Page:Negro poets and their poems (IA negropoetstheirp00kerl).pdf/164

142 Why do we grieve? Let each affliction bear A greater beauty springing from the sod, May sweetness well as incense from the urn, Which, rising high, enshrouds the throne of God. Envoy of Hope, this lesson I disclose— “Be Ever Sweet,” thou humble, fragrant rose!

Miss Jessye, now a teacher of the piano in Muskogee, Oklahoma, was born in Kansas and was graduated from Western University. She has taken prizes in oratory, poetry, and essay-writing. Yet in her early twenties, she has a volume of verse ready for publication.

Self-taught, and disclaiming knowledge of books, Mrs. Hammond of Omaha, Nebraska, contributes to The Monitor of that city verses of musical cadences and gentle beauty. Her response to the scenes and objects of nature is that of a poetic mind. The spirit of joy sings through her verses. As a representative poem the following may be accepted: