' over this turmoil
Last Line: And dedicated ourselves %to be unraveling
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Hughes, Langston (1902-1967)


RHYTHM & BLUES/SOUL MUSIC, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of soul music
Last Line: Say it loud %I'm black %and I'm proud
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


RIDE JOCKEY RIDE, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a jockey : riding for me
Last Line: Wave your whip : and make it crack
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RIDE, RED, RIDE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I want to see my mother mother
Last Line: And your hair was blowing back %in the wind
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RIGHT KIND OF LIFE, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I'm only twenty-four : I just declare I been married twice
Last Line: Now when this little woman that you been loving : have fell in love with mr so-and-so
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RIGHT NOW BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Right now's the time : mama for you to change your mind
Last Line: I do everything mama : to try to satisfy your mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RIGHT OF WAY BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to hear : my good gal call my name
Last Line: There's a whole lots of women : *just ran through your brown's hall*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RIGHTEOUS BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen everybody : I'm going to sing a song
Last Line: I thought she was too old : I'm telling you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RILEY SPRINGS BLUES, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't going down : to riley springs no more
Last Line: You broke my heart : and left me in misery
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RIME FOR THE CHRISTMAS BABY (AT 48 WEBSTER PLACE, ORANGE), by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear bess, %he'll have rings and linen things
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


RIOT, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: John cabot, out of wilma, once a wycliffe
Subject(s): African Americans; Civil Rights Movement; Negroes; American Blacks


RIOT ACT, APRIL 29, 1992, by FLORENCE ANTHONY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm going out and get something
Last Line: The day the wealth finally trickled down %to the rest of us
Alternate Author Name(s): Ai
Subject(s): African Americans; Riots


RIOT RIMES U.S.A., by RAYMOND RICHARD PATTERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: The foodstore owned by old man meyer
Last Line: But some of us were more afraid %to keep on living like we been
Alternate Author Name(s): Patterson, Ray
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Protest


RIOT TIMES U.S.A. #78, by RAYMOND RICHARD PATTERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I just once want to feel
Last Line: To get off my back
Alternate Author Name(s): Patterson, Ray
Subject(s): African Americans


RIOT TIMES U.S.A. #79, by RAYMOND RICHARD PATTERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You got to be scared
Last Line: And scared when they let you in
Alternate Author Name(s): Patterson, Ray
Subject(s): African Americans


RISIN' SUN, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: My woman got something: just like the rising sun
Last Line: Sometime I wonder: what in the hell is that
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RISING HIGH WATER BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Backwater rising : southern people can't make no time
Last Line: I leave with a prayer in my heart : backwater won't rise no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Floods


RISING RIVER BLUES, by GEORGE+(2) CARTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rising river blues : running by my door
Last Line: *if you need to talk* : take a long long time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RISING SUN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+207    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : look at the rising sun
Last Line: It takes all twenty-two : to run my brownskin down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RISING SUN BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well now I lay down every morning : but I get up with the rising sun
Last Line: Well then again after I'm gone : ooo please now don't bother with me no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RISING WATERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To you %who are the %foam on the sea
Last Line: You rich ones -- %not the sea
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RIVER, by ETHEL M. CAUTION    Poem Source                    
First Line: The river is decrepit old woman
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


RIVERSIDE BLUES, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down to the river : just thirty-one days and nights
Last Line: I'm going to the station : meet the cannonball
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROAD TRAMP BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have walked the lonesome road : till my feet is too sore to walk
Last Line: And change my way of living : oh oh well well so I won't have to tramp around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROAR CHINA!, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Roar, china! %roar, old lion of the east!
Last Line: To take it! %roar, china!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ROBBIN' AND STEALIN' BLUES, by GENE CAMPBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby ain't good-looking : and she don't dress fine
Last Line: Your woman don't know how to rob : she is too doggone scared to steal
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROBERT, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Was born obedient / without questions
Last Line: The color of his life / was nigger
Subject(s): African Americans; Obedience; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


ROBERT, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Was born obedient %without questions
Last Line: The color of his life %was nigger
Subject(s): African Americans; Obedience; Slavery


ROBERT G. SHAW, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When war's red banners trailed along the sky
Last Line: In rev'rent love we guard thy memory.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; African Americans - Women; Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers


ROBERT GOULD SHAW, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why was it that the thunder voice of fate
Last Line: Have died, the present teaches, but in vain!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Shaw, Robert Gould (1847-1863); Soldiers


ROBERT HAYDEN, by SYBIL KEIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: His words, elgeance in agony
Last Line: Lives fleshing his dream of the beautiful needful thing'
Subject(s): African Americans; Hayden, Robert (1913-1980)


ROBERT WHITMORE, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Having attained success in business
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


ROBERT WHITMORE, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Having attained success in business
Last Line: Died of apoplexy %when a stranger from georgia %mistook him %for a former macon waiter
Subject(s): African Americans


ROBERTA--PART 1, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh roberta : honey where you been so long
Last Line: Well I'll stay right here lord : until roberta come down
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROBERTA--PART 2, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh roberta : what in the world you mean
Last Line: This man ain't got nobody : to take his troubles to
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROCK ISLAND BLUES, by LEWIS BLACK    Poem Source                    
First Line: See the train : weaving up and down the track
Last Line: I got a mind to ramble : mind to leave this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROCK THE CRADLE LUCY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Joe he cut off his two big toes
Last Line: For the body does not know
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ROCKY ROAD BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now my road is rocky : but it won't be rocky long
Last Line: Say I ain't to let these hard-headed women : make me lose my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROLL AND TUMBLE BLUES, by HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBERN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I rolled and I tumbled : and I cried the whole night long
Last Line: Says that's all right sweet mama : your trouble going to come some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROLLED FROM SIDE TO SIDE BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr ferris mr ferris : let your womenfolks go
Last Line: You keep a poor man troubled : really looking down-hearted all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROLLIN' MAMA BLUES, by RUBY GLAZE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now tell me baby : how do you want your loving done
Last Line: Won't you come back baby : you get me all confused
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROLLIN' MAMA BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want you to start in the morning baby : and roll me with the setting of the s
Last Line: That's why I'm singing : these barrelhouse woman blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROLLING BLUES, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here women : I want you to know
Last Line: She roll it good and easy : and it ain't too slow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROLLING LOG BLUES, by LOTTIE BEAMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been drifting and rolling : along the road
Last Line: Going to fix it : so I won't have to drift no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROLLS-ROYCE PAPA, by VIRGINIA LISTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daddy I'll drop you in my garage : and that's no doubt
Last Line: And I know doggone well : your spark plugs ain't hitting right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROMANCE, by PHAVIA KUGICHAGULIA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Something about you
Last Line: Ummm baby - %now you
Subject(s): African Americans


ROOM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Each little room
Last Line: When only one %is there
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ROOSTER'S CROWING BLUES, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: And hey what makes a rooster : crow at the break of day
Last Line: They'll take your baby from you : *just like ??? Hen*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROOT HOG OR DIE, by HERB MORAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: I pawned my watch : and my clothes and diamond ring
Last Line: Now you will have to stop : shaking shaking that old thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROOT MAN BLUES, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama here come your root man : open the door and let him in
Last Line: She say go away from here doctor : you got too much root for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROOTIN' GROUND HOG, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'm a rooting ground hog : and I roots both nights and days
Last Line: Couldn't hear nothing : but my babe's train crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROOTMAN, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My rootman knows which trees to pick
Last Line: Doing the kongo all over me
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


ROPE STRETCHING BLUES--PART 1, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I caught a stranger in my house : and I busted his head with a club
Last Line: In just a few more days : I won't be able to sing my song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROPE STRETCHING BLUES--PART 2, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't trust no woman : who mistreats her man
Last Line: Just keep the flies from buzzing by me : and then I will be satisfied
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROSABEL (OF ROSALIE), by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Leaves that whisper whisper ever
Last Line: And for her, -- for her.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Gays & Lesbians; Women's Rights; Homoeroticism; Lesbians; Gay Women; Gay Men; Feminism


ROSES RED, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rose's red, vi'lets blue
Last Line: But my love are true, an' it never fail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


ROUGH AND TUMBLE BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to the western union : type the news all down the line
Last Line: Because my man's on the wabash : with the rough and tumbling blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROUND AND ROUND, by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My gal's got something : that I surely like
Last Line: If they miss *airy* movement : it sure is their last
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROUND MIDNIGHT, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black as hell's chimney
Last Line: Bed clothes, knees to nose
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


ROWDY BLUES, by KID BAILEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ain't going to marry : neither settle down
Last Line: It's a sad word to say : but the best of friends have to part
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ROWDY SOUL, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a rowdy soul, I'm a rowdy soul, don't care whether I
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RUBY BROWN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She was young and beautiful
Last Line: Pay more money to her now %than they ever did before, %when she worked in their kitchens
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Prostitution


RUINED GAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Standin' by de lonesome riverside
Last Line: For ever havin' a daughter
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


RULE, RULE, RULE OVER (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Mary is the ruler, sometimes, oh
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RULERS, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It is said many a king in troubled europe would sell his crown
Last Line: In philadelphia.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


RUN, MOLLY RUN, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Music in the kitchen : music in the hall
Last Line: Just got there in good old time : to wear them ball and chain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RUN, NIGGER, RUN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Run, nigger run; de patter-roller catch you
Last Line: Dat nigger tore his shirt in two
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


RUN, NIGGER, RUN (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Run, nigger, run! De patter-rollers'll ketch you
Last Line: Dat nigger tore up de whole co'n field
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


RUNNIN' ME CRAZY, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I'm almost crazy : and I'm all here by myself
Last Line: And when you know anything : you'd be almost crazy with the blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RUNNING ACROSS TO THE LOT, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Our fathers were dead and %our brothers were dying
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Despair; Ethnic Identity; Slavery


RUSTLIN' MAN, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a rustling man : I rustle night and day
Last Line: I haven't found nothing : boy for a poor rustling man to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


RUTH, by COLLEEN JOHNSON MCELROY    Poem Source                    
First Line: It took 27 years to write this poem
Last Line: Read this %and count them
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


S-SSS-SS-SH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her great adventure ended
Last Line: But mother and child %thoughtt it fun
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SAD AND BLUE, by IVY SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to write : my man today
Last Line: Because when I start slipping : I'll make you sad and blue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAD AND LONESOME BLUES, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was sad and lonesome : when I walked into my baby's door
Last Line: I did not think : you would treat me this a-way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAD NEWS BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a letter : I got a letter here in my hand
Last Line: Even though you been kind : there's nothing that you can do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SADIE AND MAUD, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Maud went to college
Last Line: In this old house.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SAI BODDEOH SUMPUN KOMO, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am not going to marry sumpun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SAIL AWAY, LADIES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: De devil'll git you. Sail away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SAILING DATE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Twisted and strange
Last Line: It's sailing date. %their captain's %there
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SAILOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He sat upon the rolling deck
Last Line: Than god -- and lonely
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SAILORS ON LEAVE, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: No boy chooses war
Last Line: To battle for, to die
Subject(s): African Americans


SALES TAX, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: These times now : ain't suiting me
Last Line: Everything is sold : by the government rule
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SALLIE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sallie! Sallie! Don't you want to marry?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SALT RISING BREAD, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I loves saltin', saltin' bread
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SALTY DOG, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now just one thing : that worry my mind
Last Line: He saves his money : and use his fist
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SALTY DOG BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says it ain't but the one thing : that grieve my mind
Last Line: I'll be the *worst* boy : to pour the coffee pot
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SALUTE TO SOVIET ARMIES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mighty soviet armies marching on the west
Last Line: Salute to the soviet armies -- from our land
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SAM, by BEVERLY JARRETT    Poem Source                    
First Line: You gave me this morning
Subject(s): African Americans


SAM IS A CLEVER FELLOW (NURSERY RHYME) (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say! Is yo' peaches ripe, my boy
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SAM'S WORLD, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sam's mother has
Last Line: A black and grey %round head of hair
Subject(s): African Americans


SAM, YOU'RE JUST A RAT, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sam you say you my friend : but your ways I just don't like
Last Line: So I'm going to give you a vacation : that's a round-trip ticket to hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAME IN BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I said to my baby, / baby, take it slow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SAME IN BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I said to my baby, %baby, take it slow
Last Line: When a dream gets kicked around
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SAMSON PREDICTS FROM GAZA THE PHILADELPHIA FIRE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It will be your hair
Last Line: If you do not they will
Subject(s): African Americans; Fire; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Samson; Survival; Negroes; American Blacks


SANTA CLAUS, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Santy claus : won't you please hear my lonesome plea
Last Line: I don't want nothing for christmas : but my baby back to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SARAH'S PROMISE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who understands better than I
Last Line: Spare me my one good boy.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Bible; Faith; Sons; Belief; Creed


SASSAFRAS TEA, by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: The sass'fras tea is red and clear
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SATAN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De lawd made man, an' de man made money
Last Line: He blinds you wid his san'. He's trying to git you, man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SATCHMO, by YEVGENY ALEXANDROVICH YEVTUSHENKO    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Great satchmo plays all bathed in sweat
Last Line: To the better player, %to louis!
Alternate Author Name(s): Evtushenko, Evgeni
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Armstrong, Louis (1900-1971); Jazz; Music And Musicians


SATORI, by GAYL JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Disturbed by consciousness %god created creation
Last Line: We pray over our beer %and I spring from the %buddha's forehead %black as jesus
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SATURDAY BLUES, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you tell me mama : do you think that's right
Last Line: It takes all them dogs : to run my woman down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SATURDAY DRIVE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Saturdays, uncle son drives slow
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SATURDAY DRIVE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Saturdays, uncle son drives slow
Last Line: Still shiny enough to see her face
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SATURDAY MATINEE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I first see imitation of life
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SATURDAY MATINEE, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I first see imitation of life
Last Line: An empty screen, pale blue, diamonds falling %until it's all covered up
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SATURDAY NIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Play it once
Last Line: Do it mr. Charlie, till de red dawn come
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SATURDAY NIGHT SPENDER BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every saturday : go to work in a doggone place
Last Line: My regular found out I was a saturday night spender : and it sure did make her mad
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAUDADES, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Caporiestas dance in la marqueta modelo square
Last Line: Bahia nightblack %spirit eye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Angola; Dancing And Dancers


SAVANNAH MAMA, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : lordy lordy lord
Last Line: Says I'd like to love you baby : but your good men got me barred
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAVE IT FOR ME, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: You's a good-looking woman : pretty as you can be
Last Line: Just want to know mama : if you save it for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAVE ME SOME, by JED DAVENPORT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Work now mama : both night and day
Last Line: Doing that stuff : will be the death of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAWMILL BLUES, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh : hey hey hey hey
Last Line: Because I can't sleep for dreaming : sure can't stay woke for crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SAY HELLO TO JOHN, by SHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I swear I ain't done what richard
Last Line: His bright black face above me %saying, say hello to john
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SAYINGS OF HENRY STEPHENS, by CARL SANDBURG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If you get enough money
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Farm Life; Coal Mines & Miners; Springfield, Illinois'; Strikes; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry; Agriculture; Farmers; Labor Disputes; Lockouts


SCANDAL BLUES, by MONETTE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Spreading lies and gossip : surely is one shameful sin
Last Line: I'll put coals in someone's shoes : to make warts when they walk
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SCAREY DAY BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wants to wait around here baby : until your fried *rice* get done
Last Line: I been wandering around georgia : with these doggone scary day blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SCARLET RIBBONS, by JACK SEGAL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I peeked in to say good night
Last Line: Scarlet ribbons for her hair
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SCHOOL GIRL BLUES, by ROSIE MAE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now tell me little daddy : what you got on your worried mind
Last Line: Lord that brownskin man : caused me not to obey my poor mother's rule
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SCOOP IT, by KID WESLEY WILSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Scoop it : pretty mama for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SCOOP IT, by LEOLA B. WILSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you grab your partner : large or small
Last Line: I can get way back : in my knees
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SCOTTSBORO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: 8 black boys in a southern jail
Last Line: World, turn pale
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SCOTTSBORO, TOO, IS WORTH ITS SONG, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I said
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SCOTTSBORO, TOO, IS WORTH ITS SONG, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I said
Last Line: Surely, I said, %now will the poets sing. %but they have raised no cry. %I wonder why
Subject(s): African Americans


SCRAPPLE FROM THE APPLE, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ladies and gentlemen
Last Line: Proceeds the son %laughs
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


SCREAMIN' AND HOLLERIN' BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hackson on a high hill mama : natchez just below
Last Line: Take god to tell : when I'll be back here anymore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SCREAMIN' THE BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Talk about blues : you ought to hear mine
Last Line: Just let him know : that you got another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEA CALM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How still
Last Line: For water %to be so still that way
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SEA CHARM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sea charm %the sea's own children
Last Line: And that the sea holds %a wide, deep death
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SEARCH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All life is but the climbing of a hill
Last Line: And back in space to where time was begun
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SEARCH, by JOHARI MAHASIN RASHAD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I look for my father in old men's faces
Last Line: I keep looking away
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


SEARCH FOR BLACK MEN: VIETNAM POST-MORTEM, by BEVERLY FIELDS BURNETTE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Where did all the black men go?
Last Line: Another tragic waste of race %regardless of the deed
Subject(s): African Americans; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975


SEARCH WARRANT BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr police captain : listen to my plea
Last Line: If she thinks she can quit me : she really have lost her mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEARCHING, by ALICE S. COBB    Poem Source                    
First Line: The chains that bind my thinking
Last Line: Where she dare preen and reaffirm %her womanness
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SEARCHING THE DESERT FOR THE BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: You may search the ocean : you might go across the deep blue sea
Last Line: That's why : I'm walking my baby home anyhow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEASCAPE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Off the coast of ireland
Last Line: We saw an indian merchantman %coming home
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Ships And Shipping


SEASHORE THROUGH DARK GLASSES (ATLANTIC CITY), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Beige sailors with large noses
Last Line: Scent salty-colored %compass points
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SEASONS, by ROSALIE SHANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old man %bent, gnarled, broken
Last Line: Has paid his dues %proudly
Subject(s): African Americans; Fathers


SECOND GENERATION: NEW YORK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mama %remembers the four-leaf clover
Last Line: This city -- and they're dear
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SECOND-HAND WOMAN BLUES, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: All dolled up : looking keen
Last Line: Can't use it : if it's forty years old
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SECRET, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I shall make a song like your hair
Last Line: I shelter a song for you %secretly
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SECRET, by MARY JENNESS    Poem Source                    
First Line: O you that strike will never flinch
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Racism


SECTION GANG BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been working on the section: *section* thirty-two
Last Line: Oh he looked at me: and he walked away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SECULAR, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Work-week's end and there's enough
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SECULAR, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Work-week's end and there's enough
Last Line: Like gospel, like gold
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SEDUCTION, by JO ANN HALL-EVANS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sensuous %sloe eyed
Last Line: Se - duc - ed!!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Seduction


SEE, SEE RIDER, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: See see rider, see what you done done
Last Line: You didn't come home till the sun was shinin' bright
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEEING A NEW SISTER, by E. ALMA FLAGG    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby sister doesn't know
Last Line: They say she's here for keeps
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


SEEKING A MORE PRIVATE WORD, by OPAL PALMER ADISA    Poem Source                    
First Line: The word love
Last Line: You is black gold
Subject(s): African Americans


SEEN BETTER DAYS, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I seen better days: when times wasn't so hard
Last Line: Sometime I think: lord I declare I declare
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SELF DEFENSE, by FLORENCE ANTHONY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Y'all listen to me
Last Line: That is how you hold the nigger down %and beat him to death with his own freedom
Alternate Author Name(s): Ai
Subject(s): African Americans; Barry, Marion (b. 1936); Washington, D.c.


SELF PORTRAIT, by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would be
Subject(s): Self; African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SELF-CONTROL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Befo' you says dat ugly word
Last Line: Dat donkey cain't count ten
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs; Self-control


SELF-EMPLOYMENT, 1970, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who to be today? So many choices
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SELF-EMPLOYMENT, 1970, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who to be today? So many choices
Last Line: Up under that wig, her head %sweating, hot as an idea
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SELF-HATRED OF DON L. LEE, by HAKI R. MADHUBUTI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I %began
Last Line: Brown %outer
Alternate Author Name(s): Lee, Don L.
Subject(s): African Americans; Self-hate


SELLING THAT STUFF, by BOB ROBINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aunt jane gave a dance : and she had a crowd
Last Line: She used to sell stuff : and she sells it still
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SELLING THE JELLY, by NOAH LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a jelly-selling woman : I sell it every day
Last Line: Before you buy my jelly?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEMINOLE BLUES, by GEORGE NOBLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I came up this morning : baby don't you want to go
Last Line: Lord I got a-traveling on the mind : *anyone thing I'll be dying*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEMINOLE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby's gone : won't be back no more
Last Line: I'm going to find my baby : if I have to ride the blinds
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEND ME TO THE 'LECTRIC CHAIR, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Judge judge please mr judge : send me to the electric chair
Last Line: I don't wan : to spend no ninety-ninety years in jail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SENSES OF HERITAGE, by NTOZAKE SHANGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My grandpa waz a doughboy from carolina
Alternate Author Name(s): Williams, Paulette
Subject(s): Race Awareness; African Americans; Ancestors & Ancestry; Trees; Moon; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Heritage; Heredity; Relatives


SENT FOR YOU YESTERDAY, by JIMMY RUSHING    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't the moon look lonesome shining through the trees
Last Line: Baby, you can't love me and treat me thataway
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEPIA FASHION SHOW, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Their hair, pomaded, faces jaded
Last Line: You got at miss ann's scrubbing
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Beauty


SEPIA FASHION SHOW, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Their hair, pomaded, faces jaded
Last Line: I'd remind them please, look at those knees %you got a miss ann's scrubbing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SERVING GIRL, by GLADYS MAY CASELY HAYFORD    Poem Source                    
First Line: The calabash wherein she served my food
Last Line: The countless things she served with her eyes?
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SET DOWN GAL, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said I ain't no preacher : I'm just a bachelor man
Last Line: Don't like to catch you : start to messing around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEVEN MOMENTS OF LOVE: 1. TWILIGHT REVERIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here I set with a bitter old thought
Last Line: It's dark on this stoop, lawd! The sun's gone down!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SEVEN SISTER BLUES, by EDWARD+(3) THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Coal-black woman : fry no meat for me
Last Line: Says I knowed by that : my gal was graveyard bound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEVEN SISTERS BLUES--PART 1, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: They tell me seven sisters in new orleans : they can really fixa man up right
Last Line: Will you build me up where I'm torn down : and make me strong where I'm weak
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEVEN SISTERS BLUES--PART 2, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to new orleans louisiana : just on account of something I heard
Last Line: If seven sisters can't do anything in louisiana : bet you'll have to go to new orleans
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SEVENTH STREET, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Money burns the pocket, pocket hurts
Subject(s): African Americans; City & Town Life; Social Commentaries; United States - Prohibition (1919-1933); Negroes; American Blacks


SEVINGES, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Down in natchitoches there is a statue in a public square
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SEX LAUGH, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: You'se heard a many a gal laugh
Last Line: An' say: 'she! She-she! She-she-she!'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SEXUAL PRIVACY OF WOMEN ON WELFARE, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The aclu mountain states regional office came across a %welfare application
Last Line: Of a city street whose perspective %darkens with the morninglight? %document
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Privacy; Sex; Welfare


SHACK BULLY STOMP, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I used to play slow : but now I play it fast
Last Line: I got something new : that I ain't never told you yet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHADES OF PIGMEAT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the quarter of the negroes
Last Line: (and ain't never had a black house) %do, jesus! %lord! %amen
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SHADOWS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We run, %we run
Last Line: We must break through these shadows, %we must find the sun
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Shadows


SHADY GROVE BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now baby but I'll see you : baby in the spring
Last Line: You know my woman she done quit me : and I'm going to start to raising hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHADY LANE BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I've got a girl : she lives down in in shady lane
Last Line: Don't lose your temper : when you've been drinking booze
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAFRO, by TERRANCE HAYES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now that my afro's as big as shaft's
Last Line: I grow beautiful as the theatre dims
Subject(s): Shaft (fictional Character); African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SHAGGY DOG BLUES, by WALTER BUDDY BOY HAWKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going up on a mountain : I'm going to do just like a hog
Last Line: Son these women around here : just *they pretty want* you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE 'EM ON DOWN, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say you lying around here sweet baby : your face full of frowns
Last Line: There's a good time here : better one around the road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE 'EM ON DOWN, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Get your nightshirt mama : and your gown
Last Line: Made me drunker : than that old whiskey still
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE HANDS AND TELL ME GOODBYE, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want you no more sweet baby : shake hands and tell your daddy goodbye
Last Line: You give your loving : to the other men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE IT DADDY, by MAE GLOVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: You used to be sweet milk : but you done turned sour on me
Last Line: Because the way you shake it : will make me do things right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE IT, BLACK BOTTOM, by ANNA BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's a certain girl : name is suley brown
Last Line: I spent all my money : to ??? That thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE MATTIE, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shake shake mattie : shake rattle and roll
Last Line: I know old mattie : by the dress she wore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE THAT THING, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says down in georgia : where the dance is new
Last Line: You don't need no lesson : to shake that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE THAT THING, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now down in georgia : they got a dance that's new
Last Line: The *hobo* ??? : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHAKE THE PERSIMMONS DOWN: 1, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De raccoon up in de 'simmon tree
Last Line: Jes clam up whar dey grow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHAKE THE PERSIMMONS DOWN: 2, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Opossum in persimmon tree
Last Line: And cook a good possum pie
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHAKESPEARE IN HARLEM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hey ninny neigh!
Last Line: Went home to her ma
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SHALL I SAY, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Shall I say, 'my son, you're branded in this country's pageantry
Last Line: With a faith that shall not falter, in your heart and on your tongue!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


SHALL THE GOOD GO DOWN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All over the world
Last Line: Where is their %town?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SHAME ON YOU, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If you're great enough %and clever enough
Last Line: Black people don't remember %ant more than white. %if you're not alive and kicking, %shame on you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SHANNON STREET BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down on shannon street : now to buy me some alcohol
Last Line: She said sonny boy I'm scared if you get a drink of whiskey : and I'm scared that we won't ride very
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHANTY BLUES, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to the nation : I ain't going to make no fuss
Last Line: Show me that woman : anybody can trust
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHARE-CROPPERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Just a herd of negroes
Last Line: Plowing life away %to make the cotton yeild
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor And Laborers


SHAVE EM DRY, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now here's one thing : can't understand
Last Line: If your man catch you : I don't mean no harm
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE AIN'T NO GOOD, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some men likes their country girl : my girl lives in town
Last Line: I got up next morning and come back home : been running ever since
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE BELONGS TO ME BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was early one morning : just about the break of day
Last Line: And the reason I love her : says she belong to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE BELONGS TO THE DEVIL, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: She belongs to the devil : lord I cried many a day
Last Line: Yes she belongs to the devil : ooo well she have wrecked a-many home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE CAN LOVE SO GOOD, by FRANKIE HALF PINT JAXON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a gal : she's low and squatty
Last Line: Came all the way from dixie : to put that thing on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE COULD TOODLE-OO, by HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBERN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Her mama phoned the doctor ; says come here quick
Last Line: Fell down : and broke her little toodle-oodle-oo
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE DON'T LOVE ME THAT WAY, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I got something to tell you baby : you can't do
Last Line: You let these cats : make a fool of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE DONE SOLD IT OUT, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: You know I had a gal : she run a java shop
Last Line: I believe I can find something : just begun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE HUGGED ME AND KISSED ME (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see'd her in de springtime
Last Line: An' she jes say 'go long'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHE LEAVES MEMPHIS AN' SHE NEVUH MAKE NO STOP, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHE ROLLS IT SLOW, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a little woman : but I swear she treats me mean
Last Line: Gets it all together : then she mix it in her dough
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE SAID ..., by JONATHAN HENDERSON BROOKS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She said, 'not only music; brave men marching'
Last Line: "mary, it is the same with me,"" she said."
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; World War Ii; Second World War


SHE SAID I COULDN'T COME ANYMORE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: In about six months more
Last Line: Oh, I can't come no mo'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHE STAYS OUT ALL NIGHT LONG, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I told my old lady : no longer than the week before last
Last Line: Lord how can a poor man feel : one he loves stays out all night long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE STAYS OUT ALL NIGHT LONG, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I told my old lady : no longer than week before last
Last Line: Just like a hobo on a freight train : haven't had a decent meal today
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE WAS A DREAMER, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now my baby was a girl : she was sweet sixteen
Last Line: She was the dreamingest girl : from miles around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE WON'T TREAT ME KIND, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I worry I worry : I worries all the time
Last Line: Because the good times I used to have : I can't have no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE'S A FOOL GAL, by ED BELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you need not think : because you're black
Last Line: Big as an elephant : strong as a mule
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE'S A GOOD LOOKING MAMA, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: She's a good-looking woman : teeth don't even shine like pearls
Last Line: Sure I love you sweet mama : but I sure ain't going to be your dog
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE'S FREE!, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How say that by law we may torture and chase
Last Line: For the child of her love is no longer a slave.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Slavery; Social Protest; Women; Serfs


SHE'S GONE BLUES, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you were down : sick down on your bed
Last Line: I'll be up the country : drinking that cool can beer
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE'S GOT A MEAN DISPOSITION, by HENRY TOWNSEND    Poem Source                    
First Line: She got a mean disposition : and she got such a lowdown dirty way
Last Line: I just sit around and worry : I worry with my fool self
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE'S GOT A NICE LINE, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: Big girl I love : live on eighteenth street
Last Line: I better not catch : nobody else with it
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHE'S JUST GOOD HUGGIN' SIZE, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh my baby : just about good hugging size
Last Line: But I caught her two-timing me : and I swear I turn her damper down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHEARING TIME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It must be nice to be a sheep
Last Line: That poor old sheep bleats, 'oh, dear!'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SHEEP AND GOAT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sheep an' goat gwine to de paster
Last Line: An' de sheep split 'is lip wide a big broad grin
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHEEP SHELL CORN (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh: de ram blow de ho'n an' de sheep shell co'n
Last Line: When de sheep shell co'n wid de rattle of his ho'n
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHEIK OF DESPLAINES STREET, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know a man : he's on our street
Last Line: His ways and actions : is hard to beat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHELBY COUNTY WORKHOUSE BLUES, by HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBERN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I left old memphis tennessee : on my way back to [dear old] *maltree*
Last Line: Lord the guards done treat me : like I was a lowdown dog
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHEPHERD'S SONG AT CHRISTMAS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Look there at the star!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas; Negroes; American Blacks; Nativity, The


SHEPHERD'S SONG AT CHRISTMAS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Look there at the star!
Last Line: I will bring my heart %to the manger
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Christmas


SHIELDS STRONG, NULLA NULLAS ALIVE, by LIONEL FOGARTY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Morning dawning stems that core
Last Line: How sad are you. %or shields are strong %nulla nullas alive
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHIM SHAMMING, by EDDIE KELLY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said I don't care : what mama don't allow
Last Line: Going to *eeya-eeya* : anyhow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHINE AND THE TITANIC, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One day when the great titanic was sinking away
Last Line: Shine was on broadway, one-third drunk
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SHINEY TOWN BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't no rounder : but I stays at home
Last Line: Ain't nothing that separate from me : for you to be my wife
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHININ' PISTOL, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to get me a brand new [shiny] pistol : with a long shiny barrel
Last Line: I won't be dead with trouble : you know I died to *lose*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHINING PARLOR, by ANITA SCOTT COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was a drab street
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SHIPWRECK BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Captain : tell your men to get on board
Last Line: I feel like : someone has shipwrecked poor me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHIPWRECKED BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh the gale is raging : and my ship without a sail
Last Line: Lord if someone don't save me : I'll go down singing the shipwreck blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHOO FLY! (I WOULD NOT MARRY A BLACK GIRL) (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shoo fly! Don't bother me
Last Line: De naps'll 'gin to fly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHOO! SHOO! (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Pass dat cider an' 'simmon beer
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHOOK IT THIS MORNING BLUES, by JOE EVANS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I shook it this morning : baby until late last night
Last Line: I ain't go nowhere : to lay my weary head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHOOTIN' STAR BLUES, by LIZZIE MILES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I done crossed my fingers : and counted up to twenty-three
Last Line: But when the stars are shooting : I know bad luck is in that sign
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHORT HAIR BLUES, by KID STORMY WEATHER    Poem Source                    
First Line: That's all right baby : lord that's all right for you
Last Line: Dirty roaches and the chinches : done tore my little gin house down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHORT LETTER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: She writ me a letter
Last Line: My honey - good-by
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SHORT POEM FOR RIGHTEOUS BROTHAS BECAUSE YOU ARE:, by JENNIFER E. SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Afrikan sundancers
Last Line: Black magicians
Subject(s): African Americans


SHORTER, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got to shorter and saw it all
Last Line: You can't
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


SHORTY GEORGE, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Well shorty george : ain't no friend of mine
Last Line: I ain't got long down here : honey you heard I had
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHOTGUN BLUES, by BOB CAMPBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Get me a shotgun : and use it in the woods
Last Line: You done started me to loving you : and now your other man done come
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHOTGUN BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You ought to heard my grandmother : when she got my grandfather told
Last Line: Now if you can stand to leave me : I'll try to love to see you go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHOUT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen to yo' prophets
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SHOUTING BABY BLUES, by UNKNOWN+213    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know my baby : she going to jump and shout
Last Line: Oh hollering and screaming : where that long-gone man of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHOW FARE, PLEASE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell me, mama, can I get my show
Last Line: Show fare, mama.... %show fare!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SHOWERS OF RAIN BLUES, by EDWARD+(3) THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't mistreat me mama : because I'm your little wild
Last Line: What see the way them fishes : do the shivaree
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHRIMP MAN, by MOSES MASON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shrimp is the thing : you love best
Last Line: I'm going to holler : but I'm going home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SHUCKIN' SUGAR, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got your picture : and I'm going to put it in a frame
Last Line: I only want to stay like I am : and slip from town to town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SICK AFRICAN, by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wm. Yates, colored
Last Line: Too weak to stand.
Subject(s): African Americans


SICK BED BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I left [home] : my little girl was sick and in the bed
Last Line: I *never did mind though* : ooo well now when all your *gold* is gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SICK MAN, by WALLACE STEVENS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bands of black men seem to be drifting in air
Last Line: The peaceful, blissful words, well-tuned, well-sung, well-spoken
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians


SICK ROOM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How quiet %it is in this sick room
Last Line: And all three covered with a sheet of pain
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SICK WIFE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Las' sadday night my wife tuck sick
Last Line: If you saves po' me de gizzard
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SICK WITH THE BLUES, by HENRY TOWNSEND    Poem Source                    
First Line: People I've tried every doctor : every doctor in my neighborhood
Last Line: Because I've already found out : that your love is not true
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SIGNIFYING MONKEY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: The monkey and the lion
Last Line: A-way-up out of he way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SIGNS OF SPRING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bright, jolly sunshine and clear blue skies
Last Line: Are the things which tell us that spring is here
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SIGNS, OAKVALE, MISSISSIPPI, 1941, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The first time she leaves home is with a man
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SIGNS, OAKVALE, MISSISSIPPI, 1941, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The first time she leaves home is with a man
Last Line: Nothing but cotton and road signs-stop or slow
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SILENCE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I catch the pattern
Last Line: Every tone I seek %is heard
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SILENT ONE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This little silent one --
Last Line: This little %silent %one
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SILHOUETTE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Southern gentle lady
Last Line: Be good! %be good!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Three Songs About Lynching: Silhouett
Subject(s): African Americans


SILHOUETTES, by EDNA BINTLIFF    Poem Text                    
First Line: Stiff cat-tails mirrored in a pool
Last Line: Is never known to me.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Brothers; Soldiers; Half-brothers


SILLY ANIMALS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The dog ran down the street
Last Line: There they go again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SIMON LEGREE: NEGRO SERMON; MEMORIAL TO BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Legree's big house was white and green
Last Line: Down, down with the devil.
Alternate Author Name(s): Lindsay, Vachel
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SIMON SLICK'S MULE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dere wus a liddle kickin' man
Last Line: An' sen' you half a mile!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SINCE 1619, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How many years since 1619 have I been singing spirituals?
Last Line: Lean and hungry and tired of my dry bones and years?
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs; Slavery


SING ME A SONG FOR A NEGRO, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sing me a song for a negro
Last Line: Sing me a song for a negro
Subject(s): African Americans


SING SONG BLUES, by BOB COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you ever been down mama : you know just how [I, a prisoner] feel
Last Line: I drinking wine and whiskey : mama and your home-brewed beer
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SINGER, by GERALD WILLIAM BARRAX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black angel %doing what she's gotta do
Last Line: Doing what they've gotta do %black angels
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


SINGING NIGGER, by CARL SANDBURG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your bony head, jazbo, o dock walloper,
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SINGLE MOTHER, ANOINTING 133RD AND LENNOX, by LINWOOD M. ROSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You just know
Last Line: Shoes, manless, and wearing those invisible jewels of self-determination, %she reigns
Subject(s): African Americans; Mothers


SINGLE TREE BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hit my woman : with a singletree
Last Line: She ain't there : she's all over town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SINGLE WOMAN'S BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't feel welcome : I'm going to blow
Last Line: Then I will quit wandering : before it's too late
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SINKING OF THE TITANIC, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was 1912 when the awful news got around
Last Line: Shine was in sugar ray's bar drinking seagrams seven
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SINNER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Have mercy, lord!
Last Line: An' a sinner in yo'sight %have mercy, lord!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SIRENS, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Red lights in the cold night
Last Line: Never be warm again
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


SISSY MAN BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe: I believe I'll go back home
Last Line: Lord you going to hear these blues again mama: well you sure got to sing them yourself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SISTER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That little negro's married and got a kid
Last Line: Did it ever occur to you, boy, %that a woman does the best she can? %comment on stoop %so does a man
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SISTER JOHNSON MARCHES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here am I with my head held high
Last Line: It's de first of may!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SISTER LOU, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Honey
Last Line: Honey, take yo' bressed time.
Subject(s): African Americans; Death; Railroads; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The; Railways; Trains


SISTER LOVE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: My sister and I dream of adoption - someday
Last Line: And whispered, 'thanks, but no'
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


SISTER MAIME FIELDS, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dull patina %over rim of blue eye
Last Line: All heavy loads lighter
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Memory; Old Age


SISTER MARY WEARS A PRETTY GREEN SHAWL (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Early in the morning
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SISTER OUTSIDER, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We were born in a poor time
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SISTER OUTSIDER, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We were born in a poor time
Last Line: And beyond fear
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SISTER SUKIE, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I always loved peaches of simone's four women
Last Line: Where did you get such %a brown, pretty baby
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SISTER SUKIE II, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I believe you came
Last Line: Precious medallion around our lives
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Sisters


SISTERLOVE 1, by JOHARI MAHASIN RASHAD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hug your brother, little sister
Last Line: Know that it's not all his fault
Subject(s): African Americans


SISTERS, by ALEXIS DE VEAUX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ntabuu %ntabuu - selina and ntabuu of the red dirt road in new orleans
Last Line: Ancient grafiti hidden on vulva walls
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


SITTIN' ON A LOG, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was sitting on a log: just like a doggone dog
Last Line: I'm going to stay right here: wait on something new
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SITTING DOWN THINKING BLUES, by JIMMY ODEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Just sitting down thinking : drinking my trouble through
Last Line: And if I don't love you : I wouldn't care what you do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD, by JOE EVANS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Worked all the summer : and all the fall
Last Line: Why should you beg me : and say goodbye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Was all the summer : and all the fall
Last Line: Why should you beg me : and say goodbye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SITUATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I rolled three 7's
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SITUATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I rolled three 7's
Last Line: I was scared to walk out %with the dough
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SIX-BITS BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gimme six-bits' worth o' ticket
Last Line: I got to roll along
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SKEET AND GARRET, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got me accused for murder : and stealing was my crime
Last Line: You been following me : around this whole week
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKIN GAME BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good morning skin game : hollering skin game please last
Last Line: I would take a walk downtown : buy me a brand new pair of shoes and hat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKIN GAME BLUES, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I ??? Game last night : thought I'd have some fun
Last Line: Soon as I reach old georgia : the niggers carried a handcuff to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKIN MAN, by HI HENRY BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Skin man's hollering : passing right by my door
Last Line: Well they sell your wife skins : and take her away from you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKIN TRADE, by REGINALD SHEPHERD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: And then I said, that's what it means
Subject(s): Rivers; Longing; African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SKINNER, SKINNER, YOU KNOW THE RULE, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SKINNY WOMAN, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I don't want no skinny woman : I want a woman with a-plenty of meat
Last Line: Now she was a sweet little woman : she just wouldn't be loving and kind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKOODLE DO DO, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got up this morning : mama about half past four
Last Line: Whop you on the head : until you learn some sense
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKOODLE DO DO, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got up this morning : about half past four
Last Line: Whop you on your head :until you learn some sense
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKOODLE UM SKOO, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I got a lady : by the name of sue
Last Line: All these brownskins : none of them mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SKYLINES, by BESSIE MAYLE    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SLAVE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To ride piggy-back
Last Line: I ride protected
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SLAVE MARRIAGE CEREMONY SUPPLEMENT, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Dark an' stormy may come de wedder
Last Line: She's now yo' own. Salute yo' bride
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs;marriage;slavery; Negro Spirituals;weddings;husbands;wives;serfs


SLAVE SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I can see down there
Last Line: Wishing star %north star %how far
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SLAVE SONGS, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of the plantaton
Last Line: There are the rhythms of slavery. %let my people go!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SLAVE TO THE BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ain't robbed no train : ain't done no hanging crime
Last Line: I'm a good-hearted woman : but still I'm chained to the blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLAVES, by JAMES GRAINGER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yet, planter, let humanity prevail.- / perhaps the negro, in his native land
Last Line: The blacks should cultivate the cane-land isles.
Subject(s): African Americans; Oppression; Plantation Life; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


SLEEP, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When the lips %and the body
Last Line: And the body %are done
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SLEEPLESS NIGHTS BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now let me tell you : how I'd like to see my baby now
Last Line: I want you to hug and kiss me baby : now when I come walking in your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLEEPY MAN BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man gets troubled in mind : he want to sleep all the time
Last Line: I will do most anything : to keep from weaking down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLIM GREER, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen to the tale %of ole slim greer
Last Line: You'se a leetle too dumb, %fo' to stay up here
Variant Title(s): Slim In Hel
Subject(s): African Americans


SLIVER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Cheap little rhymes %cheap little tune
Last Line: To cheap little rhymes %can cut a man's %throat sometimes
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SLOP JAR BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I feel just like mama: throwing my slop jar in your face
Last Line: Says I walked all the way up beale street: I bowed my head at every old gal I met
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLOPPY DRUNK AGAIN, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My gal done quit me : found somebody else
Last Line: A brownskin woman : tell her when I come to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLOPPY DRUNK BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'd rather be a sloppy drunk : than anything I know
Last Line: And I'm sloppy drunk : drinking by myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLOPPY DRUNK BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'd rather be sloppy drunk : than anything I know
Last Line: Now I'm sloppy drunk mama : sleeping all by myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLOPPY DRUNK BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I would rather be sloppy drunk : oh than anything I know
Last Line: Now if you want me to stop drinking whiskey : you ain't talking about nothing at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLOW DRIVING MOAN, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I rambled till I'm tired : I'm not satisfied
Last Line: Don't play that band mr : just play the blues for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLOW MAMA SLOW, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take your time kind mama : I'm going to do it just as slow as I can
Last Line: Look out your back door : see me leave this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SLUM DREAMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little dreams %of springtime
Last Line: On air alone %they're hung
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SMALL MEMORY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have this %strange small memory
Last Line: The search %that is %not mine
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SMALL ODE TO A BLACK CUBAN BOXER, by NICOLAS GUILLEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your gloves
Last Line: Know proud, authentic black!
Subject(s): African Americans; Fights; Victory


SMOKING WITH T. FANNY, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: T. Fanny moved in next door to us when I was eight
Last Line: Cigarettes on her birthday every year
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


SMOTHERED FIRES, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A woman with a burning flame
Last Line: She breathed a soft—good-night!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Passion


SNAIL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little snail
Last Line: Drinking %the dewdrop's %mystery
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Snails


SNAIL'S REPLY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Snail! Snail! Come out'n o' yo' shell
Last Line: I'll jes take my chances in here whar I dwell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SNAKE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He glides so swiftly
Last Line: To seek a stone %to kill him
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SNAKE DOCTOR BLUES, by JAYDEE SHORT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a snake doctor man : everybody's trying to find out my name
Last Line: He's got roots and herbs : steals a woman man everywhere he land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SNAKE-BACK SOLO #1, by QUINCY TROUPE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: With the music up high
Last Line: Feeding time can become a window %to see through
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


SNATCH IT BACK BLUES, by WALTER BUDDY BOY HAWKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to lay my head : down on some railroad track
Last Line: Ooo : ooo
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SNIGGLIN' BLUES, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: I done everything : a poor ??? Man can do
Last Line: And tell me so many ??? : that I have no need no cash
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SNITCHIN' GAMBLER BLUES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: People in this town: lord they ain't no friend to you
Last Line: I left all the snitching people : way behind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SNOB, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If your reputation
Last Line: Too far to one side
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SNOW IN OCTOBER, by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Today I saw a thing of arresting poignant beauty
Last Line: As prematuure grief grays the strong head %of a virile, red-haired man
Alternate Author Name(s): Nelson, Alice Dunbar (moore)
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SO CLOSE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Missed out even more than %all the time
Subject(s): African Americans; Togetherness


SO LONELY AND BLUE, by JOHNNIE TEMPLE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I'm feeling so lonely : and I'm feeling so blue
Last Line: You know about that baby : you have done throwed me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SO LONESOME, by RAMBLIN' THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm so lonesome lonesome : I don't know what to do
Last Line: Said be careful in your traveling son : you got to reap just what you sow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SO LONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So long / is in the song
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SO LONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So long %is in the song
Last Line: You're gone so long %so long
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SO MANY FEATHERS, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You danced a magnetic dance
Last Line: So many feathers I remember %josephine josephine
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SO TIRED BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm gonna wake up some mornin'
Last Line: Tired as I can be
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SOBBIN' HEARTED BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: You treated me wrong : I treated you right
Last Line: Going to keep on walking : until I lose these sobbing-hearted blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOBBIN' WOMAN BLUES, by ELIZABETH JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh I ain't got : no easy rider now
Last Line: Keep me worried : bothered all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOCIETY BLUES, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was society : the women would not let me be
Last Line: It was a little brownskin woman : stole my heart away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOFT, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mama holds me
Last Line: Precious baby, %precious one.'
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


SOILD AS A HOLE IN THE WALL (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm as solid as a hole in the wall
Last Line: Dat I must no take it any more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SOLACE, by CLARISSA SCOTT DELANY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My window opens out into the trees
Last Line: Which knows no pain.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SOLEDAD, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Naked, he lies in the blinded room
Last Line: Oh swings: beyond complete immortal now.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Davis, Miles (1926-1991); Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Songs


SOLEDAD POEMS: ELEGY FOR GEORGE JACKSON, by WILLIAM WITHERUP    Poem Source                    
First Line: They say you died in a patch of sunlight
Last Line: You enter the hour of myth
Subject(s): African Americans; Blacks; Crime And Criminals; Ku Klux Klan; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Police; Racism


SOLEDAD: A CUBAN PORTRAIT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The shadows %of too many nights of love
Last Line: So deeply scarred, %so still with silent cries
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SOME DAY, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby I say you going to need : my little help some old lonesomeday
Last Line: You got me here in all this lowdown trouble : baby and this lowdown way that you do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOME DAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once more %the guns roar
Last Line: Shared by everyone
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SOME HANDS ARE LOVLIER, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two trees breathe
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SOME SCREAMED HIGH YELLOW, by SAM BUTLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I didn't *roll in here* : *till lord sometime* last night
Last Line: Catch a long jumping judy : go on across the hill
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMEBODY BIGGER THAN YOU AND I, by J. LANGE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Who made the mountains. Who made the trees
Last Line: You -- than you -- and I
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Faith


SOMEBODY'S BEEN BORROWING THAT STUFF, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look a-here judge : give me the lowest fine
Last Line: I am going : to raise some hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMEBODY'S BEEN TALKIN', by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to see : that rising sun go down
Last Line: Lord I got a notion : my woman done and left this town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMEBODY'S GOT TO GO, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well well me and my woman : we can't get along no more
Last Line: And it may be me : and it may be you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMEDAY BABY, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't care where you go : how long you stay
Last Line: You can steal my best woman : but you sure can't make her stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMEDAY BABY BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't care how long you gone : I won't care how long you stay
Last Line: You's a no-good woman : you don't mean no good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMEDAY I'LL BE IN THE CLAY, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I dropped my baby off : among my friends
Last Line: If I ain't gone to heaven : you know I gone to hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMETHING FISHY, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You arms don't feel the same : your lips is icebox cold
Last Line: But since you been running out with your girl friend : you just a plain old everyday clown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMETHING GONNA HAPPEN TO YOU, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to ask my buddy now : how come he shares
Last Line: Used to gang around me : like the ants on a bug
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMETHING LIKE A SONNET FOR PHILLIS MIRACLE WHEATLEY, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Girl from the realm of birds florid and fleet
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Wheatley, Phillis (1753-1784); Black Heritage


SOMETHING LIKE A SONNET FOR PHILLIS MIRACLE WHEATLEY, by JUNE JORDAN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Girl from the realm of birds florid and fleet
Last Line: Your early verse sweetens the fame of our race
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Wheatley, Phillis (1753-1784)


SOMETHING TO REMEMBER ME BY, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well then, now, welcome
Last Line: You have a long and %a prosperous stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


SOMETIME MAMA, by CURLEY WEAVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometime mama : you're good as good can be
Last Line: You going to get you another man : if you don't stop your sometime ways
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
Last Line: Way up in de hebbenly lan'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


SOMETIMES I THINK I LOVE YOU, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey sometime I think I love you : then again I don't
Last Line: Want for me to beg rob and steal : bring it all home to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SON TO MOTHER, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I start no
Last Line: "before I annihilate
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SON TO MOTHER, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I start no
Last Line: Before I annihilate %their ignorance?
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: We raise de wheat
Last Line: And say dat's good enough for nigger
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs; Negro Spirituals


SONG, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am weaving a song of waters
Last Line: Sing a little faster! %sing!
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SONG, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sons of slaves and
Last Line: A life of death is the death of life
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


SONG, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sons of slaves and
Last Line: Bricks and sticks and diamonds witness %a life of death is the death of life
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery


SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lovely, dark, and lonely one
Last Line: Beat with bare, brown fists -- %and wait
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the dusk
Last Line: O brothers mine.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SONG, by PAULI MURRAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because I know deep in my own heart
Last Line: Would say, 'I want you always near'
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SONG AFTER LYNCHING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I guess democracy's meant to be
Last Line: With a lynching tree
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG FOR A BANJO DANCE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Shake your brown feet, honey
Last Line: The sun's going down this very night -- %might never rise no mo'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG FOR A DARK GIRL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Way down south in dixie
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Lynching; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.)


