Page:Negro poets and their poems (IA negropoetstheirp00kerl).pdf/187

Rh I cried: “Fair Goddess, hear my tale Of sorrow, grief and pain.” That made her face an ashen pale, But soon it glowed again! “They placed me here; and this my crime, Writ on their pages fair;— ‘He left his sunny native clime, And came to Harvard Square!’” “Weep not, my son, thy way is hard, Thy weary journey long— But thus I choose my favorite bard To sing my sweetest song. I’ll strike the key-note of my art And guide with tend’rest care, And breathe a song into thy heart To honor Harvard Square. “I called old Homer long ago, And made him beg his bread Through seven cities, ye all know, His body fought for, dead. Spurn not oppression’s blighting sting, Nor scorn thy lowly fare; By them I’ll teach thy soul to sing The songs of Harvard Square. “I placed great Dante in exile, And Byron had his turns; Then Keats and Shelley smote the while, And my immortal Burns! But thee I’ll build a sacred shrine, A store of all my ware; By them I’ll teach thy soul to sing ‘A place in Harvard Square.’