BROTHERS

See! There he stands; not brave, but with an air

Of sullen stupor. Mark him well! Is he

Not more like brute than man? Look in his eye!

No light is there; none, save the glint that shines

In the now glaring, and now shifting orbs

Of some wild animal caught in the hunter's trap.

How came this beast in human shape and form?

Speak, man!--We call you man because you wear

His shape--How are you thus? Are you not from

That docile, child-like, tender-hearted race

Which we have known three centuries? Not from

That more than faithful race which through three wars

Fed our dear wives and nursed our helpless babes

Without a single breach of trust? Speak out!

The Book of American Negro Poetry · 第 65 / 169 题