SONG FOR A DARK GIRL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Way down south in dixie
Last Line: Love is a naked shadow %on a gnarled and naked tree
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Lynching; Southern States


SONG FOR BILLIE HOLIDAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What can purge my heart
Last Line: Where?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


SONG FOR MY BELOVED, by ERICA ANNETTE PIERCE    Poem Source                    
First Line: My lover has sloe eyes
Last Line: Let me see the sun rise %in my lover's sloe eyes
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG FOR OURSELVES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Czechoslovakia lynched on a swastika cross
Last Line: Will it be here, brother
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG FOR TWO, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two hearts are singing a love song
Last Line: I love you. My father. My son.'
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


SONG FOR YOU, by JOYCE CAROL THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me make a song for you
Last Line: And the rhyming of the wind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SONG IS YOU, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Prof, who wasn't, but
Last Line: Okay, charlie says %plotting his revenge
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


SONG OF ADORATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would like to be a white man, wouldn't you?
Last Line: Halleloo!... O halleloo ... %hallelloo-o-o
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG OF PRAISE, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You have not heard my love's dark throat
Last Line: Then seal your lips until the sun %discovers one as fair
Subject(s): African Americans; Desire; Love


SONG OF PRAISE FOR THE OFTEN OVERLOOKED MEN, by OPAL PALMER ADISA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't know why
Last Line: Being a real good man
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG OF SPAIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Come now, all you who are singers
Last Line: A workers' world %is the song of spain
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)


SONG OF THE CORN, by JAMES EDWIN CAMPBELL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O, hits time fur de plantin' ur de co'n
Last Line: O, hits time fur de eatin' ur de co'n.
Subject(s): African Americans; Corn; Gullahs; Negroes; American Blacks


SONG OF THE REFUGEE ROAD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Refugee road, refugee road
Last Line: Walking down the refugee road
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG OF THE REVOLUTION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sing me a song of the revolution
Last Line: Waken, at last, to the joy of life
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG OF THE SON, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pour, o pour that parting soul in song
Subject(s): African Americans; Holidays; New Year; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


SONG OF THE SON, by JEAN TOOMER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pour, o pour that parting soul in song
Last Line: Caroling softly souls of slavery
Subject(s): African Americans; Holidays; New Year; Slavery


SONG TO A NEGRO WASH-WOMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, wash-woman, %arms elbow-deep in white suds
Last Line: For you I have many songs to make %could I but find the words
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONG TO THE RUNAWAY SLAVE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Go 'way from dat window, 'my honey, my love'
Last Line: Dat you cain't git yo' lodgin' here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SONGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I sat there singing her
Last Line: I said, %there are %no words
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONGS FOR A COLORED SINGER, by ELIZABETH BISHOP    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: A washing hangs upon the line
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


SONGS FOR A COLORED SINGER, by ELIZABETH BISHOP    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A washing hangs upon the line
Last Line: For this occasion's all his fault, %the time has come to call a halt
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SONGS TO THE DARK VIRGIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Would %that I were a jewel
Last Line: To annihilate thy body, %thou dark one
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SONNET, by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I had no thought of violets of late
Last Line: Of violets, and my soul's forgotten gleam.
Alternate Author Name(s): Nelson, Alice Dunbar (moore)
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Flowers; Violets


SONNET TO A NEGRO IN HARLEM, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You are disdainful and magnificent
Last Line: You are too splendid for this city street.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Americans; Harlem (new York City); United States; Negroes; American Blacks; America


SONNET TO NEGRO SOLDIERS, by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR.    Poem Text                    
First Line: They shall go down unto life's borderland
Last Line: There breaks this day their dawn of liberty.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Soldiers' Writings


SOO COW SOO, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you see my cow : tell her hurry home
Last Line: I'd give anything : that the poor cow needs
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOON, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Soon one evening or soon one morn
Last Line: A wonderful angel like me
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


SOPHISTICATED MAMA, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sophisticated mama : don't turn your nose up at me
Last Line: Can't give you nothing but loving : and you'll have to make that do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOR JUANA, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Santisima sor juana
Last Line: Mulata benita. %juanita %amen
Subject(s): African Americans


SORE BUNION BLUES, by BLIND RICHARD YATES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Told the shoe man : give me a size fourteen
Last Line: Let him start : to working on my buns
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SORROWFUL BLUES, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you catch me stealing : I don't mean no harm
Last Line: Just stip in my back yards : and take a peep at mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Calling black people
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Alphabet Verse; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


SOS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Calling black people
Last Line: Calling all black people, come in, black people, come on in
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Alphabet Verse; Black Nationalism


SOUL PROPRIETORSHIP, by ISHMAEL REED    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Billy eckstine, now I %understand why you
Last Line: Collars, billowing, for lift off
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Eckstine, Billy (1914-1993)


SOUND OF SWING, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of %big band jazz
Last Line: I watch the world dance to the music of swing. %hi de hi de ho
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SOUNDING, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And so the seasons, they tell us
Last Line: Blind visionaries babbling
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


SOUNDING, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And so the seasons, they tell us
Last Line: All no no no self no no no no selves no no no no world no no no no no no
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Social Protest


SOUNDINGS AT MEMPHIS (SONGS OF THE LEADSMAN), by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: And it's a quarter less twain %mark twain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SOUNDINGS FROM TEE COLLINS (SONG OF THE LEADSMAN), by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SOUNDINGS FROM UNCLE MAC (SONG OF THE LEADSMAN), by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Quarter less twain %mark twain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SOUTH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The lazy, laughing south
Last Line: And in her house my children %may escape the spell of the south
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SOUTH, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: I returned to a stand of pines, / bone-thin phalanx
Subject(s): African Americans; Mississippi; Slavery; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs; South (u.s.)


SOUTH, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I returned to a stand of pines, %bone-thin phalanx
Last Line: In my native land, this place they'll bury me
Subject(s): African Americans; Mississippi; Slavery; Southern States


SOUTH BOUND BACKWATER, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It's been snowing forty days : and the ground is covered with snow
Last Line: Backwater done wrecked my cabin : and there's no place that I can call my home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTH CAROLINA RAG, by WILLIE WALKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I asked her for a drink of water : she brought gasoline
Last Line: Ain't so pretty : but she's the sweetest in town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTH MEMPHIS BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want you to weep mama : I don't want you to moan
Last Line: Before I'll take you to south memphis : I going bid you adieu
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTH SONG, by ROY ADDISON HELTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm for the south, - for the black-eyed south
Last Line: From beauty's warm lips on the bride-bed of june.
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Southern States; Black Heritage; South (u.s.)


SOUTHBOUND BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: No need to ask me : why I'm packing my clothes
Last Line: So I'm going down south : shake this dust of this town off my feet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN BLUES, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Blues jumped the monkey : and run him for a solid mile
Last Line: And when they gets on me : talk like a natural man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: House catch on fire %and ain't no water 'round
Last Line: If he beats me ragged %he's got to rag it some
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN CAN IS MINE, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now look here mama : let me tell you this
Last Line: But every time I hit it : you going to holler god dog
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN CAN MAMA, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now look a-here mama : let me explain you this
Last Line: I'll grab you woman : and turn you every way but loose
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN CASEY JONES, by JESSE JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I heard the people say : casey jones can't run
Last Line: You got another lady : on the same damn track
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN COP, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let us forgive ty kendricks
Last Line: And the dying negro moan
Subject(s): African Americans; Murder


SOUTHERN MAMMY SINGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Miss gardner's in her garden
Last Line: Just ain't got no heart %no, m'am! %just ain't got no heart
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SOUTHERN MANSION, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poplars are standing there still as death
Subject(s): African Americans; Haunted Houses; Southern States; Supernatural; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.)


SOUTHERN MANSION, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poplars are standing there still as death
Last Line: They have broken roses down %and poplars stand there still as death
Subject(s): African Americans; Haunted Houses; Southern States; Supernatural


SOUTHERN NEGRO SPEAKS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I reckon they must have
Last Line: When folks talk about freedom -- %and jim crow me?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SOUTHERN RAILROAD BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says my gal she caught the southern: and the fireman he rang the bell
Last Line: Said I'm going back home mama: and I'm going back there to stay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN ROAD, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Swing dat hammer - hunh - / steady, bo'
Subject(s): African Americans; Roads; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Paths; Trails; South (u.s.)


SOUTHERN ROAD, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Swing dat hammer - hunh - %steady, bo'
Last Line: Let me go; %po' los' boy, bebby, %evahmo...
Subject(s): African Americans; Roads; Southern States


SOUTHERN ROAD, by DUDLEY RANDALL    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There the black river, boundary to hell
Last Line: I have to love you, though they sweep me far. %and I set forth upon the southern road
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Southern States; Underground Railroad


SOUTHERN SEA BLUES, by JAKE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was shipwrecked on the ocean : throwed off on the southern sea
Last Line: If I don't love you pretty mama : I will pray to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN WOMAN BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down south : you ought to see the women shimmy and shake
Last Line: I won't go to fishing : mama I done broke my pole
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUTHERN WOMAN'S BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Takes a southern woman : to sing this southern song
Last Line: These northern men : are about to let my poor hambone spoil
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SOUVENIR FROM ANYWHERE, by HARRYETTE MULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: People of color untie-dyed
Subject(s): African Americans; Race Awareness; Negroes; American Blacks


SPARKING OR COURTING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se heaps older than three
Last Line: I don't co't lak no snail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SPEAK SOFTLY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wus dat you spoke
Last Line: An' de fish jes swim away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SPEAKING OF FOOD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I hear folks talking
Last Line: That's what we ought to say
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SPEAKING OF TRAINS: INCOGNITO: WOMAN IN BLUE, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY                        Poet's Biography
First Line: The streets are empty tonight
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SPEAKING OF TRAINS: INCOGNITO: WOMAN IN BLUE, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The streets are empty tonight
Last Line: And just ahead %is the station
Subject(s): African Americans


SPEAKING OF TRAINS: MOVEMENT 2: HOW TO MEET THE TRAIN, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY                        Poet's Biography
First Line: I have a method
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SPEAKING OF TRAINS: MOVEMENT 2: HOW TO MEET THE TRAIN, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I have a method
Last Line: But oh the many ways I c ould tell you you are wrong
Subject(s): African Americans


SPEAKING OF TRAINS: SOUTH TRAIN STUDY, MOVEMENT 1, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY                        Poet's Biography
First Line: In the early morning hours
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SPEAKING OF TRAINS: SOUTH TRAIN STUDY, MOVEMENT 1, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the early morning hours
Last Line: Some questions have more rhythm than others'
Subject(s): African Americans


SPECIAL AGENT, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now when I left for richmond : the weather was kind of cool
Last Line: Now I got to do some recording : and I ought to be recording right now
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SPECIAL BULLETIN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Lower the flags
Last Line: Peel off the skin, %peel peel %peel off %the skin
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SPECIAL DELIVERY BLUES, by SIPPIE WALLACE    Poem Source                    
First Line: My man packed his trunk : and said I'm going away
Last Line: Because if you didn't : it will give me those special delivery blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SPECIAL RIDER BLUES, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't got no : special rider here
Last Line: Hear you done call : the easy rider special blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SPECIAL STREAM LINE, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey dad : I'm sorry to leave my home
Last Line: Mmm : I believe I'll lose my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SPECULATION, 1939, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: First, the moles on each hand
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SPECULATION, 1939, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: First, the moles on each hand
Last Line: Not that elevator lurching up, then down
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


SPIDER AND THE FLY, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Up said the spider : to the little fly one day
Last Line: I'll give you loving : loving until you die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SPIRIT FLOWERS ARE OUR LIVES, by DELLA BURT    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Spirit flowers are we
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SPIRIT OF GOSPEL, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of gospel
Last Line: And the heart of rhythm and blues. %amen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


SPIRITUAL: THE LONELY MOTHER, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, my mother's moaning by the river
Last Line: Swaying for her son who walks in sorrow.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Black Songs; Despair; Mothers; Negro Spirituals


SPIRITUALS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Rocks and the firm roots of trees
Last Line: Sing, o black mother! %song is a strong thing
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SPIRITUALS, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Yes these are ours ... The spirituals
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SPORT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Life %for him
Last Line: Drunk long %ago
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SPRING FOR LOVERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Desire weaves its fantasy of dreams
Last Line: Forgetting -- flowers wither in an hour
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SPRING SONG, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A bluebell springs upon the ledge
Last Line: Of spring, spring, spring!
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Spring; Negroes; American Blacks


SQUABBLIN' BLUES, by UNKNOWN+201    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby done quit me : talked all over town
Last Line: Said it's traintime now : *said that* ring I did adore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SQUAT IT, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a man : works on the railroad track
Last Line: But when he's doing the squatting : you might a-hear me squall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SQUEAKY WORK BENCH BLUES, by JAMES YANK RACHEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can't love you baby : I'm going to tell what's this all about
Last Line: Said I'd rather go by myself : and look to the good lord above
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ST. LOUIS BLUES, by KATHERINE HENDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to see : that evening sun go down
Last Line: Why the man I love : would not have gone nowhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ST. LOUIS BLUES, by JIM JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I hates to see : that evening sun go down
Last Line: And a black-headed girl : will make a preacher ball the jack
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ST. LOUIS BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to see : the evening sun go down
Last Line: The man I love : wouldn't go nowhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ST. LOUIS CYCLONE BLUES, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was sitting in my kitchen : looking way out across the sky
Last Line: How the cyclone spared us : nobody but the lord can tell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ST. LOUIS DADDY, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to leave st louis : and I tried so hard to stay
Last Line: Now I'm going to detroit : and find me an angel man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


ST. MARTIN, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O little slave saint with your broom of pampas and your cross
Last Line: Dos santos %amen
Subject(s): African Americans; Prayer; Religion


ST. PETER BLUES, by NOLAN WELSH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama mama : baby how can it be
Last Line: I'll say look a-here st peter : you got any white lightning here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STACK O' DOLLARS, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stack of dollars : just as long as I am tall
Last Line: It weren't nothing that she knowed lord : just something that she heard
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STACK O' DOLLARS BLUES, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now it's too late to holler baby : too late to weep and moan
Last Line: For that stack of dollars is worrying me : lord and I got togo
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STACKER LEE (1), by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stacker lee is lookin' fo' the bully
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STACKER LEE (2), by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stacker lee's wife, she's heard the bad news
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STACKER LEE (3), by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, stack in the rivuh, turnin' all roun' an' roun'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STACKOLEE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: One dark and dusty day
Last Line: Shine was in sugar ray's bar drinking seagrams seven
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


STAGGERING BLUES, by ROSIE MAE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because you see me staggering : baby don't you think I'm drunk
Last Line: But the day you try to quit me : brother that's the day you die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STALINGRAD: 1942, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There are the inactive ones who
Last Line: Victory -- your glory!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STAMP BLUES, by TONY HOLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I woke up this morning : half past four
Last Line: Streets was crowded : and I couldn't get through
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STAND BACK, BLACK MAN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stan' back, black man, %you cain't shine
Last Line: Hain't nothin' side o' me?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STAND UP SUITCASE BLUES, by UNCLE BUD WALKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey mama : honey what's the matter now
Last Line: Said this sideboard soo lord : carry load of wine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STAR SEEKER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have been a seeker
Last Line: Wild beauty. %now behold my scars
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STAR-FIX, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At his cramped desk
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life; Relatives


STAR-FIX, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At his cramped desk
Last Line: Going hungry for five or six hours %to give his flight-lunch%to his two little girls
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life


STARS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O, sweep of stars over harlem streets
Last Line: Out of the little breath of oblivion %that is night %take just %one star
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Homosexuality


STARS IN ALABAMA, by JESSIE REDMOND FAUSET    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In alabama %stars hand down so low
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


STARVATION BLUES, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: Starvation in my kitchen : rent sign's on my door
Last Line: Mean my luck going to change : and I going to be treated this a-way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STARVATION FARM BLUES, by BOB CAMPBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I'm going to detroit : get myself a job
Last Line: Woman if you keep on a-smiling : I'm sure going to take your place
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STATE OF TENNESSEE, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a voice like a radio : it broadcasts everywhere
Last Line: Double e double r : double e double n o p
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STATE OF TENNESSEE BLUES, by JENNIE CLAYTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm worried now ; and I won't be worried long
Last Line: If you don't want no trouble : please don't you worry my man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STATEMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Down on '33rd street
Last Line: Every way they is
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STATESBORO BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wake up mama : turn your lamp down low
Last Line: I looked over in the corner : grandma and grandpa had them too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STATIONS, by PHILIP BOOTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The old, their big shoulders humped
Last Line: To end, the far side of the macon station
Subject(s): African Americans; Railroad Stations; Negroes; American Blacks


STATIONS, by PHILIP BOOTH    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The old, their big shoulders humped
Last Line: To end, the far side of the macon station
Subject(s): African Americans; Railroad Stations


STATUS SYMBOL, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I / have arrived
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


STATUS SYMBOL, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I %have arrived
Last Line: White -- locked -- john
Subject(s): African Americans


STAVIN CHAIN, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stavin chain he's dead an' gone, lef me to carry the good work
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STEALIN' STEALIN', by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stealing stealing : pretty mama don't you tell on me
Last Line: She's a married woman : come to see me sometime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STEALING A RIDE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two liddle nigger boys as black as tar
Last Line: Dey's gwineter git to heaben shoer bye-an'-bye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STEALING BO-HOG, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm not an elephant baby : my snout is large and round
Last Line: I got me a pigmeat woman : don't need no sowbelly no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STEEL DRIVIN' MAN, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Steel-driving sam : steel-driving man of mine
Last Line: He works on the railroad : daylight-savings time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STEEL MILLS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The mills %that grind and grind
Last Line: Grinding out new steel, %old men
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STELLA BY STARLIGHT, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: My mother couldn't understand how my father, a man stuffed so full
Last Line: Their dark faces reflected the light and were shining
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parents


STEP IT UP AND GO, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Had a little girl : she was little and low
Last Line: Hear my gal call me : and I got to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STEPFATHER BLUES, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was a little boy baby : about sixteen inches high
Last Line: He's a no-good weed : and swear he done me wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STERED GAL, by MISSISSIPPI BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: She wouldn't if she could : and she wouldn't do it at all
Last Line: Ain't mush *chitlin* : but stir it in the house
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STEVEDORE MAN, by LEOLA B. WILSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning about half past nine : and I just could no keep from cryin
Last Line: And that woman done got lucky : lord and stoled her man back again
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STEW MEAT BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: A man say I had something : look like new
Last Line: You try my stuff one time : you can't get enough
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STICK-A MA-STEW (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Cain't mend dat randsome, handsome gown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STILL, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: And our points %sharpening good as anybody's
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Ethnic Groups - United States


STILL HERE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've been scarred and battered
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


STILL HERE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've been scarred and battered
Last Line: I'm still here!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STILL I RISE, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You may write me down in history / with your bitter, twisted lies
Last Line: I rise.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


STILL WATER CREEK, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down yon'er on still water creek
Last Line: If it goes back dar, I sho's gwine to die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STILL WATER RUNS DEEP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat still water, it run deep
Last Line: Jes roll 'round an' rattle
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STINGING SNAKE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: This house is full of stinging snakes : crawling all in my bed
Last Line: I believe to my soul : that my stinging snake trying to put me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STINGY WOMAN--BLUES, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: And it's stingy woman : come and sit down on my knee
Last Line: And you trying to quit me : lordy woman and you don't know how
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOCKING FEET BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Somebody : just keep on calling me
Last Line: Won't some good man : tell me some woman's name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOKELY MALCOLM ME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have been seeking
Last Line: Did I ever live %up your %way?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Carmichael, Stokely; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


STOLE RIDER BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to grab me a train : ride the lonesome rail
Last Line: That why : I've got these old stole rider blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOMP DOWN RIDER, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I first met you mama : you were so nice and kind
Last Line: Come back and show you : how to eagle rock
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOMP THAT THING, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now my song's gotten tight : they won't treat me right
Last Line: Stomping that thing : is about to change my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STONE IN MY PASSWAY, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got stones in my passway : and my road seem dark as night
Last Line: I been feeling ashamed about my rider : babe I'm booked and I got to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STONE PONY BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got me a stone pony : and I don't ride shetland no more
Last Line: Come a storm at night : and tore the wire down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STONED, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rancid reasoning of a thousand
Last Line: Exploding in his head
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


STONES OF SOWETO, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Our recent dead have no shame
Last Line: And the many clamoring stones %of soweto
Subject(s): African Americans


STONEWALL BLUES, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me mailman : I can't get no news
Last Line: Down in that old foundry : trying to roll my cares away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STONEWALL STREET BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey hey hey hey : hey hey hey hey
Last Line: I ain't going to stay around here : and be your stumbling block
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STONY LONESOME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They done took cordelia
Last Line: Cordelia's %in stony %lonesome %ground!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STOP AND LISTEN BLUES, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes I'm *jailhouse* ??? : long old lonesome day
Last Line: It was ??? : ??? All around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOP AND LISTEN BLUES NO. 2, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I left town this morning : I was on my way back home
Last Line: I never will see : sweet babe ever anymore
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOP BREAKIN' DOWN BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every time I'm walking : down the street
Last Line: When some pretty mama : starts breaking down on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOP LOOK AND LISTEN, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh stop and listen : hear those bells a-tone
Last Line: Watch the pallbearers : when they lay my faro down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOP THAT THING, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now mama killed a chicken : and thought it was a duck
Last Line: The monkey told the baboon : you got no sense
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOP YOUR RAMBLING, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby stop you way of rambling : stay at home with me sometime
Last Line: But some day baby : you'te going to reap just what you sow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOP-TIME, by RODERICK HARTIGH JELLEMA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Paul stewart from the college was black (was the point)
Last Line: Man I didn't mean it when I made you lie to me
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music And Musicians


STOPPED IN MEMPHIS, by STEVEN ALBERT BAUER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Rain's grey buckshot spatters the windshield
Last Line: It allows no disruption of travel, %no assassin's bullet
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


STORMY WEATHER NO 1, by JOSHUA+(1) WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord it rained : it rained as far as I could see
Last Line: And I won't be worried : about these stormy weather blues no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STOVE PIPE BLUES, by UNKNOWN+205    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you get down to memphis : won't find me there
Last Line: Good lord now when you get to memphis : won't find me there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STRANGE BROOD (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De ole hen sot on tucky aigs
Last Line: Mighty queer chickens! See?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STRANGE FAMILY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Once dere's an ole 'oman dat lived in de wes'
Last Line: An' dey're all deir own gran'mother. %can you guess?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STRANGE FRUIT, by JOY HARJO    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was out in the early evening, taking a walk in the fields to think about this
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Lynching; Music & Musicians; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


STRANGE FRUIT, by JOY HARJO    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was out in the early evening, taking a walk in the fields to think about this
Last Line: My feet betray me, dance anyway from this killing tree
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Lynching; Music And Musicians; Racism


STRANGE HURT [SHE KNOWS], by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In times of stormy weather
Last Line: Naked through the cold.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


STRANGE MAN, by HELEN GROSS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Last night I went out alone : I was lonesome as could be
Last Line: I ain't got nobody : and you sure look good to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STRANGE OLD WOMAN (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dere wus an ole 'oman, her name was nan
Last Line: One leg stood still, while de tother kep' runnin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STRANGE PLACE BLUES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm a stranger at this place : and I'm looking for my mother's grave
Last Line: I be glad when that day comes : ooo well when these blues drive me away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STRANGER BLUES, by ROSIE MAE MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: If I feel tomorrow : like I feel today
Last Line: Lord I find my man : I'm going to nail him to the wall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STRANGER IN TOWN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I walked all over the zoo and the park
Last Line: Yes, I'll know %my way around
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STREAMLINE TRAIN, by CRIPPLE CLARENCE LOFTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Streamline train : back train to front
Last Line: One thing I can tell you : get your mind off that man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STREET CAR BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I know the people : is on the wander everywhere
Last Line: Lord I'm going to quit my bad way of living : and visit the sunday school
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STREET LAMPS IN EARLY SPRING, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Night wears a garment
Last Line: Move slowly with their gem-starred light
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


STREET SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jack, if you got to be a rounder
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


STREET SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jack, if you got to be a rounder
Last Line: Just don't let mama catch you %makin' rounds at night
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


STREET WALKIN', by SONNY BOY NELSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nobody knows : streetwalking women like I do
Last Line: Then again she will tell you : to pack your clothes and go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


STRONG HANDS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Heres' yo' bread, an' here's yo' butter
Last Line: W'en dey hits you, it's 'good-bye-cow'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


STRONG MEN, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They dragged you from the homeland
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Slavery; Social Protest; Strength; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry; Serfs


STRONG MEN, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They dragged you from the homeland
Last Line: The strong men gittin' stronger %strong men %stronger
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Slavery; Social Protest; Strength


STRUCK SORROW BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going away : now don't you want to go
Last Line: Going to leave town : and hang crepe on your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUBSTITUTION, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Is life itself but many ways of thought
Last Line: His all-mind bids us to keep this sacred place
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SUBURBAN EVENING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A dog howled %weird became the night
Last Line: Unreasonable %ghosts
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUBWAY FACE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That I have been looking
Last Line: I take a local down
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUBWAY RUSH HOUR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mingled %breath and smell %so close
Last Line: So near %no room for fear
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Subways


SUCCESS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here I sit with my belly full
Last Line: With onions on it, %and I eat
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUE COW, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Little boy little boy : who made your britches
Last Line: I got to have that milk today : to make my bread
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUGAR IN COFFEE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sheep's in de meader, a-mowing o' de hay
Last Line: So I'll take sugar in de coffee-o
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SUGAR LOAF TEA, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bring through yo' sugar-lo'-tea, bring through yo' candy
Last Line: But all I wants is to wheel, an' tu'n, an' bow to my love so handy
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SUGAR MAMA, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sugar mama sugar mama : where did you get your sugar from
Last Line: Everybody wants some of your sugar mama : ooo well well but please don't let them have more than fou
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUGAR MAN BLUES--PART 1, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sugar man sugar man : please come back to me
Last Line: I ain't had nothing sweet : since my sugar been gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUGAR MAN BLUES--PART 2, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sugar man sugar man : you got the best sugar in town
Last Line: Lord I want my sugar : just to *have my* sugar *and how*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUGAR PUDDING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm tired of the women : the day she cook
Last Line: I'm talking about the ??? : ??? Your head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUGARLAND BLUES, by UNKNOWN+306    Poem Source                    
First Line: You never have nothing : long as you live in sugarland
Last Line: Because I've got another woman : baby and I'm going to let you go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUICIDE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ma sweet good man has
Last Line: Cause de river's quiet %an' a po' gal can sleep
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUICIDE BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: If somebody finds me : when I'm dead and gone
Last Line: Goodbye cruel world : I'm glad I left you behind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUICIDE BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: If somebody finds me : when I'm dead and gone
Last Line: So goodbye old cold world : I'm glad you're left behind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUICIDE CITY, by BRENDA MARIE OSBEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I turn in bed toward my lover
Last Line: Ever %at the tracks
Subject(s): African Americans


SUICIDE'S NOTE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The calm / cool face of the river
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SUICIDE'S NOTE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The calm %cool face of the river
Last Line: Asked me for a kiss
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUITCASE FULL OF BLUES, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hand me down my suitcase : *reach* my walking cane
Last Line: *get* another ??? : ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUMMER EVENING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mothers pass, %sweet watermelon in a baby carriage
Last Line: And in another week %it will again %be sunday
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUMMER IS COMING, by PEARL CLEAGE    Poem Source                    
First Line: The laughter in the street gets louder
Last Line: And my brothers %clap their hands
Subject(s): African Americans


SUMMER MATURES, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The brilliant-bellied newt flashes
Last Line: Come.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Sappho (610-580 B.c.)


