Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LILL' ANGELS, by BEATRICE WITTE RAVENEL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LILL' ANGELS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Mammy rocks the baby
Last Line: Se . . . Ebbenty-t'ree. . . .
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


Mammy rocks the baby
In the wallflower-colored gloom;
All the floor rocks with her,
And the slumber of the room.
Like the broad, unceasing trade-wind,
Like the rivers underground,
Rolls the universal rhythm
And the rich, primeval sound:
All de lill' angels,
All de baby's angels,
Swingin' on de tree;
Forty-one lill' angel',
Fifty-two lill' angel',
Sixty-fo' lill' angel',
Sebbenty-t'ree. . . .

On the glory of the sundown,
Of the wallflower-colored skies,
I can see her vast Assumption
In a cloud of Cherubs' eyes.
With their gold-persimmon haloes
Where the ripest sunlight falls,
And the cherub-tree's espaliered
On the winking crystal walls.
Little yaller angels,
Piccaninny angels,
Chuckle on the tree.
Forty-one lill' angel',
Fifty-two lill' angel',
Sixty-fo' lill' angel',
Se . . . ebbenty-t'ree. . . .





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