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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ASHES, by JAMES RYDER RANDALL Poet's Biography
First Line: The spring will come with its ebullient blood
Last Line: The hand will raise thee up that smites thee now!
Subject(s): Ash Wednesday; Southern States; South (u.s.)
First Line: The spring will come with its ebullient blood
Last Line: The hand will raise thee up that smites thee now!
Subject(s): Ash Wednesday; Southern States; South (u.s.)
THE Spring will come with its ebullient blood,
With flush of roses and imperial eyes;
A vein of strength will throb along the flood—
Banners of beauty toss the pillared wood
When birds of music anthem to the skies.
And man prowls forth to mar thy gentle ways,
With sword and shot and sacrilegious hand;
Thy reign is fallen upon demon days,
We peer at thee althrough a gory haze,
Weeping and praying for our stricken land.
O Land! O Land of the benignant South!
The Great High Priest approaches to thy brow,
Anointing it with ashes; let thy mouth
Rebel not, nor thy heart be filled with drouth—
The hand will raise thee up that smites thee now!
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JULY IN GEORGY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
O SOUTHLAND! by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
MY SOUTH: 1. ON THE PORCH by DONALD JUSTICE
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