SUMMER NIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sounds %of the harlem night
Last Line: Into the court-yard
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUMMER ORACLE, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Without exception %there is no end
Last Line: Under its cloak of lies
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SUMMER WORDS FOR A SISTER ADDICT, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The first day I shot dope
Last Line: And we all sing
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Drugs & Drug Abuse


SUMMER WORDS FOR A SISTER ADDICT, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The first day I shot dope
Last Line: To mingle with the sister's young tears %and we all sing
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


SUN BEAM BLUES, by BILLIKEN JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sunbeam's on time : I ain't got my fare
Last Line: But if I miss the sunbeam : I will be seldom seen
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUN CAME, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


SUN DO MOVE', by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Who wouldn't believe
Last Line: Who wouldn't, who %wouldn't believe!
Subject(s): African Americans


SUN SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sun and softness
Last Line: I bring you my songs %to sing on the georgia roads
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUNDAY BY THE COMBINATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I feel like dancin', baby
Last Line: I feel like dancin'! %baby, dance with me!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUNDAY MORNING PROPHECY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And now %when the rumble of death
Last Line: That I who am thy shepherd %might live %amen!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUNDAYS OF SATIN-LEGS SMITH, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Inamoratas, with an approbation
Last Line: Her body like summer earth, %receptive, soft, and absolute
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music And Musicians


SUNDOWN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+203    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was standing in my back door : looking at the evening sun go down
Last Line: She left me this morning : I hadn't done nothing wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Evening


SUNDOWN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+205    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama I woke up this morning : mama had the sundown blues
Last Line: When the wintertime gets here : I'll wear the b v ds
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Evening


SUNFLOWERS AND SATURDAYS, by MELBA JOYCE BOYD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daddy sits %in his brown %leather chair
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


SUNNYLAND, by ELMORE JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Seems like I heard
Last Line: And I hope it won't be long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUNRISE BLUES, by WILL DAY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well the sun rose this morning : and laid down on my floor
Last Line: Got the blues so bad : I really can't hardly see
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUNSET -- CONEY ISLAND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sun, %like the red yolk of a rotten egg
Last Line: Is like a sick tomato %in a garbage can
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUNSET IN DIXIE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The sun is gonna go down
Last Line: Goes down in dixie
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SUNSHINE BLUES, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got the worried blues : got nowhere to go
Last Line: And it may bring sunshine : and it may bring rain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUNSHINE MOAN, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh tell me baby : how can it be
Last Line: Got to give me lots of loving : and keep my company
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUNSHINE SPECIAL, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Burn the railroad down : so that sunshine special can't run
Last Line: If I leave texas anymore : going to leave on that l and n
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUNSHINE SPECIAL, by SODARISA MILLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sunshine special : shine down on me
Last Line: ??? : my ruination ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUSAN JANE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know somebody's got my lover
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SUSIE GIRL (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ring 'round, miss susie gal
Last Line: Yes 'love' 'my darlin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SUSIE-Q, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well now I knowed a family : lived down in the avenue
Last Line: You can't marry me : and somebody else too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SUZE ANN, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes: I loves dat gal wid a blue dress on
Last Line: He hain't got nothin' to do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SWEET ETHEL WAS A ROAMING GIRL, by LINDA PIPER    Poem Source                    
Last Line: And she'll never %walk the streets no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Prostitution


SWEET HOME BLUES, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was thinking about going home : I don't believe that I will go
Last Line: Well then again then if I go home : ooo well now do you think she will be mean to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET HOME CHICAGO, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ooh : baby don't you want to go
Last Line: Somebody will tell me : that you need my help some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET JELLY ROLLIN', by UNKNOWN+220    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here mama : don't you be so fast
Last Line: Can't get the woman I want : I'm going to use my
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET MAMA, by JAMES YANK RACHEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I say you used to be sweet mama : but I ain't going to call you sweet no more
Last Line: It had ??? : of my old-time used-to-be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET MAMA BLUES, by COLEY JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I tried to love you : way back on my young days
Last Line: If the blues overtake me : rock away from there
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET MAN, SWEET MAN, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sweet man sweet man : what makes you candy taste so hard
Last Line: And I want to see my man : because because he's so good and kind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET MEAT HAS SOUR SAUCE; OR, THE SLAVE-TRADER IN THE DUMPS, by WILLIAM COWPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A trader I am to the african shore
Last Line: Which nobody can deny.
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans; Slavery; Trade; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


SWEET PAPA MOAN, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ooh : what am I going to do now
Last Line: Than be here in the world : baby and be your slave
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET PATUNI, by JESSE JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ah wake up mama : wake up and don't sleep no sound
Last Line: And I done told you two or three times : I don't want no junk
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET PATUNIA, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me tell you : what sweet patunia do
Last Line: He got ways like a barber : he's a full-blown man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET PATUNIA, by CURLEY WEAVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got a gal : lives down by the jail
Last Line: Baby had good tunis : but she couldn't get none
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET PATUNIA BLUES, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got the blues for my baby : she got the blues for I say me
Last Line: If I get what I want : you can have the rest
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET PINKS AND ROSES (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sweet pinks an' roses, strawbeers on de vines
Last Line: You kiss dat pretty gal, an' I'll stan' back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


SWEET POTATO BLUES, by UNKNOWN+207    Poem Source                    
First Line: There ain't no more potatoes : the frost done killed that vine
Last Line: She could feed the ??? *pigmeat* : corn bread for her man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET ROSE OF ZION, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: It could have been 1929
Last Line: Oh, sweet rose of zion, %fly free, %fly free
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Freedom; Movement


SWEET SIXTEEN, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Uncle bert thought : he had *his daughter* trained
Last Line: And she strutting her stuff : to who she please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET TO MAMA, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I woke up this morning : with the blues all around my baby's bed
Last Line: And now stop and take your time : and do your work everywhere you go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET WOMAN YOU CAN'T GO WRONG, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm lonesome as I can be : baby please come home to me
Last Line: Although you my sweet woman : and I mean you can't go wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEET WORDS ON RACE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sweet words that take
Last Line: Not hear them %anymore
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SWEETEST THING BORN, by UNKNOWN+212    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says a married woman : sweetest thing ever been born
Last Line: If you can't do like I tell you : mama go on your no-good way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


SWEETHEARTS DANCE, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: He pulls her close
Last Line: Across the floor
Subject(s): African Americans; Dancing And Dancers; Love


SYLVESTER'S DYING BED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I woke up this mornin'
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


SYLVESTER'S DYING BED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I woke up this mornin'
Last Line: Then everything was darkness %in a great big night
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


SYMPATHY (2), by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
Last Line: I know why the caged bird sings!
Subject(s): African Americans; Birdcages; Freedom; Sympathy; Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty; Empathy


T AND T BLUES, by MOOCH RICHARDSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Will you iron my jumper : yes and starch my overalls
Last Line: But I ain't got me nobody : I'm sleeping every night just by myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


T MODEL BLUES, by WALTER ROLAND    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said it's mmm baby : mmm baby mmm
Last Line: Because you know I'm got to go home and ??? My old lady : because she won't come back no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


T N AND O BLUES, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The train I ride : is eighteen coaches long
Last Line: Please send me back : the only man I love
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


T-BONE STEAK BLUES, by JAMES YANK RACHEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say you talking about your red ripe tomato : I'm crazy about my t-bone steak
Last Line: But you going to want me some of these mornings : and poor dad won't have you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


T-U-TURKEY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: T-u, tucky, t-u, ti
Last Line: Go wuk him in de co'n field jes fer fun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


T. B. BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now but ooh : t b's is killing me
Last Line: And now even won't none of my friends : come and even rub my aching head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


T. B. WOMAN BLUES, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It's too late too late : too late too late too late
Last Line: I got tuberculosis : consumption is killing me
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


T. B.'S GOT ME BLUES, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: T b's got me : all my friends done throwed me down
Last Line: Well I wished I was dead : and in the land I'm doomed to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


T.P. WINDOW BLUES, by JACK RANGER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was leaning in my window : looking in my baby's door
Last Line: Taking my baby away : she ain't coming here no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TABLEAU, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At breakfast, the scent of lemons
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


TABLEAU, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At breakfast, the scent of lemons
Last Line: That has begun to split the bowl in half
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


TAG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little cullud boys / with fears
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


TAG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little cullud boys %with fears
Last Line: Frantic, %nudge their draftee years. %pop-a-da!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TAKE A LITTLE WALK WITH ME, by ROBERT LOCKWOOD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come on baby : please take a walk with me
Last Line: Until every time you see me : you want to walk some more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TAKE A WALK AROUND THE CORNER, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Believe I'll take a walk : around the corner by myself
Last Line: I just love to hear : my baby call my name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TAKE ME BACK, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now what I mean : by treating you right
Last Line: I'll be good : as any man can act
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TAKE ME BACK BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take me back baby : you know I don't know my mind
Last Line: Because you flirting with the undertaker : I mean it ain't no lie
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TAKE ME FOR A BUGGY RIDE, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Daddy you really knows your stuff : when you take me for a buggy ride
Last Line: You done sent salvation : to my very soul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TAKE YO' TIME, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Honey baby take yo' time, please don't break this leg uv mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TAKE YOUR FINGERS OFF IT, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes I walk : with me ???
Last Line: Her feets in the kitchen : her head's in the hall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TAKIN' OFF, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Residing at the woodside
Last Line: Old time-y %kaycee variations
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


TAKING A WALK (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: We's a-walkin' in de green grass dust, dust, dust
Last Line: I'll take you by yo' liddle hand to walk wid me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TAKING YOUR PLACE, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now tell me baby : how come you do me this a-way
Last Line: Now someone has done something mama : about to take your place
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TALKING TO MYSELF, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good lord good lord : send me an angel down
Last Line: It weren't a thing : but the women trying to run me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TALLAHASSEE WOMAN, by LOUIS WASHINGTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you get in tallahassee : put your money down in your shoe
Last Line: When you get in tallahassee : your woman put a *method* on you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TALLAHATCHIE RIVER BLUES, by MATTIE DELANEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tallahatchie river rising : lord it's mighty bad
Last Line: But this tallahatchie river ; done got the best of me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TAMBOURINES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Tambourines %to glory
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TAMPA BOUND, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going back to tampa : to that girl I left behind
Last Line: I'm going back to tampa : just to kill my lowdown blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TANKA, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This man has sucked too
Last Line: Navigate a blackwomansail
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Love – Complaints


TAPESTRY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Men who ride strange wild horses
Last Line: Are dreaming of old amours
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TAPPIN' THAT THING, by CHARLIE BURSE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say excuse me mama : I don't mean no harm
Last Line: *got no rest : over my dead loot*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEACHER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ideals are like the stars
Last Line: And I tremble lest the darkness teach %me that nothing matters
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TEACHING TABLE MANNERS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now whilst we's here 'round de table
Last Line: I'se had manners ev'r since
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TEASIN' BROWN BLUES, by LOUIE LASKY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh mama : I dream about you night and day
Last Line: But she ain't not a good one : I'm going to cling on to my teasing brown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEDDY BEAR BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to make friends : with the fish in the deep blue sea
Last Line: Tie a string on my neck : and I'll follow everywhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELEPHONE ARGUIN' BLUES, by JAYDEE SHORT    Poem Source                    
First Line: There's so many people : arguing on the telephone
Last Line: Some woman love I used to have : gone seen my babe some day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELEPHONING THE BLUES, by VICTORIA SPIVEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hello there central : please give me my best man
Last Line: Bet you fifty to one hundred : something is going on wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELL IT TO THE JUDGE NO.1, by DESSA FOSTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm telling you this morning : I'm tired of you searcing my house
Last Line: That judge is going to lick me : because I been here so many times
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELL IT TO THE JUDGE NO.1, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you can lose your temper : but please don't lose your head
Last Line: You better get on your knees and ask for mercy : because the judge giving breaks no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELL IT TO THE JUDGE NO.2, by DESSA FOSTER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm guilty kind old judge : please treat me nice and kind
Last Line: When I come back I'm going to gamble : and sell moonshine all my life
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELL IT TO THE JUDGE NO.2, by J. T. FUNNY PAPER SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: They got you charged with having liquor : now tell me what is your plea
Last Line: And change your sentence from the bridewell : send you to the pen for ninety-nine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELL ME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Why should it be my loneliness
Last Line: Why should it be my song, %why should it be my dream %deferred %overlong?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TELL ME ABOUT IT, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: *some* was good : some said mean
Last Line: *men say why* : *and hog people's stuff*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELL ME BABY, by KING SOLOMON HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now tell me baby : what time your ??? Leave
Last Line: All these winston women : going to be the ruin of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELL ME MAN BLUES, by HENRY SIMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me man : which way the rising sun
Last Line: I'm going to get me : a khaki suit
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TELLIN' YOU 'BOUT IT, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man gets the blues : he sure will run around
Last Line: But some day baby : you really need my little aid
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEMPERANCE RHYME (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Whisky nor brandy hain't no friend to my kind
Last Line: Dey killed my po' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TEN YEARS OLD, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I paid my 30 cents and rode by the bus
Last Line: And she said 'same thang son same thang'
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans


TENEBRIS, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a tree, by day
Last Line: Or is it a shadow?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Shadows


TENNESSEE WORKHOUSE BLUES, by JENNY POPE    Poem Source                    
First Line: This is that new workhouse : way out in merlin tennessee
Last Line: I hate to see my daddy : carrying that heavy load
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TERENCE MACSWINEY, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TERRAPLANE BLUES, by FRANK EDWARDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I saying I sad and lonesome : lord what I'm going to do
Last Line: Say I can *peel off* that accelerator : and that gas come through
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TERRAPLANE BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I feel so lonesome : you hear me when I moan
Last Line: And when I mash down on your little starter : then your spark plug will give me fire
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TERRIBLE OPERATION BLUES (1), by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Get up on the table : pull off that gown
Last Line: Go kind of easy : with them connection rods
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TERRIBLE OPERATION BLUES (2), by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Get up on this table : pull off that gown
Last Line: From now on you'd be careful : with them there connection rods
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TESTAMENT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What shall I leave my son
Last Line: Than she's got breath
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TESTIMONIAL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I just had a piano
Last Line: But I don't need no piano %neither organ %nor drum %for to praise my lord!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TEXAS AND PACIFIC BLUES, by COLEY JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: That mean t p [railroad, railway] : sure has done me wrong
Last Line: It makes me : want to pack up all my clothes and go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEXAS BLUES, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm texas bound : I got a freight train on my mind
Last Line: Because my sweet mama quit me : left me with the texas blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEXAS BLUES, by MARSHALL OWENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going back to texas : hear that wild ox moan
Last Line: I hugging the pillow : where my fair brown did lay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEXAS BLUES, by WILLIE REED    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going out in west texas : where you hear the wild ox moan
Last Line: Thinking about my lover : she had done put me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEXAS EASY STREET BLUES, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me mama : what's the matter now
Last Line: When you see me running : something going on wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEXAS MOANER BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was born in texas : but I didn't stay
Last Line: When one don't want you : the other one will take you in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TEXAS WORRIED BLUES, by HENRY+(1) THOMAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got the worried blues : lord I'm feeling bad
Last Line: Now fare thee my honey : fare thee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THANKSGIVING TIME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When the night winds whistle through the trees and blow the crisp brown leaves
Last Line: It's thanksgiving time
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THAT BLACK SNAKE MOAN, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh : ain't got no mama now
Last Line: Black snake mama : done run my darling home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THAT BLACK SNAKE MOAN NO 2, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : going to run that black snake down
Last Line: He occupied my livingroom : and broke my *fairybook* down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THAT CRAWLIN' BABY BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well the baby crawling : on up to his mama's knee
Last Line: My woman threw my clothes outdoors : and now I got those crawling baby blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THAT DA DA STRAIN, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Have you heard it have you heard it : the da da swing
Last Line: When everybody : hums this tune
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THAT HYPOCRITE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I tell you how dat hypocrite do
Last Line: An' dat's de way dat hypocrite 'ten'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


THAT LONESOME TRAIN TOOK MY BABY AWAY, by CHARLIE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : found something wrong
Last Line: Looked like every minute : I was stepping in another world
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THAT MEAN OLD YESTERDAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That mean old yesterday
Last Line: Gimme back my diamond ring
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THAT STUFF YOU SELL AIN'T NO GOOD, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: That stuff you sell : ain't no good
Last Line: I wouldn't buy none of that : even if I could
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THAT WILL BE ALRIGHT, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well look here mama : see what you done done
Last Line: Heard my gal : putting *cider* in
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THAT'S NO WAY TO GET ALONG, by ROBERT WILKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going home : sit down and tell my ma
Last Line: And that be no way : for me to get along
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THE AMERICAN BLACK (A STUDY IN RACE CONSCIOUSNESS), by GEORGE HERBERT CLARKE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Night! Night! / and of the dawn no promise. Wrong is right
Last Line: And dream of freedom that is not a name.
Subject(s): African Americans; Freedom; Pain; Slavery; United States - Race Relations; Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty; Suffering; Misery; Serfs


THE ANGEL'S VISIT, by CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Twas on a glorious summer eve
Last Line: Was breathed before the throne.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE ANNIAD, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Think of sweet and chocolate
Last Line: The minuets of memory
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Virgil (70-19 B.c.)


THE ARTISTS' AND MODELS' BALL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Wonders do not confuse. We call them that
Last Line: Our backs they alter. How were we to know
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE BEAN EATERS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair
Last Line: Tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Farm Life; Old Age; United States; Women; Agriculture; Farmers; America


THE BIRTH IN A NARROW ROOM, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Weeps out of western country something new
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Birth; Child Birth; Midwifery


THE BLACK BACK-UPS, by KATE RUSHIN    Poem Text                 Recitation by Author    
First Line: This is dedicated to merry clayton, fontella bass, vonetta
Alternate Author Name(s): Rushin, Donna Kate
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; African Americans - Women; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Popular Culture - United States; Singing & Singers; Women's Rights; Songs; Feminism


THE BLACK FAMILY PLEDGE, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Because we have forgotten our ancestors
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors & Ancestry; Negroes; American Blacks; Heritage; Heredity


THE BLACK FINGER, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have just seen a most beautiful thing
Last Line: And why are you pointing upwards?
Subject(s): African Americans; Fingers; Nature; Negroes; American Blacks


THE BLACK MAMMY, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O whitened head entwined in turban gay
Last Line: That it some day might crush thine own black child?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Babies; Family Life; Infants; Relatives


THE BLACK MAN IS MAKING NEW GODS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Atheist jews double crossers stole our secrets crossed
Last Line: And put you back in a cold box
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


THE BLACK REGIMENT, by GEORGE HENRY BOKER    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Dark as the clouds of even
Last Line: Scorn the black regiment!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Patriotism; United States - History; War


THE BLACK SAMPSON, by JOSEPHINE DEPHINE HENDERSON HEARD    Poem Text                    
First Line: There's a sampson lying, sleeping in the land
Last Line: By his mighty arm his rights shall be obtained!
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Freedom; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States; Liberty; Serfs


THE BLACKSTONE RANGERS: 2. THE LEADERS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Jeff. Gene. Geronimo. And bop
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


THE BLACKSTONE RANGERS: 3. GANG GIRLS; A RANGERETTE, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gang girls are sweet exotics
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE BOOK OF THE DEAD: GEORGE ROBINSON: BLUES, by MURIEL RUKEYSER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Gauley bridge is a good town for negroes, they let us stand
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor & Laborers; Illness; Dust; Negroes; American Blacks; Work; Workers


THE BRIDGE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have forgotten the head
Last Line: (when you have let the song run out) will be sliding through unmentionable black
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE CHICAGO DEFENDER SENDS A MAN TO LITTLE ROCK, FALL, 1957, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In little rock the people bear / babes, and comb and part their hair
Variant Title(s): The Chicago Defender Sends A Man To Little Rock
Subject(s): African Americans; Civil Rights Movement; Negroes; American Blacks


THE CHILDREN OF THE POOR, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: People who have no children can be hard
Last Line: Holding the bandage ready for your eyes
Variant Title(s): "people Who Have No Children Can Be Hard"";
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIERS, by CALVIN FORBES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where's the winning without chocolate
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


THE COLOR SERGEANT, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Under a burning tropic sun
Last Line: Yet true, in death, to his duty.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Fights; Prejudice; San Juan Hill, Battle Of (1898); Soldiers; Spanish-american War (1898); Bias; Intolerance


THE COLORED BAND, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: W'en de colo'ed ban' comes ma'chin down
Last Line: W'en de colo'ed ban' goes ma'chin' down de street.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song & Music; Negroes; American Blacks


THE COLORED SOLDIERS, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: If the muse were mine to tempt it
Last Line: Who fought for uncle sam!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; United States - History


THE COLORED SOLDIERS OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, by EFFIE WALLER SMITH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: All honor to the colored soldiers
Last Line: "they're made of the ""proper stuff."
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Spanish-american War (1898)


THE COMING OF KALI, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is the black god, kali
Last Line: You know you know me well
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE CONQUERORS; THE BLACK TROOPS IN CUBA, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Round the wide earth, from the red field your valour has won
Last Line: Not to ply!
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Cuba


THE CREATION (A NEGRO SERMON), by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And god stepped out on space
Last Line: Amen. Amen.
Subject(s): African Americans; Religion; Time; Negroes; American Blacks; Theology


THE CROCUSES, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They heard the south wind sighing
Last Line: Were loving her so much.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE DAILY GRIND, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: If nature says to you
Last Line: God has blest you.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE DAMNED, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The drawers of my mother's bedroom
Last Line: If either of us can be saved
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights; Feminism


THE DARKY'S HEAVEN, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O dis worl' am full ob trouble
Last Line: It will sho-li take de cake.
Subject(s): African Americans; Heaven; Negroes; American Blacks; Paradise


THE DAY LADY DIED, by FRANK O'HARA (1926-1966)    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is 12:20 in new york a friday
Last Line: Minneapolis, mn, www.Coffeehousepress.Com
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Men; Music & Musicians; Music, Rock; Singing & Singers; Rock & Roll; Songs


THE DAY-BREAKERS, by ARNA BONTEMPS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are not come to wage a strife
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE DESCENT OF THE AERONAUT, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A gang of darkies, hoeing corn one day
Last Line: "good-mornin', massa jesus, how's yer paw'?"
Subject(s): African Americans; Flight; Jesus Christ; Negroes; American Blacks; Flying


THE DESERT DISILLUSION, by BERTON BRALEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, ladies who seek for a peek at a sheik
Last Line: But don't go away to sahara!
Subject(s): African Americans; Sahara Desert; Negroes; American Blacks


THE DESERTED PLANTATION, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, de grubbin'-hoe's a-rustin' in de co'nah
Last Line: An' calls me to my qua'ters in de sky.
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.)


THE DIRT-EATERS, by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tra / dition
Last Line: Of / dirt
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE DOLLAR SPEAKS TO THE YOUNG NEGRO (TO EDITOR I. WILLIS COLE), by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR.    Poem Text                    
First Line: Sable brother, are you clinging
Last Line: Wedding may-time to the years.
Subject(s): African Americans; Brotherhood; Negroes; American Blacks


THE DREAM SONGS: 68, by JOHN BERRYMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I heard, could be, a hey there from the wing
Last Line: Black to the birds instead
Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, John, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937); Songs


THE ENCHANTED SHELL, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fair, fragile una, golden-haired
Last Line: Is it a vision? Who can tell?
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Shells; Conchology


THE EVENT, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ever since they'd left the tennessee ridge
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE EXILE, by FORD MADOX FORD    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My father had many oxen
Last Line: Of hirelings once queen's daughters and slaves the seed of kings.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hueffer, Ford Hermann; Hueffer, Ford Madox
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs; South (u.s.)


