Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SOUTH SONG, by ROY ADDISON HELTON 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.) | ||||||||
I'm for the South, -- for the black-eyed South With Art in its fingers and Love on its mouth, With scent in the stars of its eyes, and its tune From Beauty's warm lips on the bride-bed of June. Oh, the North Folk are grim folk From Shetland east to Maine: Brooding lonely grim folk, Plagued with the lust for pain; So I'm for the clear-souled South Folk Of Richmond and Rome and Spain. Woe is the lot of the north lands, North of fifty three, -- Of the sin-eating, blood-sweating north lands That kneel with a knotted knee: Gorky's dazed folk of the north lands; Fiona's wierd folk of the north lands; Tolstoi's troubled folk of the north lands; And Ibsen's dour folk by the sea. Brooding and bale in the north nights; Hard strife for the day's short span; And a grim gray fate for the souls that mate Where toil is the measure of man: Where the great blond gray-eyed North Folk, The Berserker moralist north folk, Gloom and fume in the starlight, Hate and mate in the moonlight, Dream and scheme by the lamp light -- Till the earth runs red with their wars. So I'm for the South, -- for the black-eyed South With Art in its fingers and Love on its mouth, With scent in the stars of its eyes, and its tune From Beauty's warm lips on the bride-bed of June. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MYSTIC RIVER by GALWAY KINNELL ENTERING THE SOUTH by LUCILLE CLIFTON SNAPSHOTS OF THE COTTON SOUTH by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS JULY IN GEORGY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON O SOUTHLAND! by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MY SOUTH: 1. ON THE PORCH by DONALD JUSTICE MY SOUTH: 3. ON THE FARM by DONALD JUSTICE A STREET CAR SYMPHONY by ROY ADDISON HELTON OLD CHRISTMAS MORNING; A KENTUCKY MOUNTAIN BALLAD by ROY ADDISON HELTON |
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