I have known nights made wonderful with song That black men sang while watching water rise -- To shuffled boots and banjos and the cries Of frightened women, from the huddled throng I heard the black men singing clear and strong. Each watcher waited tensely, knew surprise Might leap from angered waters. Each one's eyes Held by water as I was held by song. In looking back, those nights are like a story. The levee's higher now, the black men gone -- Little is left to watch or listen on -- Still, there's the southern moon and water's glory -- But song of black men singing in the night Is lost forever, song born out of fright! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOCTURNE IN A MINOR KEY by CONRAD AIKEN WOODSMOKE AT 70 by HAYDEN CARRUTH MODULATIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 2. LOS CIGARILLOS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON IRELAND; WRITTEN FOR THE ART AUTOGRAPH DURING IRISH FAMINE by SIDNEY LANIER TO -, WITH A ROSE by SIDNEY LANIER |