THE FARM CHILD'S LULLABY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, the little bird is rocking in the cradle of the wind
Last Line: So bye, my little wee one, bye.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE FAVORITE SLAVE'S STORY, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Well son de story of my life
Last Line: She's told her ma you see.
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Stock Exchange; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


THE FORTUNATE SPILL, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Well! Johnnie thinks. He has his nerve!
Last Line: As they fall for each other, and for me
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): Family Life; African Americans; Courtship; Luck; Love; Relatives


THE FUGITIVE, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: With bleeding back, from tyrant's lash
Last Line: His free, allotted days.
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


THE FUNERAL OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: His headstone said / free at last, free at last
Last Line: And preached non-violence
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Freedom; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968); Negroes; American Blacks; Liberty


THE GLORY TRUMPETER, by DEREK WALCOTT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Old eddie's face, wrinkled with river lights
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music & Musicians


THE HEART OF A WOMAN, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: The heart of a woman goes forth with the dawn
Last Line: While it breaks, breaks, breaks on the sheltering bars.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women


THE HUSBAND'S RETURN, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The proud, majestic southern sun
Last Line: And lit with joy his way.
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States


THE IDEA OF ANCESTRY, by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors & Ancestry; Fathers; Korean War, 1950-1953; Men; Prayer; Prisons & Prisoners; Negroes; American Blacks; Heritage; Heredity; Convicts


THE INTERRUPTED REPROOF, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Zella wheeler! Did I evah?
Last Line: Mussy sakes! Go bresh yo' ha'
Subject(s): African Americans; Stock Exchange; Negroes; American Blacks


THE INVENTION OF COMICS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am a soul in the world: in
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE LAST QUATRAIN OF THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: After the murder, / after the burial
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Lynching; Till, Emmett (1941-1955)


THE LEAP FROM THE LONG BRIDGE; AN INCIDENT AT WASHINGTON, by SARA JANE CLARKE LIPPINCOTT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now rest the wretched. The long day is past
Last Line: And her sorrow and bondage are o'er.
Alternate Author Name(s): Greenwood, Grace
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Escapes; Slavery; Washington, D.c.; Fugitives; Serfs


THE LIFE OF LINCOLN WEST, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ugliest little boy
Last Line: It comforted him
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


THE LITTLE BLACK BOY, FR. SONGS OF INNOCENCE, by WILLIAM BLAKE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My mother bore me in the southern wild
Last Line: And be like him, and he will then love me.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Bible; Brotherhood; Freedom; Mothers; Mythology; Racism; Liberty; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


THE LIVING, by KEVIN YOUNG    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: After independence day / all our toys began to tear
Subject(s): Cotton; Farm Life; African Americans - History; Agriculture; Farmers; Black Heritage


THE LOST BABY POEM, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The time I dropped your almost body down
Subject(s): Abortion; African Americans - Women; Death - Children; Death - Babies


THE MARTYR OF ALABAMA, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He lifted up his pleading eyes
Last Line: In whirlwinds of god's wrath.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Murder; Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


THE MASK, by CLARISSA SCOTT DELANY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: So detached and cool she is
Last Line: Was slipped once more in place.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE MEMORY OF MARTHA, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Out in de night a sad bird moans
Last Line: W'en dey sees yo' face a-shinin', den dey 'll know.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE MOTHER, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Abortions will not let you forget
Last Line: All.
Subject(s): Abortion; African Americans; African Americans - Women; Mothers; Negroes; American Blacks


THE MULATTO TO HIS CRITICS, by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR.    Poem Text                    
First Line: Ashamed of my race?
Last Line: And puts sweet music into my soul.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE MUSE'S FAVOR, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh muse! I crave a favor
Last Line: Rings out with the tardy song.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE MUSE'S FAVOR: THE SONG, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, foully slighted ethiope maid!
Last Line: That staid this song, I sing to thee.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE NATIVES OF AMERICA, by ANN PLATO    Poem Text                    
First Line: Tell me a story, father, please
Last Line: "remember this, though I tell no more."
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE NEGRO BOATMAN'S SONG, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
First Line: "oh, praise and tanks! De lord he come"
Last Line: Or death-rune of our doom!
Subject(s): African Americans;american Civil War;freedom;slavery;u.s. - History; Negroes;american Blacks;liberty;serfs


THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've known rivers
Last Line: My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Holidays; New Year; Racism; Rivers; Time; Black Heritage; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


THE NEGRO'S TRAGEDY, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         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


THE NIGHT THAT LORCA COMES, by BOB KAUFMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: The white south shall gather / at preservation hall
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.); Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


THE OCTOROON, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: One drop of midnight in the dawn of life's pulsating stream
Last Line: Whose every breath is kindliness, whose hearts are purest gold.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE OL' TUNES, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You kin talk about your anthems
Last Line: In the ol'-fashioned way.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Holidays; Thanksgiving


THE OLD FREEDMAN, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He sits in front of the bright, blazing grate
Last Line: He had taken his fight, to his home on high.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE OLD MAMMY, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hush, lil baby, en go ter sleep
Last Line: Er heap sight mo' dan his mudder do!
Subject(s): African Americans; Babies; Mothers; Sleep; Negroes; American Blacks; Infants


THE OLD PLANTATION, by JOHN TROTWOOD MOORE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O I'm sick an' tired an' lonely
Last Line: Kiss 'em good-night now forever—an' then lay me down to sleep.
Subject(s): African Americans; Plantation Life; Slavery; Tennessee; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs


THE OLD REPAIR MAN, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: God is the old repair man
Last Line: It is good we have the old repair man.
Subject(s): African Americans; God; Negroes; American Blacks


THE PASSAGE, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Got up / this morning at 2:45, breakfast at 3:30
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


THE PLANTATION CHILD'S LULLABY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Wintah time hit comin'
Last Line: Ef de win' do blow?
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


THE POLISHERS OF BRASS, by TOI DERRICOTTE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am thinking of the men who polish brass in georgetown
Last Line: Started, it has already tarnished, and they must begin again
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE POSTCARD AT VERTIGO BOOKS IN D. C., SELS, by REETIKA VAZIRANI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the photo of billie holiday at the 1957 newport jazz festival
Last Line: Look for it and it’s not there
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Famous People; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Photography & Photographers; Singing & Singers


THE PREACHER: RUMINATES BEHIND THE SERMON, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I think it must be lonely to be god
Last Line: In solitude. Without a hand to hold.
Subject(s): African Americans; God; Negroes; American Blacks


THE PROGRESS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And still we wear our uniforms, follow
Last Line: Of iron feet again. And again wild
Variant Title(s): Gay Chaps At The Bar;the Progress
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


THE QUADROON GIRL, by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The slaver in the broad lagoon
Last Line: In a strange and distant land!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Slavery; Serfs


THE REACTIONARY POET, by ISHMAEL REED    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If you are a revolutionary
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE REASON WHY, by GEORGE CLINTON ROWE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It is the eve of battle
Last Line: To god the reason why.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military


THE RIVALS, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Look heah! Is I evah tole you 'bout de curious / way I won
Last Line: "folks, heaben knows!"
Subject(s): African Americans; Courtship; Hearts; Love; Single People; Negroes; American Blacks; Bachelors; Unmarried People


THE ROAD, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ah, little road all whirry in the breeze
Last Line: Rise to one brimming golden, spilling cry!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE SAND-MAN, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I know a man
Last Line: We know the sand-man's come.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE SCARLET WOMAN, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Once I was good like the virgin mary and the minister's wife
Last Line: Gin is better than all the water in lethe.
Subject(s): African Americans; Prostitution; Negroes; American Blacks; Harlots; Whores; Brothels


THE SECOND SERMON ON THE WARPLAND, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is the urgency: live!
Last Line: Conduct your blooming in the noise and whip of the whirlwind.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE SERMON ON THE WARPLAND, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And several strengths from drowsiness campaigned
Last Line: "complete; continuous."
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE SLAVE MOTHER, by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Heard you that shriek? It rose
Last Line: Oh, father! Must they part?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Americans; Slavery; United States; Serfs; America


THE SOLDIERS OF THE DUSK, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Black men holding up the earth
Last Line: Victims of the war god's lust.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; World War I; First World War


THE SONG OF THE SMOKE, by WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the smoke king
Last Line: I am black.
Alternate Author Name(s): Du Bois, W. E. B.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE SOUTHERN REFUGEE, by GEORGE MOSES HORTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What sudden ill the world await
Last Line: The place of beauty -- my native home.
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.)


THE SOUTHERN ROAD, by DUDLEY RANDALL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There the black river, boundary to hell
Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Southern States; Underground Railroad; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs; South (u.s.)


THE SPARROW, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A little bird with plumage brown
Last Line: Nor know our loss till they are gone.
Subject(s): African Americans; Sparrows; Negroes; American Blacks


THE SPIRIT VOICE; OR, LIBERTY CALL TO THE DISENFRANCHISED, by CHARLES L. REASON    Poem Text                    
First Line: Come! Rouse ye brothers, rouse! A peal now breaks
Last Line: From partial bondage to a life indeed.
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Freedom; Toussaint L'ouverture (1743-1803); Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States; Liberty


THE SPRING CRICKET CONSIDERS THE QUESTION OF NEGRITUDE, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: I was playing my tunes all by mysel
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE SUN DO MOVE', by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Who wouldn't believe
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE SUNDAYS OF SATIN-LEGS SMITH, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Inamoratas, with an approbation
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


THE SUPPLIANT, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Long have I beat with timid hands upon life's leaden door
Last Line: The strong demand, contend, prevail; the beggar is a fool!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


THE THINGS IN BLACK MEN?ÇÖS CLOSETS, by E. ETHELBERT MILLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On the top shelf
Subject(s): African Americans; Death; Clothing & Dress; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The


THE THIRD SERMON ON THE WARPLAND, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The earth is a beautiful place
Last Line: You could make music too / the blackblues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Phoenix (mythical Bird)


THE THIRTY-EIGHTH YEAR, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: I had not expected to be an ordinary woman
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Mothers & Daughters; Middle Age


THE TRAVELLER AT THE SOURCE OF THE NILE, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In sunset's light, o'er afric thrown
Last Line: Thine own sweet paths in search of thee!
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans - History; Nile (river); Travel; Black Heritage; Journeys; Trips


THE TRUE AMERICAN, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: America, here is your son, born of your iron heel
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


THE TURNCOAT, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: An' so ole tho'nton bounced you
Last Line: Lizie, tek dis boy away!
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THE TURNING OF THE BABIES IN THE BED, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Woman's sho' a cur'ous critter, an' dey ain't no doubtin' dat
Last Line: T will be lizy up a-tu'nin' of de chillun in de bed.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


THE VOICE OF ARETHA FRANKLIN SURPRISES ME, by E. ETHELBERT MILLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In riyadh the wind blows the last prayer
Variant Title(s): The Voice Of Aretha Franklin Surprised Me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Franklin, Aretha (b. 1942); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia


THE WAY IT WAS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I walked out quietly
Last Line: Trying to be white
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Identity


THE WEARY BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Droning a drowsy syncopated tune
Last Line: He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (music); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


THE WHITE CHRISTS, by GUY FITCH PHELPS    Poem Text                    
First Line: The white christs come from the east
Last Line: Till the black christs shall be born.
Subject(s): African Americans; Jesus Christ; War; Negroes; American Blacks


THE WHITE CITY, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I will not toy with it nor bend an inch
Last Line: Are sweet like wanton loves because I hate.
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Hate; Men; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


THE WHITE HOUSE, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your door is shut against my tightened face
Last Line: Against the potent poison of your hate.
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Hate; Negroes; American Blacks


THE WIDOW'S JAZZ, by MINA LOY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The white flesh quakes to the negro soul
Alternate Author Name(s): Cravan, Arthur, Mrs.; Lowy, Mina Gertrude; Haweis, Stephen, Mrs.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music; Chicago; Jazz; Music & Musicians


THE WOMAN THING, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The hunters are back from beating the winter's face
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THE WOMEN YOU ARE ACCUSTOMED TO, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The edge / of this
Last Line: Your burning blood, your dancing tongue
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Negroes; American Blacks


THE WORLD IS A MIGHTY OGRE, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I could love her with a love so warm
Last Line: Have mercy on a humble bard, o lord!
Subject(s): African Americans; Longing; Negroes; American Blacks


THE WORLD IS FULL OF REMARKABLE THINGS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Quick night / easy warmth
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


THE YEAR OF JUBILEE, by ANONYMOUS    Poem Text                    
First Line: "say, darkeys, hab you seen de massa"
Last Line: "it mus' be now de kingdum cumin', / an' de yar ob jubilo"
Subject(s): African Americans - Military;american Civil War;u.s. - History;war


THE YEAR OF JUBILEE, by HENRY CLAY WORK    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Say, darkeys, hab you seen de massa
Last Line: An' de yar ob jubilo.
Variant Title(s): Year Of Jubilo;kingdom Coming
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Richmond Campaign (1864); United States - History


THEFT, by ESTHER POPEL    Poem Source                    
First Line: The moon %was an old, old woman tonight
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


THEME FOR ENGLISH B, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The instructor said / go home and write
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Children; Schools; Negroes; American Blacks; Students


THEME FOR ENGLISH B, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The instructor said %go home and write
Last Line: Although you're older and white %and somewhat more free %this is my page for english b
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Children; Schools


THERE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Where death %stretches its wide horizons
Last Line: Even perhaps %divinity
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THERE IS A GIRL INSIDE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: And the woods will be wild %with the damn wonder of it
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Girls; Innocence


THERE IS A WOMAN IN THIS TOWN, by PATRICIA PARKER    Poem Source                    
Last Line: It lives for those who once upon a time had a dream
Alternate Author Name(s): Parker, Pat
Subject(s): African American Lesbians; African Americans - Women; Homosexuality


THERE'LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: My walk will be different : my talk and my name
Last Line: Why I'm thinking about changing : the way I got to strut my stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THERE'S ALWAYS WEATHER, WEATHER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Weather is so much fun!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THEY AINT WALKING NO MORE, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes I'm up : sometimes I'm down
Last Line: And if you think I'm lying : follow me to the door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THEY CLAPPED, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They clapped when we landed
Last Line: Dream they saw a free future
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE ME, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hootie's band blows
Last Line: Seemed to take a week
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


THEY STEAL' GOSSIP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some folks say dat a nigger won't steal
Last Line: An' dey had to leave de land
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


THINGS TO COME, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Basie and lester's
Last Line: He damn well pleases
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


THINK YOU NEED A SHOT, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You got bad blood mama : I believe you need a shot
Last Line: I don't want to waste none of it mama : I want you to have it all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THIRD ALLEY BLUES, by IVY SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I just want to get back : to birmingham
Last Line: Because these women in third alley : won't let my rider alone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THIRD DEGREE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Hit me! Jab me! %make me say I did it
Last Line: When you trow %cold water on me, %I'll sign the %paper
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THIRD SERMON ON THE WARPLAND, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The earth is a beautiful place
Last Line: The dust, as they say, settled
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians


THIRD STREET WOMAN BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE REYNOLDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : come my third street woman now
Last Line: If you can't do my rolling mama : you can't spend my change
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THIRTY-EIGHT AND PLUS, by WALTER TAYLOR ANDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning: about half past four
Last Line: One said no: and the other said yes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Middle Age


THIRTY-EIGHTH YEAR, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: I had expected more than this. %I had not expected to be %anordinary woman
Subject(s): Absence; African Americans - Women; Aging; Mothers And Daughters


THIS CHILD IS THE MOTHER, by GLORIA CATHERINE ODEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black is; slavery was; I am
Last Line: The fierce physics of %that soothing fountain %outpouring %from her side
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


THIS IS A FATHERLAND TO ME, by JOSEPH CEPHAS HOLLY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh! Tell me not of fatherland
Last Line: We may abide if anywhere.
Subject(s): African Americans; United States; Negroes; American Blacks; America


THIS IS ALWAYS, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me prof put 'is foot in 'is butt
Last Line: S that damned habit %still
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


THIS IS THE END, by JEAN DE BOSSCHERE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Open the divine comedy
Last Line: Still stick to his fingers. ...
Subject(s): African Americans; Children; Comedy; Laughter; Slavery; Negroes; American Blacks; Childhood; Serfs


THIS MORNIN' SHE WAS GONE, by JIM JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh how she loved to dance : that old grizzly bear
Last Line: The more you do for people : the less they think of you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THIS MORNING, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Survive %survive
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


THIS NEWER BONDAGE, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: What, was it all for naught, those awful years
Last Line: Nay, not for this, a nation's heroes bled, %and north and south with tears beheld their death
Subject(s): African Americans; Social Protest


THIS OLE WORL' AIN'T GOIN' TO STAN' MUCH LONGER, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


THIS PUZZLES ME, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They think we're simple children
Last Line: When you see the world today
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THIS SUN IS HOT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dis sun are hot
Last Line: I thinks I mus' 'a' been called to preach
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


THIS WARRIOR, by PAULETTE CHILDRESS WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: This warrior sits %in an overstuffed chair
Last Line: And our condescending love %has endured
Subject(s): African Americans


THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The regiment has waited long
Last Line: Who would hold the colonel?
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (1823-1911); U.s. - History


THORN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now there will be nobody, you say
Last Line: To start the turning
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THOSE ALL NIGHT LONG BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have ???Ed : for many a week
Last Line: And I suffer : with those all night blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THOSE BOYS THAT RAN TOGETHER, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Don't it make you want to cry
Subject(s): African Americans – Children; Boys; Conduct Of Life


THOSE BOYS THAT RAN TOGETHER, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: We have some fine black boys %don't it make you want to cry?
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


THOSE DOGS OF MINE, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh lord : these dogs of mine
Last Line: I can't wear me : no *dark-toes* shoes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THOTS OF COLTRANE (WHILE LISTENING TO AFRICA), by KENYETTE ADRINE-ROBINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: John coltrane %traveled many
Last Line: Left us %his life!
Subject(s): African Americans; Coltrane, John (1926-1967)


THOUSAND WOMEN BLUES, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I ain't never loved : but a thousand women in my life
Last Line: Every time I kiss her : and a cold chill run over me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THREE BALL BLUES, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was walking around the streets : hear somebody call me and I can't stop
Last Line: Says it's two to one buddy : you don't get your things back out of here at all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THREE MEN IN A TENT, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My one blood-uncle laughs
Last Line: One of us %to four %of them. %I sure missed %my old buddies.%I even missed %ol'corbon
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life


THREE MODES OF HISTORY AND CULTURE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Chalk mark sex of the nation, on walls we drummers
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


THREE MODES OF HISTORY AND CULTURE, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Chalk mark sex of the nation, on walls we drummers
Last Line: And my songs will be softer %and lightly weight the air
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


THREE PHOTOGRAPHERS: 3. WASH WOMEN, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The eyes of eight women / I don't know
Variant Title(s): Three Photographs
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


THREE PHOTOGRAPHERS: 3. WASH WOMEN, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The eyes of eight women %I don't know
Last Line: Their ready gaze through him, %to me, straight ahead
Variant Title(s): Three Photograph
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


THREE PHOTOGRAPHS: 1. DAYBOOK, APRIL 1901, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What luck to find them here!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


THREE PHOTOGRAPHS: 1. DAYBOOK, APRIL 1901, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What luck to find them here!
Last Line: Too full with new graves %and no flowers
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


THREE PHOTOGRAPHS: 2. CABBAGE VENDOR, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Natural, he say. / what he want from me?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


THREE PHOTOGRAPHS: 2. CABBAGE VENDOR, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Natural, he say. %what he want from me?
Last Line: Like he be seeing me- %distant and small-forever
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


THREE SONGS ABOUT LYNCHING: FLIGHT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Plant your toes in the cool swamp mud
Last Line: Or they'll swing you to a tree
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THREE SONGS ABOUT LYNCHING: LYNCHING SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Pull at the rope! O!
Last Line: The nigger's %still body %says %not I
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


THREE WOMEN BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got three womens : yellow brown and black
Last Line: I'd a-been home sleeping : in a doggone feather bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THRIFTY SLAVE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jes wuk all day
Last Line: Big pig, liddle pig, root hot or die
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


THROUGH TRAIN BLUES, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hate to hear : that through train blow boo hoo
Last Line: Ain't going to stay around here : and be no stumbling block
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THROW ME IN THE ALLEY, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: *when I get low* : let's go down in the alley
Last Line: The way you treat me little mama : you don't mean me no good nohow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THROWIN' SAN' ON ME (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Car' de news! Car'd de news to mary!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


THROWN ME DOWN, by SKIP JAMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey you throw me down : and you threw me from my home
Last Line: Ain't going to wear it no more : till these old blues stop worrying me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THUNDERSTORM BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hear the thunder rumbling : see the lightning flash
Last Line: I'll start in praying : till the storm is through
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


THURSDAY EVENING BEDTIME, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Afraid of the dark / is afraid of mom
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life; Negroes; American Blacks; Relatives


THURSDAY EVENING BEDTIME, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Afraid of the dark %is afraid of mom
Last Line: Says ebony %everett %anderson
Subject(s): African Americans; Family Life


THWARTED, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Down in the cabin all things were gay
Last Line: "good bye uncle sam,"" comes with a foiled grin."
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


TICKET AGENT BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Good lord good lord : send me an angel down
Last Line: When I walk out the front door : I hear that back door slam
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TICKET AGENT EASE YOUR WINDOW DOWN, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ticket agent : ease your window down
Last Line: Because you can get a crooked daddy : most anywhere
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIGHT HAIRED MAMA BLUES, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Here come my tight-haired woman : I can tell by the way she walks
Last Line: Baby now you got good hair : but you bought bought this from the jew
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIGHT TIME BLUES, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Times is done got so tight : so I'm going to rob and steal
Last Line: And when I start to stealing : I'm going to pick the rounders clean
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIME IS DRAWING NEAR, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now it used to be the time : be getting two bucks a day
Last Line: But now we go : to buy one another's clothes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIME THE HANGMAN, by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poor old abner, poor old white-haired nigger
Last Line: Are on your knees, and you are silent and broken.
Subject(s): African Americans; Old Age; Negroes; American Blacks


TIME'S UNFADING GARDEN, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: God never planted a garden'
Last Line: Nor take the morning air
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Alphabet Verse


TIN CUP BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was down and I cried : *my pillowcase was on the line*
Last Line: That tough luck has sunk me : and the rats is creeping in my hat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIN ROOF BLUES, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm goin' where de southern crosses top de c. & o
Last Line: I'm goin' where de shingles covers people mo' my kind
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States


TIRED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am so tired of waiting
Last Line: And see what worms are eating %at the rind
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TIRED, by FENTON JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am tired of work; I am tired of building up somebody else's civilization
Last Line: I am tired of civilization.
Subject(s): African Americans; Civilization; Social Protest; Negroes; American Blacks


TIRED AS I CAN BE, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I worked all the winter : and I worked all the fall
Last Line: And I'm going back south : to my used-to-be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIRED OF RUNNIN' FROM DOOR TO DOOR, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm getting so tired of runnin from town to town
Last Line: Says I'm getting so tired : of running from door to door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIRED OF YOU DRIVING ME, by BEN RAMEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : the crying blues on my mind
Last Line: Because I done got tired of you driving me : ???Ing me all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TIRED POEM: .. UNEMPLOYED BLACK PROFESSIONAL WOMAN, by KATE RUSHIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: So it's a gorgeous afternoon in the park
Last Line: And then it is very quiet
Alternate Author Name(s): Rushin, Donna Kate
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


TISHAMINGO BLUES, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to tishamingo : because I'm sad today
Last Line: I love my brownskin : don't care where she be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TITANIC BLUES, by HI HENRY BROWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Early one morning : just about four o'clock
Last Line: And the band all playing : nearer my god to thee
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music); Disasters; Ships And Shipping; Shipwrecks; Titanic (ship)


TITTY BOAT, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: My aunt
Last Line: Its black holds
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Aunts


TO A BROWN BOY, by NAOMI LONG (WITHERSPOON) MADGETT    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I love you for the puzzled way you smile
Last Line: A bridge whose span includes eternity
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


TO A DARK DANCER, by MARJORIE MARSHALL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Within the shadow of the moon you danced
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TO A DARK GIRL, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I love you for your brownness
Last Line: And let your full lips laugh at fate!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TO A DARK MOSES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You are the one
Subject(s): African Americans; Moses; Negroes; American Blacks


TO A DARK MOSES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You are the one
Last Line: I am burning %I am not consumed
Subject(s): African Americans; Moses


TO A DEAD FRIEND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The moon still sends its mellow light
Last Line: Happiness comes no more to me, %for you are dead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO A GONE ERA (MY COLLEGE DAYS - CLASS OF '73), by IRMA MCCLAURIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: The eye of this storm is not quiet
Last Line: Their sorrow sings through the cracked tenement walls
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TO A HUSBAND, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your voice at times a fist
Last Line: I sit at home and see it all / through you
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans; Love - Marital; Negroes; American Blacks; Wedded Love; Marriage - Love


TO A HUSBAND, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your voice at times a fist
Last Line: I sit home and see it all %through you
Subject(s): Africa; African Americans; Love - Marital


TO A LITTLE COLORED BOY, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, pure and sportive little child
Last Line: In me you have a friend.
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Racial Equality


