Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TUSKEGEE, by LESLIE PINCKNEY HILL 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.) | ||||||||
Wherefore this busy labor without rest? Is it an idle dream to which we cling, Here where a thousand dusky toilers sing Unto the world their hope? "Build we our best, By hand and thought," they cry, "although unblessed." So the great engines throb, and anvils ring, And so the thought is wedded to the thing; But what shall be the end, and what the test? Dear God, we dare not answer, we can see Not many steps ahead, but this we know -- If all our toilsome building is in vain, Availing not to set our manhood free, If envious hate roots out the seed we sow, The South will wear eternally a stain. | 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 THE TEACHER by LESLIE PINCKNEY HILL |
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