1 min read 137 words Updated Apr 13, 2026 Created Apr 13, 2026

  Countee Cullen
  1
             For my Grandmother

This lovely flower fell to seed;
Work gently sun and rain;
She held it as her dying creed
That she would grow again.

2
         For John Keats, Apostle of Beauty

Not writ in water nor in mist,
Sweet lyric throat, thy name.
Thy singing lips that could death kissed
Have seared his own with flame.

3
         For Paul Laurence Dunbar

Born of the sorrowful of heart
Mirth was a crown upon his head;
Pride kept his twisted lips apart
In jest, to hide a heart that bled.

4
         For a Lady I Know

She even thinks that up in heaven
    Her class lies late and snores,
While poor black cherubs rise at seven
    To do celestial chores.


appeared in 예술조선 vol. 4 as 비명삼구, tl. 한흑구
accessed 2022/10/31, from poets.org