TO A LITTLE LOVER-LASS, DEAD, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She %who searched for lovers
Last Line: And gives her kiss to nothingness. %would god his lips were sweet
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO A YOUNG WIFE, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was a fool to dream that you
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Negroes; American Blacks


TO A YOUNG WIFE, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was a fool to dream that you
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TO AMY, by OLIVER MURRAY EDWARDS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Once on a time there was a girl
Last Line: Just like the monkeys in the zoo.
Subject(s): African Americans; Children; Girls; Negroes; American Blacks; Childhood


TO AN ICICLE, by BLANCHE TAYLOR DICKINSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Chilled into a serenity
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TO AN OLD BLACK WOMAN, HOMELESS AND INDISTINCT, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your every day is a pilgrimage
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Homeless; Women – Old Age


TO AN OLD BLACK WOMAN, HOMELESS AND INDISTINCT, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your every day is a pilgrimage
Last Line: Folks used to say 'that child is going far'
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Homeless


TO ANITA, by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: High/yellow/black/girl
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TO ARTINA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I will take your heart
Last Line: I will take your soul %I will be god when it comes to you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO BE SOMEBODY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Little girl %dreaming of a baby grand piano
Last Line: There's always room %they say, %at the top
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO BEAUTY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To worship %at the altar of beauty
Last Line: Plucked from another's %vine
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO BOBBY SEALE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Feel free
Last Line: Was made for / men
Subject(s): African Americans; Seale, Bobby (b. 1936); Negroes; American Blacks


TO BOBBY SEALE, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Feel free
Last Line: Jail wasn't made %for dogs, %was made for %men
Subject(s): African Americans; Seale, Bobby (b. 1936)


TO BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beside our way the streams are dried
Last Line: And lead us to the promised land!
Subject(s): African Americans - History; Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915); Black Heritage


TO CAPTAIN MULZAC, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dangerous %are the western waters now
Last Line: Freedom, %brotherhood %democracy
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO CERTAIN BROTHERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You sicken me with lies
Last Line: And wild hyenas howling %in your soul's waste lands
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO CERTAIN INTELLECTUALS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You are no friend of mine
Last Line: Have told me so, -- %no friend of mine
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO CERTAIN NEGRO LEADERS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Voices crying in the wilderness
Last Line: And do not cry %too loud
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO CLARISSA SCOTT DELANY, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She has not found herself a hard pillow
Last Line: She is only unseen, unseen?
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TO DARNELL AND JOHNNY, by MELBA JOYCE BOYD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I will always remember
Last Line: In the spirit of the new world %you helped to build
Subject(s): African Americans


TO DOROTHY MAYNOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As though her lips
Last Line: Is blessed %with peace
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO E.J.J., by ETHEL M. CAUTION    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sparkling eyes of diamond jet
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TO HORACE BUMSTEAD, by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Have you been sore discouraged in the fight
Last Line: You shall not, no, you shall not, fight alone.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Bumstead, Horace (1841-1919); Human Rights; Justice


TO JOAN, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Joan %did you never hear
Last Line: Did you not then sigh %my voices my voices of course?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women


TO KEEP THE MEMORY OF CHARLOTTE FORTEN GRIMKE - 1915, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Still are there wonders of the dark and day
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


TO KYASA, LITTLE BROTHER, by ANEB KGOSITSILE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sometimes we can find
Last Line: For this dance of faith, we thank them, %and walk with new confidence
Subject(s): African Americans


TO LANGSTON, by REGINA B. JENNINGS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I plunged into the rivers of your mind
Last Line: And lulled me until I swayed to sleep
Subject(s): African Americans; Hughes, Langston (1902-1967)


TO MAKE WORDS SING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Words last so long
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO MALCOLM X, by JULIUS E. THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: He knew someone
Last Line: That all men %are really brothers
Subject(s): African Americans; Brotherhood; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


TO MALCOLM X ON HIS SECOND COMING, by AFAA MICHAEL WEAVER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Malcolm x, alias el hajj malik el shabazz
Last Line: Teach, master, teach. Wa alaikum salaam
Alternate Author Name(s): Weaver, Michael S.
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


TO MIDNIGHT NAN AT LEROY'S, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Strut and wiggle
Last Line: Wouldn't no good fellow %be your man t
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO MY FATHER, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A leaf from freedom's golden chaplet fair
Last Line: Divine approval is thy sweetest praise.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TO P.J. (2 YRS OLD WHO SED WRITE A POEM FOR ME IN PORTLAND, OREGON), by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I cud ever write a
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry & Poets; Negroes; American Blacks


TO P.J. (2 YRS OLD WHO SED WRITE A POEM FOR ME IN PORTLAND, OREGON), by SONIA SANCHEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I cud ever write a
Last Line: Poetry wud go out of bizness
Subject(s): African Americans; Poetry And Poets


TO S.M., A YOUNG AFRICAN PAINTER, ON SEEING HIS WORKS, by PHILLIS WHEATLEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: To show the lab'ring bosom's deep intent
Last Line: Now seals the fair creation from my sight.
Alternate Author Name(s): Peters, Phillis
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Love - Loss Of; Moorhead, Scipio (18th Century); Mortality; Paintings & Painters


TO SOULFOLK, by MARGARET GOSS BURROUGHS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Soulfolk, think a minute
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TO THE BLACK AMERICAN TROOPS, by LEOPOLD SEDAR SENGHOR    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I did not recognize you in your prison of sad-colored uniforms
Last Line: Oh, the delight of life after winter. I hail you %as messengers of peace
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Negritude (literary Movement)


TO THE BLACK MAN, by CHERLYN LYNN PASTOR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am not %your enemy
Last Line: Don't you remember? African americans - women
Subject(s): African Americans


TO THE DARK MERCEDES OF 'EL PALACIO DE AMOUR', by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mercedes is a jungle-lily in a death house
Last Line: Go where they will pay you well %for your loveliness
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO THE DIASPORA: YOU DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE AFRIKA, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When you set out for afrika
Last Line: Your work, that was done, to be done to be done to be done
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors & Ancestry; Negroes; American Blacks; Heritage; Heredity


TO THE DIASPORA: YOU DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE AFRIKA, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When you set out for afrika
Last Line: Your work, that was done, to be done to be done to be done
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors And Ancestry


TO THE FAUST NEGRO TO SELL HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL FOR THAT, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh americans who have overcome
Last Line: In order for the rest of us %to live
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


TO THE LITTLE FORT OF SAN LAZARO ON THE OCEAN FRONT, HAVANA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Watch tower once for pirates
Last Line: Stone by helpless stone
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TO THE MEMORY OF J. HORACE KIMBALL, by SARAH LOUISA FORTEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Another youthful advocate of truth and right has gone
Last Line: When slavery's galling chains are loosed, and all the oppressed are free
Alternate Author Name(s): Ada
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TO THE WHITE FIENDS, by CLAUDE MCKAY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Think you I am not fiend and savage too?
Last Line: To show thy little lamp: go forth, go forth!
Alternate Author Name(s): Edwards, Eli
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


TO THOSE OF MY SISTERS WHO KEPT THEIR NATURALS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sisters! I love you
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Conformity; Pride; Self-esteem; Self-respect


TO THOSE OF MY SISTERS WHO KEPT THEIR NATURALS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sisters! I love you
Last Line: The natural respect of self and seal! %sisters! %your hair is celebration in the world!
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Conformity; Pride


TO TURN FROM LOVE, by SARAH WEBSTER FABIO    Poem Source                    
First Line: No, %I cannot %turn from love
Last Line: On a fresh made %bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TO USWARD, by GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let us be still %as ginger jars are still
Last Line: For there is joy in long dried tears %for whetted passions of a throng
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TO WHITTIER, by JOSEPHINE DEPHINE HENDERSON HEARD    Poem Text                    
First Line: In childhood's sunny day my heart was taught to love
Last Line: With condescension write for me thy name.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Whittier, John Greenleaf (1807-1892)


TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON ON READING HIS 'CHOSEN QUEEN', by CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A loyal subject, thou, to that bright queen
Last Line: Than thee, thy chosen queen shall never find %a truer subject nor a firmer friend
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Garrison, William Lloyd (1805-1879)


TO WIN A YELLOW GIRL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you wants to win a yaller girl
Last Line: An' slip on his long-tailed blue
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TO YOU, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To sit and ream, to sit and read
Last Line: I reach out my hands to you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TOBACCO WAREHOUSE BLUES, by JR. HOUSTON A. BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: The bluesman in pungent mood
Last Line: A freight-train rider -- a mean primer and curer %of men
Subject(s): African Americans; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians


TOBY'S REPLY, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O toby was a darky who could pick the banjo fine
Last Line: "wait on de students, massa."" he promptly made reply."
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor & Laborers; Universities & Colleges; Negroes; American Blacks; Work; Workers


TODAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is earthquake
Last Line: Walk lean %together
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Homosexuality


TOM CAT, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: My father has a big tom cat
Last Line: And he stuck it in the middle
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TOM CAT BLUES, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: It was late last night : I tried so hard to sleep
Last Line: For you will lose your nine lives : if you don't let my baby alone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOM RUSHEN BLUES, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I lay down last night : hoping I would have my peace
Last Line: Ah he brought me here : and I was drunk as I could be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOMORROW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tomorrow may be %a thousand years off
Last Line: Others take a quarter straight. %some dawns %wait
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TOMORROW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We have tomorrow %bright before us
Last Line: Broad arch above the road we came. %we march!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): Yout
Subject(s): African Americans; Justice


TOMORROW'S SEED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Proud banner of death
Last Line: For freedom's birth
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)


TONGUE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got a tongue dat jes run when it walk?
Last Line: It cain't squawk
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TONGUE-TIED IN BLACK AND WHITE, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In los angeles / while the mountains cleared of smog
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


TONGUE-TIED IN BLACK AND WHITE, by MICHAEL S. HARPER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In los angeles %while the mountains cleared of smog
Last Line: On the outskirts of your tongue, tied still
Subject(s): African Americans


TOO BLACK BAD, by MADLYN DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'd rather be in the *cripty* river : floating like a log
Last Line: You ought to see : them preachers run
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOO BLUE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I got those sad old weary blues
Last Line: And I'm too blue %to look for one
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TOO MUCH WATERMELON (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dere wus a great big watermillion growin' on de vine
Last Line: An' den, - - dat great big watermillion up an' finish him
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TOO TIGHT, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Grab your gal : fall in line
Last Line: Too tight : to shake that thing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOO TIGHT BLUES, by PEG LEG HOWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Grab your gal : fall in line
Last Line: Too tight : it make us afraid
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOO TIGHT BLUES NO. 2, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got my gal : took a chance
Last Line: Too tight : went to my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOOTIN' OUT BLUES, by UNKNOWN+213    Poem Source                    
First Line: You used to be my sugar : but you ain't sweet no more
Last Line: And then the blind man told her : said you sure look good tome
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TORCH SONGS, by ROBERT WRIGLEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would speak of that grief
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Grief; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Love; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937); Sorrow; Sadness


TORCH SONGS, by ROBERT WRIGLEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would speak of that grief
Last Line: Of someone you might always love
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Grief; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Love; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


TOTAL WAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The reason dixie %is so mean today
Last Line: To be another pain
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TOTEM, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: How he tried to steal my words
Last Line: A foaming stripped tiger becomes my totem
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Fights; Love - Complaints; Man-woman Relationships


TOUCH ME LIGHT MAMA, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Touch me light pretty mama : this may be your last
Last Line: Because my good gal done me : sure you can't feel no peace
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOUCHE, by JESSIE REDMOND FAUSET    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear, when we sit in that high, placid room
Last Line: I knew a lad in my own girlhood's past - %blue eyes he had and such waving gold hair!
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TOUGH LUCK, by ROBERT LEE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now got in tough luck : all my people dead and gone
Last Line: Because you treats me mean : you know you done me wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TOUR 5, by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The road winds down through autumn hills
Last Line: Metallic, flayed; its brightness harsh as bloodstained swords
Subject(s): African Americans


TOWER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Death is a tower
Last Line: That never ends
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TOWN AND COUNTRY BIRD (NURSERY RHYME) (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jaybird a-swinin' a two hoss plow
Last Line: Dat suits fer country-jakes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TOWN OF SCOTTSBORO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Scottsboro's just a little place
Last Line: Its people's heart, too small to hold a sob
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TRAIN FARE BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama all that I want : lord is just my train fare home
Last Line: Lord and they sure did treat me mean : because they taking my babe away from here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRAINING THE BOY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'en I was a liddle boy
Last Line: Dey 'spects me to act wise
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TRAVELIN' BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr engineer : let a [poor] man ride the blind
Last Line: I love you emerald : tell the world I do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRAVELIN' THIS LONESOME ROAD, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I am traveling this lonesome road : if I never get back no more
Last Line: I will pack my suitcase : while I hunt from town to town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRAVELING MAMA BLUES, by JOE CALICOTT    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well a short-legged mama : trying to carry your daddy by
Last Line: Said *nothing funny* :in a state about you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRAVELING RIVERSIDE BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If your man gets personal : want to have your fun
Last Line: We can still barrelhouse baby : because it's on the riverside
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TREE FROGS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Shool! Shool! Shool! I rule
Last Line: Buska! Buskra-reel!
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TREES AT NIGHT, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Slim sentinels %stretching lacy arms
Last Line: The trembling beauty %of an urgent pine
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TRELLIE, by LANCE JEFFERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: From the old slave shack I chose my lady
Last Line: Ten thousand children will redwood from my genes %to mount the earth in my black people's time!
Subject(s): African Americans


TRIBUTE TO ROBERT HAYDEN, by MARGARET ABIGAIL WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For this man
Alternate Author Name(s): Walker, Margaret+(1)
Subject(s): African Americans; Hayden, Robert (1913-1980)


TRIBUTE TO THE JAZZ WOMEN, by TOYOMI IGUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I see the rhythm of the jazz women
Last Line: I see the essence of jazz
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


TRIBUTE: TO THE SWEET BARD OF THE WOMAN'S CLUB, ALICE RUTH MOORE, by ELOISE BIBB THOMPSON    Poem Text                    
First Line: I peer adown a shining group
Last Line: So graceful, sweet, and terse.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Dunbar-nelson, Alice Ruth Nelson


TRICKS AIN'T WORKING NO MORE, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Times is done got hard : money's done got scarce
Last Line: And I've got to change my luck : if I have to move next door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRINITY RIVER BLUES, by AARON T-BONE WALKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: That dirty trinity river : sure have done me wrong
Last Line: *if it wasn't for* ??? Baby : honey it won't rise to more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRIP: SAN FRANCISCO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I went to san francisco
Last Line: Like cobwebs in the sky
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TRIPART, by GAYL JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: A very friendly %prison
Last Line: In a restaurant %dealing with humanity
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


TRIXIE BLUES, by ANNA JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : blues all around my bed
Last Line: He'll be hugging and kissing you : and quit you all the time
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TROMBONE CHOLLY, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: If gabriel knowed : how you could blow
Last Line: A-doing the charleston : while you blow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TROUBLE BLUES--PART 1, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: When trouble starts : it stops at my front door
Last Line: Come and got my regular : then took my used-to-be
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TROUBLE BLUES--PART 2, by FRANCIS SCRAPPER BLACKWELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can get my money : but trouble won't let it stay
Last Line: Nobody knows : but the good lord and me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TROUBLE IN MIND, by RICHARD M. JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Trouble in mind, I'm blue
Last Line: I'm laughin' just to keep from cryin'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TROUBLE-HEARTED BLUES (1), by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down so long : down don't worry me
Last Line: If I don't get no better mama : believe I'm going I'm going
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TROUBLE-HEARTED BLUES (2), by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've been down so long : down don't worry me
Last Line: Tell them you don't know the writer : he'd rather had his happy song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TROUBLED WATER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Between us, always, loved one
Last Line: This sea of troubled water
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TROUBLED WOMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: She stands %in the quiet darkness
Last Line: That never lifts its head %again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TRUCKIN' THRU' TRAFFIC, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen here man : don't talk about me
Last Line: Taken my money : and then throwed me down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRUE AMERICAN, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: America, here is your son, born of your iron heel
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


TRUE BLUE WOMAN, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know my babe : is bound to think of me
Last Line: Then again you know I know my babe : ooo well now is bound to think of me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRUE IMPORT OF PRESENT DIALOGUE, BLACK VS. NEGRO, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Nigger
Last Line: Learn to kill niggers %learn to be black men
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans


TRUE LOVE BLUES, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Love means putting others first
Last Line: Proves you still ain't figured that out
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Love - Complaints


TRUMPET PLAYER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The negro / with the trumpet at his lips
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song & Music; Music & Musicians; Negroes; American Blacks


TRUMPET PLAYER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The negro %with the trumpet at his lips
Last Line: As the tune comes from his trhoat %trouble %mellows to a golden note
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song And Music; Music And Musicians


TRUST NO MAN, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want all you women : to listen to me
Last Line: Come out in the summer : you'll find your pig will be gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TRY ME ONE MORE TIME, by MARSHALL OWENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : get my shoes
Last Line: You got to live in your place : ??? You
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TUBA BLAY OR AN EVENING SONG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh please, tuba blay
Last Line: Tuba sing, tuba sing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TURKEY BUZZARD, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Turkey, buzzard, turkey buzzard, your child is lost
Last Line: That is all right, we will increase in number
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TURKEY FUNERAL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dis tucky once on earth did dwell
Last Line: An' he struts in tucky peace
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TURPENTINE BLUES, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Going home in the morning : woman and I sure can't carry you
Last Line: Take you a mouthful of sugar : boy and drink a bottle of turpentine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TURTLE'S SONG (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mud turtle setin' on de end of a log
Last Line: But you'd oughter git a liddle mo' pull in de head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TUSKEGEE, by LESLIE PINCKNEY HILL    Poem Text                    
First Line: Wherefore this busy labor without rest?
Last Line: The south will wear eternally a stain.
Subject(s): African Americans; Southern States; Tuskegee Institute; Negroes; American Blacks; South (u.s.)


TUSKEGEE AIRFIELD, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: These men
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life; Relatives


TUSKEGEE AIRFIELD, by MARILYN NELSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: These men
Last Line: The instructor grinned. %boy, if your ass %is as hard as your head, %you'll go far in this world
Alternate Author Name(s): Waniek, Marilyn Nelson
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Family Life


TUSKEGEE EXPERIMENT, by SADIQ    Poem Source                    
First Line: While sidney bechet was
Last Line: No treatment! No treatment!
Subject(s): African Americans; Bechet, Sidney Joseph (1897-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians


TUXEDO BLUES, by UNKNOWN+205    Poem Source                    
First Line: I don't want no sugar : stirred up in my rice
Last Line: When you love your daddy : give me your right hand
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWELVE POUND DADDY, by PEARL DICKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mmm : hey hey hey hey
Last Line: If you are *loving* me : I don't want no partnership man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWELVES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I want everybody: fall in line
Last Line: You know by that: the big boy's coughing in hell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWENTY-SIX WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKMAN, by RAYMOND RICHARD PATTERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: On the road we met a blackman
Last Line: Even this laughter, even your tears
Alternate Author Name(s): Patterson, Ray
Subject(s): African Americans; Alphabet Verse


TWO FACED WOMAN, by CURLEY WEAVER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two-faced woman : trying to see her two days at one time
Last Line: I done spend all my money : now tell me you don't want me no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWO LITTLE TOMMIES BLUES, by PAPA HARVEY HULL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got two little tommies : can't hardly tell them apart
Last Line: Can you tell me : how far jackson to back home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWO OF A KIND, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woman you been having your way : and you don't want to see me have mine
Last Line: I'll talk baby-talk to you : if you'll talk baby-talk to me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWO SICK NEGRO BOYS (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Two liddle niggers sick in bed
Last Line: He almos' cut dat pigeon's wing
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


TWO SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT EPIGRAMS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, god of dust and raibows, help us see
Last Line: And god, who sometimes spits right in its face
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TWO STRING BLUES, by LITTLE HAT JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I said listen baby : honey I can't move no more
Last Line: I'm going to stop my woman : and fix it so she can't have another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWO THINGS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Two things possess the power
Last Line: In no single mouth the same
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


TWO TIME BLUES, by ARTHUR PETTIES    Poem Source                    
First Line: A two-timing woman : don't want no one man
Last Line: Well well well well : I ain't going to stay here long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


TWO TIMES ONE IS TWO, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: You 'tend to yo' business, an' I'll tend to mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


U NAME THIS ONE, by CAROLYN M. RODGERS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let uh revolution come. Uh
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


U NAME THIS ONE, by CAROLYN M. RODGERS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let uh revolution come. Uh
Last Line: Let uh revolution come. %couldn't be no action like what %I dun already seen
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ULTIMATUM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Baby, how come you can't see me
Last Line: Without your rent %I mean %without a cent
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


ULTIMATUM: KID TO KID, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Go home, stupid
Last Line: Stupid, go home - %before I cry
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UN BELLE MARIE COOLIE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Beautiful marie, the east indian
Last Line: You beautiful woman, you're good enough for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


UN-AMERICAN INVESTIGATORS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The committee's fat
Last Line: With delight in %its manure
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; United States


UNCLE BUD, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, uncle bud goin' down the road
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


UNCLE GUS, by DOLORES KENDRICK    Poem Source                    
First Line: Gus would sit at his piano
Last Line: Laughed at the goodness of his rhythms, %and dared the ghosts to come
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song And Music


UNCLE IKE'S BIRTHDAY, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Well uncle ike! This beats me
Last Line: "tank you sah; I must go."
Subject(s): African Americans; Birthdays; Uncles; Negroes; American Blacks


UNCLE JAKE AND THE LEVEE, by BELLE RICHARDSON HARRISON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: De lord holps dem dat hopls deyselves
Last Line: "he ain't de man what I tuck him fur!"
Subject(s): African Americans; Doubt; Labor & Laborers; Religion; Negroes; American Blacks; Skepticism; Work; Workers; Theology


UNCLE JERRY FANTS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Has you heared 'bout uncle jerry fants?
Last Line: An' he sot down on a bunch o' grapes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


UNCLE JIMMIE'S YARN, by PRISCILLA JANE THOMPSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Did I evah tell you, sonny
Last Line: Way back in 'sixty-three
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


UNCLE JIMMY, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My uncle with the cooper glow
Last Line: Doing the bugaloo with life
Subject(s): African Americans


UNCLE NED, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jes lay down de shovel an' de hoe
Last Line: Dat she wouldn' see de ole nigger 'gain
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


UNCLE PETER, by LEILA STEPHENS    Poem Text                    
First Line: He was just an old darkey
Last Line: "so mah eyes kin see you!"
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


UNCLE RUBE ON THE RACE PROBLEM, by CLARA ANN THOMPSON    Poem Text                    
First Line: How'd I solve de negro problum?'
Last Line: Whethah folks like it or no.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


UNCLE SAM BLUES, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me tell you postman : what the army has done to me
Last Line: He took all the booze away : and my good brown from town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


UNCLE TOM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Within the beaten pride
Last Line: Taught well %to know his place
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UNCLE TOM (1), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Uncle tom is a legend and a dream
Last Line: Uncle tom's children wholly free
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UNCLE WILLIS, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Aunt anna calls herself
Last Line: He plans on breaking
Subject(s): African Americans; Love; Uncles


UNDER OBLIGATIONS (A NEGRO PARSON'S CHRISTMAS SERMON), by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I notice dat de weddah's rathah chilsome, mo' o' less,
Last Line: Kase yo's undah obligashuns to ole santa claus.
Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben
Subject(s): African Americans; Blacks; Christmas; Santa Claus; Sermons; Negroes; American Blacks; Nativity, The; Nicholas, Saint


UNDER THE DAYS, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The days fall upon me
Last Line: Who will ever find me %under the days?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Women's Rights


UNDER THE EDGE OF FEBRUARY, by JAYNE CORTEZ    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: Your arson of alert %beautiful
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


UNDERGROUND (TO ANTI-FASCISTS OF THE OCCUPIED COUNTRIES), by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Still you bring us with our hands bound
Last Line: For time will give us %out spring %at last
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UNDERTAKER BLUES, by BUSTER JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mr undertaker mr undertaker : drop your hammer and saw
Last Line: I have to leave you to heaven : *oh my baby's do no wrong*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


UNDERTAKER'S BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Six pallbearers : take his to his last go-round
Last Line: Rambled : till the butcher cut him down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


UNDERTOW, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The solid citizens
Last Line: Westchester %and me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UNHAPPY BLUES, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I can't be contented : oh nowhere I be
Last Line: For I'm so unhappy : out here on the county farm
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


UNION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Not me alone -- %I know now __
Last Line: That must be ended
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UNION REFUSED TO OBSERVE MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY ..., by ROBERT D. FREEDMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Although I wear a suit and rep tie
Last Line: Around the world I'd been, %they shrugged and winked at my white skin
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


UNKNOWN, by LANCE JEFFERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: A river of slush runs through my heart
Last Line: For my song to fling its cry
Subject(s): African Americans


UNNAMED TITLE, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Let me be your little dog : until your big hound comes
Last Line: Because that's that's something : it will never do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


UNTIL MY LOVE COME DOWN, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you got fruit on your tree : lemons on your shelf
Last Line: I asked you about your lemons : baby and you ups and tells me a lie
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


UNTITLED BLUES, by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I catch myself trying
Last Line: Where your skin %is your passport
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations


UP FROM SLOBBERY, by HARRYETTE MULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans; Language; Social Commentaries; Negroes; American Blacks; Words; Vocabulary


UP THE WAY BOUND, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My baby done quit me : and talk's all over town
Last Line: I'm going to ride : until I find that good-goody woman of mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


UP-BEAT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the gutter / boys who try
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


UP-BEAT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In the gutter %boys who try
Last Line: While from the gutter %both can rise: %but it requires %plenty of eyes
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UPHEAD AB' SCATTER, BOYS, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


US: COLORED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: So strange, %we are completely out of range
Last Line: So strange
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


UTOPIA, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: God grant you wider vision, clearer skies, my son
Last Line: Unto a waiting sunset!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


VAGABONDS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are the desperate
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor & Laborers; Negroes; American Blacks; Work; Workers


VAGABONDS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are the desperate
Last Line: The tearless %who cannot %weep
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Labor And Laborers


VARI-COLORED SONG, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If I had a heart of gold
Last Line: And never up instead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


VERNITA BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Vernita : honey what do you want me to do
Last Line: Now I could come to love you : if you would treat me nice and kind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


VERSES TO MY HEART'S-SISTER, by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We've traveled long together
Last Line: Forever and for aye!
Alternate Author Name(s): Ray, Cordelia
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


VICKSBURG 'ROUND THE BEND, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, vicksburg is in the bend, - natches jes' below
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


VICKSBURG BLUES NO. 2, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've been worrying all day mama : and could hardly sleep last night
Last Line: All I know I do in vicksburg : lord is *paraday*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


VICKSBURG BLUES--PART 3, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Had a cool loving mama : and they call her jesse p
Last Line: The reason I really love her : I think of vicksburg on the hill
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


VIETNAM #4, by CLARENCE MAJOR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A cat said / on the corner
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; Vietnamese Conflict. 1961-1975; Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


VINIE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I loves coffee, an' I loves tea
Last Line: God bless you, vinie! I wish you 'us mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


VIOLA LEE BLUES, by NOAH LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The judge he repeat it : the clerk he wrote it down
Last Line: I been drinking white lightning : it gone to my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


VIOLIN BLUES, by NAP HAYES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ooh : my baby don't treat me good no more
Last Line: When she go to bed every night : she tells everything what's on her mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


VISITORS TO THE BLACK BELT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You can talk about %across the railroad tracks
Last Line: Who're you, outsider? %ask me who am I
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


VIVE NOIR!, by MARI E. EVANS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I %am going to rise
Last Line: An' when all the coppertone's gone
Subject(s): African Americans


VOICE THROWIN' BLUES, by WALTER BUDDY BOY HAWKINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Come in at dawn : stay out late
Last Line: The woman I got : sweet enough for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


VOICES, by OLIVA WARD BUSH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I stand upon the haunted plain
Last Line: The voice of opportunity.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bush-banks, Oliva Ward
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


VOL STEVENS BLUES, by VOL STEVENS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up early this morning : feeling awful low
Last Line: Get blue tomorrow : sing them for yourself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


VOTING, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: In conversation my grandmama calls them good-looking boys
Last Line: In dresses
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


W'Y DE BLACK FOLKS AM SO GOOD, by LOUISE AYRES GARNETT    Poem Text                    
First Line: Dere's some w'at says dat de lawd wuz out
Last Line: Goes lopin' t'other way.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


W. P. A. BLUES, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody's working in this town : and it's worrying me night and day
Last Line: They was tearing my house down on me : ooo that crew from the w p a
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


W.W., by AMIRI BARAKA            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Back home the black women are all beautiful
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism; Negroes; American Blacks


W.W., by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Back home the black women are all beautiful
Last Line: Miss muffett in a runaway ugly machine. I mean. Like that
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


WABASH RAG, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Down south : on wabash street
Last Line: Get on wabash : break them down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WAIT, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I am the silent one
Last Line: I shall find words to speak %wait!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WAIT AND LISTEN, by FRED MCMULLEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well you can't wait and listen : hear me when I cry
Last Line: *but with searching* I cry mama : see my baby laying on the bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WAITING, by MARILYN ELAINE CARMEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: He left the back gate open
Last Line: Of the grown boy %returning home
Subject(s): African Americans


WAKE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell all my mourners
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WAKE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell all my mourners
Last Line: Cause there ain't no sense %in my bein' dead
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WAKING BLUES, by OTIS HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Did you ever wake up with the blues : and didn't have no place to go
Last Line: Mr blues ain't doing nothing : and I would like to get a job from you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WALK PROUD, / MY BROTHER, by SIBYL RAE COLLINS    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans; Mandela, Nelson (b. 1918)


WALK TOM WILSON, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ole tom wilson, he had 'im a hoss
Last Line: Sweep dat kitchen wid a bran' new broom
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WALKIN' ACROSS THE COUNTRY, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Walking walking : talking to myself
Last Line: A woman can still make a man : act like a clown
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WALKIN' BLUES, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : feeling around for my shoes
Last Line: Break in on a dollar : most anywhere she goes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WALKING BLUES, by CHASEY COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can mistreat me here ; but you can't when I go home
Last Line: I seen another darky : trying to change my woman's mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WALKING BLUES, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : with my head bowed down
Last Line: I'll soon be there : because I've got the walking blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WALKING THE STREET, by GEORGIA+(2) WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Stood on the corner : till my feet got soaking wet
Last Line: I've got to make six dollars : just to buy my man a pair of shoes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WALLS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Four walls can hold
Last Line: Garnered from yesterday %and held for tomorrow
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WALTER, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Me and walter used to go skinny-dipping
Last Line: In line creek
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


WANDERING BLUES, by CHARLIE CAMPBELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every night : I wander by myself
Last Line: Because I never get the loving : that I really should
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WANT, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want to take down with my hands
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


WANT OF YOU, by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A hint of gold where the moon will be
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


WANTED! CORNBREAD AND COON, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se gwine now a-huntin' to ketch a big fat coon
Last Line: An' I sho' won't git hongry 'fore de middle o' nex' june
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The face of war is my face
Last Line: Like your name %is war
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WAR, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every day after school I used to run into town to listen
Last Line: Office up in birmingham
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


WAR HORSE MAMA, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: War horse papa : how come you do me like you do
Last Line: War horse papa : you know you can't be true
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WAR II, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My daddy had vietnam dreams
Last Line: To shorter
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


WAR IS ON, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: De boll-weevil's in de cotton
Last Line: Poor nigger hain't got no home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WARM IT UP TO ME, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Take a little trip : up on a mountain top
Last Line: One of these here women : ain't going to treat you right
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WARNING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Daddy,
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WARNING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Daddy,
Last Line: Don't let your dog %curb you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WARNING: AUGMENTED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Don't let your dog curb you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WARNING: AUGMENTED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Don't let your dog curb you!
Last Line: Cur dog, fice dog, kerry blue %just don't let your dog curb you!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WARRIORS WELCOME, by PHAVIA KUGICHAGULIA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black man %come home
Last Line: Say you're coming home %to stay
Subject(s): African Americans


WARTIME BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: What you going to do : when they send your man to war
Last Line: You treat me : like my trouble have just begun
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WASH-A-TERIA, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Used to go to the wash-a-teria off the atlanta highway
Last Line: Alabama afternoon
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


WASHING MAMMA'S DISHES (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I wus a liddle boy
Last Line: I wonder wus I drinkin'?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WATCHA DOIN'?, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I married my baby : married her for myself
Last Line: Ask her cook your breakfast : but she never did
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WATER BOUND BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now my home's on the water: spending awhile on land
Last Line: Says I traveled over this country: every kind of man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WATER SONGS, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: A disconnected connection
Last Line: And everything is alright
Variant Title(s): March Water Songs
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Grief; Reality; Singing And Singers; Tears


WATER-FRONT STREETS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The spring is not so beautiful there
Last Line: Who carry beauties in their hearts %and dreams, like me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WATERMELON PREFERRED, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dat hambone an' chicken are sweet
Last Line: Dat watermillion, smilin' on de vine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WAY BACK DOWN HOME, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to the western union : just to send up a telephone
Last Line: I must've didn't have the right number : when I went to the western union to the telephone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WAY DOWN THAT LONESOME ROAD, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look down look down : that long old lonesome road
Last Line: Then the blues will make you think : about all your right-hand friends
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WAY I FEEL BLUES, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey : I know you don't know the way I feel
Last Line: Lord it breaks my heart : to hear the *work-hard* miss so-and-so's name
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WAY IT IS, by GLORIA CATHERINE ODEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I have always known
Last Line: I am so pleased with myself
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Children


WAY IT WAS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: New things was coming %you
Subject(s): African Americans; Buffalo (city), New York; Labor And Laborers


WAY IT WAS, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mornings %I got up early
Last Line: Not touching %trying to be white
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WAYS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A slash of the wrist
Last Line: To hold you in her arms
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WAYWARD GIRL BLUES, by LOTTIE BEAMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got the blues : on mother's knee
Last Line: I had no mother : here to take my part
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WE ARE 'ALL THE GO', by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yes! We's 'all-de-go,' boys; we's 'all-de-go'
Last Line: House steps an' town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WE ARE RISING, by GEORGE CLINTON ROWE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Among the sayings of our race
Last Line: Tell to the world we're rising!
Subject(s): African Americans - Children


WE CAN SELL THAT THING, by ROOSEVELT SYKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: There you was : down in then *lees*
Last Line: Don't it smell : when it blowing your way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WE GONNA MOVE, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I get you mama : we going to move on the outskirts of town
Last Line: If we have any babies : I want them all to look like me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WE GOT TO GET TOGETHER, by FRANK EDWARDS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hitler cutting the world : gotten disturbed
Last Line: Crying lord they musn't let him : please don't go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WE OWN THE NIGHT, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are unfair
Last Line: We own the night
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WE OWN THE NIGHT, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are unfair
Last Line: The day will not save them %and we own the night
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


WE REAL COOL; THE POOL PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: We real cool. We / left school. We
Last Line: Die soon.
Variant Title(s): We Real Cool
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Children; Americans; Death; Labor & Laborers; Men; United States; Youth; Negroes; American Blacks; Dead, The; Work; Workers; America


WE SURE GOT HARD TIMES NOW, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Got a song to sing you : and it's no excuse
Last Line: And after election was over : your head's down like a billygoat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WE WALK THE WAY OF THE NEW WORLD, by HAKI R. MADHUBUTI            Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: We run the dangercourse
Alternate Author Name(s): Lee, Don L.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WE WALK THE WAY OF THE NEW WORLD, by HAKI R. MADHUBUTI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We run the dangercourse
Last Line: We will live in it too %& will want to be remembered %as real people
Alternate Author Name(s): Lee, Don L.
Subject(s): African Americans


WE WEAR THE MASK, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: We wear the mask that grins and lies
Last Line: We wear the mask!
Subject(s): African Americans; Grief; Hypocrisy; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Sorrow; Sadness; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


WE'LL STICK TO THE HOE (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: To de fiel' whar de sugar cane grow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WE'RE ALL IN THE TELEPHONE BOOK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Last Line: That's america's telephone book
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Americans; United States


WE, TOO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, congo brother
Last Line: Congo brother, %rise with you
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WEAK-MINDED BLUES, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wonder : will a matchbox hold my dirty clothes
Last Line: Every time she smiles : she throws that light on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WEALTH, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: From christ to ghandi
Last Line: The simple dew %of love
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WEARY HEARTED BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look a-here pretty mama : I'll tell you what I'll do
Last Line: I'll give her a dollar in the street : and I'll give here two at home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WEEPING WILLOW BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went down to the river : sat beneath a willow tree
Last Line: The way he treats me girls : he'll do the same thing to you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WELFARE BLUES, by JOSHUA+(1) WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: The welfare helping people : each and every day
Last Line: If I don't make nothing off my cotton : boss will pay me for my seed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WELFARE STORE BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now me and my baby talked last night : and we talked for nearly an hour
Last Line: I say and if you do that for me : I won't have to go down to that welfare store
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WERE IS MY HEAD GOING, by KALI GROSVENOR    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Its going black %thats were
Subject(s): African Americans


WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD, by ANONYMOUS - AFRICAN AMERICAN    Poem Text                    
Last Line: "were you there, when they laid him in the tomb?"
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music;black Songs;jesus Christ; Negro Spirituals


WEST END BLUES, by KATHERINE HENDERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm full of mean evil feeling : and I'm full of gin
Last Line: I'm on my way to the west end to leave those ugly old west end blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WEST TEXAS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Down in west texas where the sun
Last Line: Ain't no place %for a colored %man to stay!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Farm Life


WEST TEXAS BLUES, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got a letter from texas : how do you reckon it read
Last Line: And you can't really imagine : how you hear those wild ox moan
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WEST TEXAS WOMAN, by WHISTLIN' ALEX MOORE    Poem Source                    
First Line: I met a woman in west texas : she had been left by herself all alone
Last Line: The man in the moon looked down on us : but had nothing to say
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WEST VIRGINIA BLUES, by EDWARD+(3) THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: On west virginia : where the brown I love
Last Line: Then you know : that brown going to be the death of me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WESTERN FRONT, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My intentions are colors, I'm filled with
Last Line: Not, for definite, no cats we know
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


WESTERN UNION BLUES, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Western union : send this telegram
Last Line: Stomach's empty : think my throat is stuck
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WESTERN UNION MAN, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Western union man : please stop by my house today
Last Line: Now what's the use of me worrying about a western union man : when I have passenger plane flying rig
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT A LITTLE MOONLIGHT CAN DO, by JOSEPH HEITHAUS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can see her, hair down, sipping a coke
Last Line: Their legs loose and lifeless in air
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


WHAT COLOR IS BLACK?, by BARBARA MAHONE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Black is the color of
Last Line: The color of our strength %is black
Subject(s): African Americans


WHAT DO I CARE FOR MORNING, by HELENE JOHNSON    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
Last Line: Night is here, yielding and tender- %what do I care for dawn!
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


WHAT HAVE I DONE?, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Listen babe: tell me the truth
Last Line: You haven't did babe : what you should do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT I AM, by TERRANCE HAYES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fred sanford's on at 12
Last Line: Fred tells lamont
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WHAT I LOVE, by DEVORAH MAJOR    Poem Source                    
First Line: You %rolling your eyes over ill-timed jokes, you
Last Line: Harvesting autumn love
Subject(s): African Americans


WHAT I THINK, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The guys who own
Last Line: And have liberty -- %that's what I think
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHAT IS IT THAT TASTES LIKE GRAVY?, by UNKNOWN+216    Poem Source                    
First Line: What is it tastes like gravy : boys I bet you don't know
Last Line: Just see tampa red : and his best gal too
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT IS THERE FOR US?, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Today is our own
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Daughters


WHAT KEEPS US ALIVE, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Is someone who knew you
Last Line: I'll see you again
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ancestors And Ancestry; Family Life; Memory


WHAT MORE CAN I DO?, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: I come to your house : and knock upon your door
Last Line: Because you don't want me : there must be some other man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT WILL WE DO FOR BACON (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: An' - 'bam' - I shot her on de tail
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHAT YO' GWINE T' DO WHEN DE LAMP BURN DOWN?, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh, po' sinner
Last Line: If yo' don't mind, he slip on yo' %what yo' gwine t' do when de lamp burn dowm?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHAT YOU GONNA DO?, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: What you going to do : when they put you in jail again
Last Line: Do like I would do : open it if you can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT YOU WAS YOU USED TO BE, by DAISY MARTIN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Because what you was you used to be : but you ain't no more
Last Line: Keep right on running : go chase yourself
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT'S THAT TASTES LIKE GRAVY, by UNKNOWN+207    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says she killed a chicken : and she cook him down low
Last Line: I was laying coal yard : strutting my stuff
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT'S THE MATTER BLUES, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh now I wonder what's the matter : I can't rest at night
Last Line: You give me a bad-luck deal : kept something on my mind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH LOVE?, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You got me : feeling sad
Last Line: The worst feeling : I ever had
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THE MILL?, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I had a little corn : I put it in a sack
Last Line: If you're going to the mill : you get to there crying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT'S THE MATTER?, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now yonder comes baby : he's coming down the street
Last Line: I seen two bullfrogs : doing the *cold down low*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHAT?, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Some pimps wear summer hats
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WHAT?, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Some pimps wear summer hats
Last Line: Got to neglect something, %so what would you do
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHAT? SO SOON!, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I believe my old lady's
Last Line: You call it fate? %figurette %de-daddle-dy! %de-dop!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHATCH OUT, PAPA, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When y ou thrill with joy
Last Line: All about. %watch out!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHEN A 'GATOR HOLLER, FOLK SAY IT'S A SIGN OF RAIN, by MARGARET+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Blow whistle : my stomach say it's eating time
Last Line: The weather's getting cloudy lord : how these *birdies sing*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN A MAN GETS DOWN, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man gets down : feel like he ain't got no friends at all
Last Line: When you get up : try to remember everybody that mistreated you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN A MAN GETS DOWN : THE TROUBLE LASTS ALWAYS, by WILLIE BAKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: When a man gets down : the trouble lasts always
Last Line: That's the monday morning : I broke my mama's rule
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN CAN I CHANGE MY CLOTHES, by WASHINGTON WHITE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Never will forget the day : when they had me in parchman jail
Last Line: Taken my citizen's clothes : and throwed them away
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN DE CO'N PONE'S HOT, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Dey is times in life when nature
Last Line: An' de co'n pone's hot.
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WHEN DEY 'LISTED COLORED SOLDIERS, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dey was talkin' in de cabin, dey was talkin' in de hall
Last Line: W'en dey 'listed colo'ed sojers an' my 'lias went to wah.
Subject(s): African Americans - Military; American Civil War; United States - History


WHEN I GET MY BONUS, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I was broke : didn't have a dime
Last Line: You think you can get my money : that is going to be your d b a
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN I GO TO MARRY, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: So's I can w'ar de britches
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHEN I HAD BUT FIFTY CENTS, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I took my gal to a fancy ball
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHEN I HAD MONEY, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: I listened to my baby : when she was telling me her dreams
Last Line: Lord I would not have been here no : baby laying in this old hospital bed
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN I WAS A 'ROUSTABOUT' (WITH MUSIC), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: An' my long week's wuk is about at its end
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: An' set up ev'ry night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHEN MALINDY SINGS, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: G'way an' quit dat noise, miss lucy
Last Line: Ez malindy sings.
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Song & Music; Singing & Singers; Negroes; American Blacks; Songs


WHEN MY WIFE DIES, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'en my wife dies, gwineter git me anudder one
Last Line: An' go an' tell de folks I'se done gone to 'res'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHEN THE ARMIES PASSED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mama, I found this soldier's cap
Last Line: It is a red star, mother
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: If it keeps on raining : levee's going to break
Last Line: Cause me to leave my baby : and my happy home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN WE LIFTED OUR VOICES, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: In a cold school auditorium
Last Line: Lift every voice' to begin
Subject(s): African Americans; Singing And Singers; Voices


WHEN YOU FALL FOR SOMEONE THAT'S NOT YOUR OWN, by LONNIE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: They tell me blues and trouble : walk hand in hand
Last Line: Only thing that hurts you : she have to go home sometime
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN YOU GET A GOOD FRIEND, by ROBERT+(2) JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When you got a good friend : have her stay right by your side
Last Line: Got you a close friend baby : then your enemies can't do you no harm
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN YOU GET TO THINKING, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: A married woman: best woman ever been born
Last Line: Say the woman I love lord: she is my partner's maid
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHEN YOU READ THIS POEM, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The earth turns %like a rainbow
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WHEN YOU THOUGHT ME POOR, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Poverty; Success


WHEN YOUR WAY GETS DARK, by CHARLEY PATTON    Poem Source                    
First Line: When your way gets dark : baby turn your lights up high
Last Line: I'm going away baby : don't you want to go
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHERE DID YOU STAY LAST NIGHT?, by THOMAS ANDREW DORSEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Tell me pretty mama : where'd you stay last night
Last Line: My gal come home : with a tie across her back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHERE DID YOU STAY LAST NIGHT?, by JANE LUCAS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can talk about me going : push me to the wall
Last Line: Check up on my loving : but you sure can't get it all
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHERE IS MY GOOD MAN, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord I wonder : where is my good man at
Last Line: He left here this morning : didn't carry nothing but his hat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHERE SERVICE IS NEEDED, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For the negro nurse there's been no easy way
Last Line: Her skilled hands may serve where service is needed
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHERE WILL YOU BE?, by PATRICIA PARKER    Poem Text                    
First Line: Boots are being polished
Alternate Author Name(s): Parker, Pat
Subject(s): Gays & Lesbians; African Americans - Women; Gays & Lesbians; Women's Rights; Homoeroticism; Lesbians; Gay Women; Gay Men; Homoeroticism; Lesbians; Gay Women; Gay Men; Feminism


WHERE WILL YOU BE?, by PATRICIA PARKER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Boots are being polished
Last Line: And where will you be %when they come?
Alternate Author Name(s): Parker, Pat
Subject(s): African American Lesbians; African Americans - Women; Homosexuality; Women's Rights


WHERE WUZ YOU LAS' NIGHT?, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHERE YOU BEEN, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Grandmama says
Last Line: The red, red dirt of alabama
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


WHERE? WHEN? WHICH?, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When the cold comes
Last Line: With old and not too gentle %apartheid
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHICH, by ALICE D. LIPPMANN    Poem Text                    
First Line: Brown man, brown man, brown man, brother
Last Line: Flower the fields where daylight grows?
Subject(s): African Americans; Brotherhood; Negroes; American Blacks


WHISKEY AND GIN BLUES, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've been out all day : drinking both whiskey and gin
Last Line: I'm going to drink good whiskey : the rest of my doggone days
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHISKEY DRINKIN' BLUES, by JENNY POPE    Poem Source                    
First Line: Have you ever woke up : with whiskey-drinking on your mind
Last Line: And the guard told the prisoner : it ain't no whiskey-drinking here
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHISKEY HEAD MAN, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now he's a whiskey-headed man : and he stays drunk all the time
Last Line: Sniffing around the back door : begging one more half a pint
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHISKEY HEADED BLUES, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you's a whiskey-headed woman : now and you stay drunk all the time
Last Line: You grinning laughing and talking : with most every man you meet
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHISKEY MAN BLUES, by BLACK BOTTOM MCPHAIL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I drink so much whiskey : till they call me whiskey man
Last Line: And I drink so much whiskey : till they call me whiskey man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHISKEY MOAN BLUES, by CLIFFORD GIBSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been drinking and gambling : barrelhousing all my days
Last Line: But it's been so different now : since I have fell down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHISTLING SAM [WITH MUSIC], by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I has hyead o' people dancin' an' I's hyead o' people singin'
Last Line: Wid his face all in a puckah mekin' jes' sich soun's ez dese:
Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music


WHITE LIES, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The lies I could tell
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


WHITE LIES, by NATASHA TRETHEWEY    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The lies I could tell
Last Line: Thinking they'd work %from the inside out
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Housekeeping


WHITE MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sure I know you!
Last Line: Are you always a white man? %huh?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHITE ONES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I do not hate you
Last Line: Why do you torture me
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHITE SHADOWS, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm looking for a house
Last Line: No such house %at all
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Variant Title(s): House In The Worl
Subject(s): African Americans


WHITE THINGS, by ANNE SPENCER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Most things are colorful things - the sky, earth, and sea
Last Line: "man-maker, make white!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Bannister, Anne Bethel Scales
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WHITEWASH STATION BLUES, by WILL SHADE    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can toot your whistle : blow your horn
Last Line: Know I've got : the memphis jug band blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHITEWASH STATION BLUES, by UNKNOWN+211    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can toot your whistle : blow your horn
Last Line: Know I've got : the memphis jug band blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHO BUT THE LORD?, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I looked and I saw
Last Line: So who but the lord %can protect me? %we'll see
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WHO IS MY BROTHER?, by PINKIE GORDON LANE    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My friend, your face %is showing
Last Line: Go wipe your feet in ashes %the sun has always been red
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WHO SAID IT WAS SIMPLE, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There are so many roots to the tree of anger
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


WHO'S BEEN HERE, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby who been here : since your daddy been gone
Last Line: And the sisters back in the amen corner : their southern bound
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHO'S BEEN TELLIN' YOU BUDDY BROWN BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby who : I mean who been telling yo
Last Line: Know I can tell my little woman : if I feel her in the dark
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHO'S REALLY GOT THE POWER?, by LUCY E. THORNTON-BERRY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Brother you wanna know
Last Line: The red white and blue to %glorious black!
Subject(s): African Americans


WHOLING, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everyday we practice warfare
Last Line: I bleed new futures
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WHOOPEE BLUES (1), by KING SOLOMON HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby you been gone all day : that you may make whoopee all night
Last Line: Then I got to go through death valley : there ain't a house for twenty-five miles around
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHOOPEE BLUES (2), by KING SOLOMON HILL    Poem Source                    
First Line: Honey you been gone all day : that you may make whoopee all night
Last Line: Then I got three hundred miles to go : traveling throught the mud and clay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHY ARE THEY HAPPY PEOPLE?, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Skin back your teeth, damn you
Last Line: With your kin
Subject(s): African Americans; Happiness; Negroes; American Blacks


WHY ARE THEY HAPPY PEOPLE?, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Skin back your teeth, damn you
Last Line: With your kin
Subject(s): African Americans


WHY AREN'T WE IN HISTORY BOOKS?, by JUANITA TORRENCE-THOMPSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: In massachusetts schools we learned
Last Line: So, wht aren't we in history books?
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism


WHY DO SO FEW BLACKS STUDY CREATIVE WRITING?, by CORNELIUS ROBERT EADY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Always the same, sweet hurt
Last Line: Of your life will be made %to circle their wagons?
Subject(s): African Americans; Writing And Writers


WHY DON'T YOU COME HOME BLUES, by FURRY LEWIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sarah lee : why don't you come home
Last Line: I would not have : this *here red suit on*
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHY DON'T YOU DO RIGHT?, by LIL GREEN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You had plenty of money : in nineteen twenty-two
Last Line: Now all you got to offer me : is a drink of gin
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHY I CHOOSE BLACK MEN FOR MY LOVERS, by LA LOCA    Poem Source                    
First Line: Acid today is trendy entertainment
Last Line: No wonder malcolm called them devils
Subject(s): African Americans; Communism; Growth; Guevara, Ernesto (che) (1928-1967); Youth


WHY I HATE JAMEL, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Firstly %he steals the beads
Last Line: I love him otherwise
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


WHY I LIKE MOVIES, by PATRICIA SPEARS JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I like movies because %people get to mug their faces in movies
Last Line: Time turns away %a revolution terrified of the dark
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WHY LOOK AT ME?, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: What's you lookin' at me fer?
Last Line: Fer to sae my soul
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHY SHOULDN'T I BE BLUE, by WALTER DAVIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama why should I be worried : and why should I be so blue
Last Line: Lord I would do all right with you baby : but you know you try to be too nice
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WHY THE WOODPECKER'S HEAD IS RED (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Bill dillix say to day woodpecker bird
Last Line: Till it's done burnt my head
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WHY'S/WISE: WISE 1, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: If you ever find / yourself
Last Line: To get / out!
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Wit & Humor; Negroes; American Blacks


WHY'S/WISE: WISE 1, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: If you ever find %yourself
Last Line: To get %out!
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans


WHY?, by MELBA JOYCE BOYD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Katherine %is warm
Last Line: And why %do teardrops %dry in %the pockets %of my %cracked %smile?
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WICKED DADDY BLUES, by ALURA MACK    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel awfully : sad and blue
Last Line: Wicked daddy all you do : is take and take
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WIDE RIVER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Ma baby lives across de river
Last Line: Cause if I don't see ma baby %I'll lay down an' die right now
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WIDOW WOMAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, that last long ride is a
Last Line: And don't nobody else want me %yet you never can tell when a%a woman like me is free
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WIDOW'S JAZZ, by MINA LOY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The white flesh quakes to the negro soul
Last Line: Of unpeopled space
Alternate Author Name(s): Cravan, Arthur, Mrs.; Lowy, Mina Gertrude; Haweis, Stephen, Mrs.
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Chicago; Jazz; Music And Musicians


WILD ABOUT MY LOVING, by LONNIE COLEMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wild about my loving : *crazy deeds* I have my fun
Last Line: Nothing up the country : monkey-man can do
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WILD CAT SQUAWL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went home last night : about half past four
Last Line: One at your window : one at your door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WILD COW BLUES, by JOE WILLIAMS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Yeah I got up this morning : I was feeling awful bad
Last Line: I cried all night long lordy : and I can't get along with you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WILD FRUIT, SELS., by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA                        Poet's Biography
Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, James Willie, Jr.
Subject(s): African Americans


WILD HOG HUNT (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Nigger in de woods, a-settin' on a log
Last Line: An' de nigger grab dat wild hog wid all his grip
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WILD JACK BLUES, by BILLIKEN JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Wild jack on the mountain : and he brays the whole day long
Last Line: Going the keep my wild jack : if I have to chain him down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WILD NEGRO BILL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'se wild nigger bill
Last Line: But ole mosser hain't cotch me, an' he never will
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WILD ROSES, by MARY EFFIE LEE NEWSOME    Poem Source                    
First Line: What! Roses growing in a meadow
Alternate Author Name(s): Newsome, Effie Lee
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


WILD WATER BLUES, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : I couldn't even get out of my door
Last Line: Says you took my house out of cairo : carried it down in new orleans
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WILD WOMEN DON'T HAVE THE BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: I hear these women raving : about their monkey-man
Last Line: Wild women are the only kind : that do ???
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WILL THE LAST PERSON TO LEAVE PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHTS, by PHILIP S. BRYANT    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to the last
Last Line: Dead last
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Dancing And Dancers; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Labor And Laborers; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers


WILL V-DAY BE ME-DAY TOO, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear fellow americans
Last Line: That's what I want to know. %sincerely, %gi joe
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WILLIE B (1), by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mama say %I got no business out here
Last Line: A white man %the mother fucker
Subject(s): African Americans; U.s. - Race Relations


WILLIE B (3), by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Mama say %he was a black hero
Last Line: But I never heard of it %being not born till 1955
Subject(s): African Americans; Heroism


WILLIE WEE (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Willie, willie, willie wee
Last Line: Come kiss me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WIMIN'S WORK, by WINIFRED VIRGINIA JACKSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She wan't like ede er kate er them
Last Line: Up ter the day she died.
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WIND BLOWS, by MAE V. COWDERY    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women


WIND-BAG, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: A nigger come a-strutin' up to me las' night
Last Line: When it's sumpin' to be filled up wid wind
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WINDOW PANE BLUES, by TOMMIE BRADLEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Lord when I got up this morning : snow was on my windowpane
Last Line: Lord and if I don't love you : I would not if I could
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WINE-O, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Setting in the wine-house
Last Line: Soaking up a new souse. %tomorrow %oh, hum
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Alcoholics And Alcoholism


WINGFOOT LAKE, by RITA DOVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On her 36th birthday, thomas had shown her
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Swimming & Swimmers; United States - Race Relations


WINGFOOT LAKE, by RITA DOVE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: On her 36th birthday, thomas had shown her
Last Line: Under the company symbol, a white foot %sprouting two small wings
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Swimming; U.s. - Race Relations


WINTER MOON, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How thin and sharp is the moon tonight!
Last Line: How thin and sharp and ghostly white %is the slim curved crook of the moon tonight!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WINTER POEM, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once a snowflake fell
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Winter; Negroes; American Blacks


WINTER POEM, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once a snowflake fell
Last Line: A spring rain and I stood perfectly %still and was a flower
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans; Winter


WINTER RETREAT: HOMAGE TO MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., by RODNEY JONES    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a hotel in baltimore where we came together
Last Line: But, in speaking proudly, we had failed a vision
Subject(s): African Americans; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


WISDOM, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I stand most humbly
Last Line: As the dreamed of skies
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WISDOM AND WAR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We do not care
Last Line: Better -- %and easier -- %to kill
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WISE MEN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Let me become dead eyed
Last Line: I'd be the proper person then %to teach a school
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WISHES, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm tired of pacing the petty round of the ring of the thing
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Wishes; Negroes; American Blacks


WISHES, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm tired of pacing the petty round of the ring of the thing
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans; African Americans - Women; Wishes


WITHOUT BENEFIT OF DECLARATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Listen here, joe
Last Line: A guy %mama, don't cry
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WITNESS, by ELOISE GREENFIELD    Poem Source                    
First Line: The hands can help, I see
Last Line: Wiped away by the clasp %of helping hands
Subject(s): African Americans - Children; Angels


WOKE UP COLD IN HAND, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Since the hard time is got me : I've been running from door to door
Last Line: Well you dreamed you had a dollar : and your woman's got another man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WOLF RIVER BLUES, by GUS CANNON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Says I left memphis : went down the macon road
Last Line: Lord I need somebody : hear me sing this song
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WOMAN GETS TIRED OF THE SAME MAN ALL THE TIME, by UNKNOWN+215    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh a woman gets tired I mean real tired : of the same man all the time
Last Line: Oh well she's around the corner : *oozing* sweet jellyroll
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WOMAN I LOVE BLUES, by EURREAL LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The woman I love : she only sixteen years of age
Last Line: And the one I hate : at the house every day
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WOMAN ME, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your smile, delicate / rumor of peace
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WOMAN ME, by MAYA ANGELOU    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your smile, delicate %rumor of peace
Last Line: A stomp of feet, a bevy of swift hands
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WOMAN POEM, by YOLANDE CORNELIA GIOVANNI    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You see, my whole life %is tied up %to happiness
Last Line: For real thing %I %know
Alternate Author Name(s): Giovanni, Nikki
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WOMAN THING, by AUDRE LORDE    Poem Source     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The hunters are back from beating the winter's face
Last Line: Meanwhile the womanthing my mother taught me %bakes off its covering of snow %like a rising blackeni
Alternate Author Name(s): Adisa-warrior, Gamba
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WOMAN WOMAN BLUES, by ISHMAN BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woman woman woman woman : lord what in the world you trying to do
Last Line: Lord I felt so hard : till the blues crept up on me
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WOMAN'S SONG, by COLLEEN JOHNSON MCELROY    Poem Source                    
First Line: The land is cold and its men gather earth for no reason
Last Line: I am diamonane, beloved %daughter, bird child of obsidian and serpent. I am the %egg, the sperm
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WOMAN, WOMAN, I SEEN YO' MAN, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WOMANHOOD, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WOMEN (3), by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They were women then
Variant Title(s): Women
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WOMEN (3), by ALICE WALKER    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They were women then
Last Line: Of it %themselves
Variant Title(s): Wome
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


WONDER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Early blue evening. %lights ain't come on yet
Last Line: Looky yonder! %they come on now
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WOOFER (WHEN I CONSIDER THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN), by TERRANCE HAYES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I consider the much discussed dilemma
Last Line: Linked by a blood filled baton in one great historical relay
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WOOING, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I will bring you big things
Last Line: Nor the colors of dawn-morning, %nor a flaming love
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WOOING, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: W'at is dat a wukin
Last Line: If not, w'at does you wush?
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


WORDS, by NIKKI GRIMES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Sugar %honey
Last Line: Might lead %to cavities
Subject(s): African Americans; Love


WORDS FOR JAZZ PERHAPS: TO BESSIE SMITH, by MICHAEL LONGLEY    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You bring from chattanooga tennessee
Last Line: Each longed-for holiday, each terminal
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)


WORK ON BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Mama I ain't going to be: your old work ox no more
Last Line: Says they will have your buddy: then play fake on you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORKIN' MAN, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I works all day
Last Line: An' gits nothin' but trouble
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WORKING MAN, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I been up the line : been up the line
Last Line: And I'm trying so hard : to do the best I can
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORKING MAN BLUES, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you done spent all my nineteen forty rent : woman you done worked on my sub
Last Line: You know the children can go in the daytime : ooh boys and the old folks have it at night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORKING ON THE PROJECT, by PEETIE WHEATSTRAW    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was working on the project : begging the relief for shoes
Last Line: Now how can you make ends meet : oh well well well when you can't get no pay
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORKING THE ROOTS, by ANGELA JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Secretly, it was said, my great-great-grandmama, who looked
Last Line: Cause no family or neighbors had the nerve to touch 'em
Subject(s): African Americans - Alabama; African Americans - Children; Alabama


WORLD IS FULL OF REMARKABLE THINGS, by AMIRI BARAKA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Quick night %easy warmth
Last Line: Her eyes slide %into dreams
Alternate Author Name(s): Jones, Leroi
Subject(s): African Americans; Black Nationalism


WORLD IS GOING WRONG, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Strange things have happened : that never before
Last Line: No use asking me babe : because I'll never be back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORLD WAR II, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What a grand time was the war!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


WORLD WAR II, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What a grand time was the war!
Last Line: Did %somebody %die?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WORLD'S JAZZ CRAZY AND SO AM I, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Jazz them : everybody jazz them now
Last Line: The world's jazz crazy : lord and so am I
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORN DOWN DADDY BLUES, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: The time has come : for us to part
Last Line: You're just an old has-been : like a worn out joke
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORREID MAN BLUES, by JOHN D. FOX    Poem Source                    
First Line: On a sunday morning just about half past four
Last Line: If you will love me mama : you'd never treat me wrong
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORRIATION, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: There's something disturbing
Last Line: Keep looking that way?
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


WORRIED ABOUT THAT WOMAN, by WILL WELDON    Poem Source                    
First Line: And I get worried I worry : I worries all the time
Last Line: Because the good times I've had : I don't have no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WORRYING YOU OFF MY MIND - PART 1, by UNKNOWN+202    Poem Source                    
First Line: I made a long day : walking along and crying
Last Line: When they raising a squabble : taking some woman's
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS, by JR. WILLIAM J. HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: The kick
Last Line: You %sound %good to %mama %now
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955)


WRINGING THAT THING, by ED MACON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now listen here folks : we don't mean no harm
Last Line: Had no breakfast : she been gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WRITIN' PAPER BLUES, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I wrote you a letter mama : put it in your front yard
Last Line: Because you can't quit me papa : there's no need in trying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


WRONG WOMAN BLUES, by KI KI JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I was lying down dreaming : when the blues eased up on me
Last Line: You'll ask her for loving : she'll swear she's almost dead
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


X...IS A CONSTANT IN TIME..., by J. E. M. JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: I've got to be
Last Line: By the teachings of the living %keep on giving us the word
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


YA-DA-DO, by GERTRUDE PRIDGETT RAINEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Every evening : about half past four
Last Line: Big piano playing : near my door
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YARDBIRD'S SKULL, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The bird is lost
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music & Musicians; Parker, Charlie ('bird') (1920-1955); Skulls; Negroes; American Blacks


YARDBIRD'S SKULL, by OWEN DODSON    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The bird is lost
Last Line: Come sing, come sing, come sing sing %and sing
Subject(s): African Americans; Jazz; Music And Musicians; Parker, Charlie ("bird") (1920-1955); Skulls


YEAR OF JUBILEE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Niggers, has you seed ole mosser
Last Line: Go ring dat nigger field-bell
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


YEAR ROUND, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Summertime %is warm and bright
Last Line: To bloom again
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YELLOW DOG BLUES, by SAM COLLINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Easy mama : don't fade away
Last Line: Just as sure as the train : leaves the rounded curve
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YELLOW DOG BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Ever since miss suzie johnson : lost her jockey lee
Last Line: She's wondering : where her easy rider's gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YELLOW GIRL BLUES, by TEXAS ALEXANDER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Some of these women: I just can't understand
Last Line: So these brownskin women: can cluster around my throne
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YELLOW JACKET, by HUDDIE LEDBETTER    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yellow jacket yellow jacket : you sting me once more
Last Line: But if I catch you stinging : believe I'll pull your nest all on down
Alternate Author Name(s): Leadbelly
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YES I GOT YOUR WOMAN, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: You been tooting your whistle : and you been blowing your horn
Last Line: Oh she walked these blocks for you : both day and night
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YES, I KNOW, by ALICE WALKER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Yes, I know I am not
Last Line: Like / this one
Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Poetry & Poets


YESTERDAY AND TODAY, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: O, I wish that yesterday
Last Line: But, baby, I feel blue
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YET DO I MARVEL, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I doubt not god is good, well-meaning, kind
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism; Negroes; American Blacks; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


YET DO I MARVEL, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I doubt not god is good, well-meaning, kind
Last Line: Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: %to make a poet black, and bid him sing
Subject(s): African Americans; Racism


YIN 87, by JACQUELINE JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Dangarees and silk
Last Line: In them braids, too healthy for me
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Girls


YO YO BLUES, by BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I want to yo-yo : but I broke my yo-yo string
Last Line: I'm feeling funny and foolish : I can't shake that thing no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YO-YO BLUES NO.2, by ROBERT HICKS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hey mr conductor : let me ride your train
Last Line: You want to yo-yo mama : call on barbecue call on barbecue bob
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YODELING FIDDLING BLUES, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Out in san antone texas : a long long ways from home
Last Line: I see the way you going : you sure won't be here long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU ARE LIKE THE COMING OF DAWN, by IRMA MCCLAURIN    Poem Source                    
Last Line: But sometimes %a faint blush lingers
Subject(s): African Americans


YOU CAN'T DO WHAT MY LAST MAN DID, by ETHEL WATERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: You can't do : what my last man did
Last Line: Then left me alone : to sigh and cry
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU CAN'T GIVE IT AWAY, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: What is that : you going around here trying to sell
Last Line: What you trying to sell : ain't nobody buying
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU CAN'T KEEP NO BROWN, by SAM BUTLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now I woke up this morning mama : blues all around my bed
Last Line: Because I'm going I'm going : to sing long-distance blues
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU CAN'T READ MY MIND, by TOMMY MCCLENNAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I say my good-looking woman : honey she lives up on that hill
Last Line: If I hadn't been in my whiskey too : it's liable to cause our fussing and fight
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU DON'T KNOW MY MIND, by CLARA SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: I went to the race track : my man *on derby* won
Last Line: Pull the shoes off my feet : let me out in the cold
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU DON'T MEAN ME NO GOOD, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I got wise to you baby : after so many years
Last Line: That I would treat you better : anybody else
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU DRINK TOO MUCH WHISKEY, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: The graveyard is lonely : you better put brakes on yourself
Last Line: And as soon as all the taverns close : you then head for some moonshine joint
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GIVE AN ACCOUNT, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to tell you something : baby you can't do
Last Line: Way out on my door : she made a loving sign
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GONNA QUIT ME BLUES, by BLIND BLAKE    Poem Source                    
First Line: You going to quit me baby : good as I been to you
Last Line: Jailhouse ain't no place baby : believe me 'tain't no lie
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GONNA WORRY TOO, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm down now baby : I'll be up some day
Last Line: I know it's going to worry me : but it won't last long
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GOT ME ROLLIN', by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: You got me rolling mama : I don't know how come
Last Line: Mama : then I'll bite like a cat
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GOT TO DIE SOME DAY, by LUCILLE BOGAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: You may be beautiful : but baby you got to die some day
Last Line: When you love someone : and that someone don't love you
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GOT TO HAVE YOUR DOLLAR, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: When I had money : I had womwn and friends for miles around
Last Line: Yes she got me doing things : that I never did before
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GOT TO HELP ME SOME, by PETER CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you may be sweet little woman : as an apple on a tree
Last Line: We'll just call partners : so you cannot get sold for slaves
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GOT TO MOVE--PART 1, by JOE MCCOY    Poem Source                    
First Line: Say little girl : can I spend the night
Last Line: Now she's begging : every man she meets
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GOT TO MOVE--PART I, by UNKNOWN+209    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look here baby : you ain't got to go
Last Line: I made a-plenty money : all last week
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU GOT TO STEP BACK, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well I asked you woman : where did you stay last night
Last Line: When I ain't got no bottom : on my last pair of shoes
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU HAD BETTER MIND MASTER, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Way down yon'er in 'possum trot
Last Line: So's you won't git sol' down to ole miss'sip'
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


YOU HAVE MADE ME WEEP, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: You'se made me weep, you'se made me mourn
Last Line: I'se gwine away to-morrow
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


YOU LEFT ME CRYING, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: You left me crying baby : please come back to me
Last Line: If you don't come back to me : hot spring water won't help you none
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU LOVE YOUR GIRL, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Sweeter 'an juice
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


YOU MADE IT RAIN, LADY, by RUBY C. SAUNDERS    Poem Source                    
Last Line: Because of you, madame moon %it rains
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


YOU MAY GO BUT THIS WILL BRING YOU BACK, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: You may leave and go to hali-ma-fack
Last Line: Well-a you may go but this will bring you back
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music


YOU MAY GO, BUT YOU'LL COME BACK SOME DAY, by MAGGIE JONES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you may go : but you'll come back some day
Last Line: But you'll find another mule : just kicking in your stall
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU MAY LEAVE BUT THIS WILL BRING YOU BACK, by CHARLIE BOZO NICKERSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: My father was a jockey : learned me to ride behind
Last Line: Will feed every dame : in *jack burse* yard
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU RUN AND TELL YOUR DADDY, by CHARLEY JORDAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Well it's everything I tell you : you run and tell your daddy-law
Last Line: She say you might get mawkish : baby you won't keep it hid
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU SCOLDED ME AND DROVE ME FROM YOUR DOOR, by MISSISSIPPI BRACEY    Poem Source                    
First Line: You scold me faro now : drove all from your door
Last Line: Know my buddy got something now : lord I'd like to own
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU SHALL, by FRANK STOKES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Oh well it's our father : who art in heaven
Last Line: Don't allow my preacher at my house no more
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU SHALL BE FREE, by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: A nigger will be a nigger, don't care what you do
Last Line: When de good lord sat you free
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


YOU SHOULDN'T DO THAT, by SLEEPY JOHN ESTES    Poem Source                    
First Line: Don't a man do wrong : till a man make hisself at home
Last Line: I won't be worried with the ??? : I'm going to move out to the edge of town
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU STOLE MY LOVE, by UNKNOWN+218    Poem Source                    
First Line: Gal you stole my love : and you know that it was a crime
Last Line: Everything I start : I want you to meet me halfway
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU STOLE MY MAN, by IDA COX    Poem Source                    
First Line: Old pal old pal : you stole my man away
Last Line: But that's no sign : we should take each other's man
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU TALK ABOUT YO' GREENBACKS, by UNKNOWN    Poem Source                    
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


YOU'LL LIKE MY LOVING, by OTIS HARRIS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I know you like my loving : I can tell from the way you wine
Last Line: But before it's over with : we hollering lord oh lordy lord
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU'LL NEVER MISS YOUR JELLY TILL YOUR JELLY ROLLERS GONE, by LIL JOHNSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I woke up this morning : with the blues all around my bed
Last Line: You never miss your jelly : till your jellyroller's gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU'RE LAUGHING NOW, by BILL JAZZ GILLUM    Poem Source                    
First Line: Said I work for you baby : I treat you like a baby child
Last Line: Well you laughing at me now mama : you'll be crying after a while
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU'VE BEEN A GOOD OLD WAGON, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Look a-here daddy : I want to tell you please get out of my sight
Last Line: He's a good old wagon : daddy and he ain't broke down
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU'VE BEEN FOOKIN' ROUND TOWN, by JOHN LEE WILLIAMSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: I'm going to tell you something : keep it to yourself
Last Line: Marry mr so-and-so : you can have your way
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU'VE GOT ME GRIEVING, by LEROY CARR    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now you got me grieving mama : over nobody else but you
Last Line: You going to leave me : bye bye bye
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING THERE, by BLIND BOY FULLER    Poem Source                    
First Line: The day I went uptown : caught you looking well
Last Line: A mighty bad sign : to advertise your gals
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOU'VE GOT TO BEAT ME TO KEEP ME, by TRIXIE SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Beat me up for breakfast : knock me down for tea
Last Line: Beat me to a frazzle : with your skillets pots and pans
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUNG AFRIKANS, by GWENDOLYN BROOKS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Who take today and jerk it out of joint
Variant Title(s): Young Africans
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


YOUNG BLOOD, by OPAL PALMER ADISA    Poem Source                    
First Line: You with your %african medallion
Last Line: We chantin %for all of you
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG BRIDE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They say she died
Last Line: And rest from pain of love %in loveless sleep
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG GAL'S BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm gonna walk to the graveyard
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


YOUNG GAL'S BLUES, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm gonna walk to the graveyard
Last Line: Keep on lovin' me, daddy, %cause I don't want to be blue
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG MASTER AND OLD MASTER (NURSERY RHYME), by UNKNOWN+172    Poem Source                    
First Line: Hick'ry leaves an' calico sleeves
Last Line: Better know dat ole mosser's not easy to please
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Black Songs


YOUNG NEGRO GIRL, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You are like a warm dark dusk
Last Line: Burn white with stars
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG ONES, by STERLING ALLEN BROWN    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: With cotton to the doorstep
Last Line: Praise god from whom %all blessings flow'
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG PROSTITUTE, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Her dark brown face
Last Line: Those kind come cheap in harlem %so they say
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG SAILOR, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He carries
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG SINGER, by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: One who sings 'chansons vulgaires'
Last Line: That she is like a nymph %for some wild faun
Alternate Author Name(s): Hughes, Langston
Subject(s): African Americans


YOUNG WOMAN'S BLUES, by ELIZABETH SMITH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Woke up this morning : when the chickens was crowing for day
Last Line: And I'm a good woman : and I can get plenty of men
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUR BABY AIN'T SWEET LIKE MINE, by PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: Everybody's talking : about the *gren??? Day*
Last Line: Your baby : ain't sweet like mine
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUR BISCUITS ARE BIG ENOUGH FOR ME, by BO CHATMAN    Poem Source                    
First Line: Baby don't put no more baking powder : in your bread you see
Last Line: Some men don't like bun and biscuits : like the doggone flat batter cake
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUR GOOD MAN CAUGHT THE TRAIN AND GONE, by WALTER VINCSON    Poem Source                    
First Line: If you don't want me : won't you please tell me no
Last Line: I had a good man : he caught the train and gone
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUR MAN IS GONE, by FREDDIE SPRUELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I feel like taking my suitcase : sitting down by that railroad side
Last Line: You know that's the last of my good man : because they putting him down in the cold cold ground
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUR MOTHER, by SAM CORNISH    Poem Source                    
First Line: Your mother %in the market
Last Line: Even in the winter %live here
Subject(s): African Americans; Mothers


YOUR TIME TO WORRY, by BLIND WILLIE MCTELL    Poem Source                    
First Line: I done told you mama : right from the start
Last Line: Mess around with you : the chain-gang will be my home
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUR WAYS AND ACTIONS, by KOKOMO ARNOLD    Poem Source                    
First Line: Now your ways and actions : speaks almost as loud as words
Last Line: Now she's gone and left me : she didn't mean me no good
Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music; Blues (music)


YOUR WORLD, by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your world is as big as you make it
Last Line: With rapture, with power, with ease!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tremaine, John
Subject(s): African Americans - Women


ZAKEE, by LINDA COUSINS    Poem Source                    
First Line: Fiery-eyed poet
Last Line: Of his ecer-creative %soul
Subject(s): African Americans; Nadir, Zakee


ZANJ, by J. ANTHONY STOWERS    Poem Source                    
First Line: I cry with broken lips
Last Line: At dusk -- how red the mud %of zanj
Subject(s): African Americans