Heritage by Claude McKay

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 14, 2017   Heritage   Claude McKay

Now the dead past seems vividly alive,     And in this shining moment I can trace, Down through the vista of the vanished years,     Your faun-like form, your fond elusive face.   And suddenly come secret spring's released,     And unawares a riddle is revealed, And I can read like large, black-lettered print,     What seemed before a thing forever sealed.   I know the magic word, the graceful thought,     The song that fills me in my lucid hours, The spirit's wine that thrills my body through,     And makes me music-drunk, are yours, all yours.   I cannot praise, for you have passed from praise,     I have no tinted thoughts to paint you true; But I can feel and I can write the word;     The best of me is but the least of you.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "Heritage" was published in Harlem Shadows (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922).   Claude McKay was born in Jamaica on September 15, 1889. His collections of poetry include Songs of Jamaica (Gardner, 1912) and Constab Ballads (Watts, 1912). He died on May 22, 1948. Poetry by McKay   Selected Poems (Dover Publications, 1999) "Dream Variations" by Langston Hughes "Song of the Son" by Jean Toomer "The Idler" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. If you enjoy Poem-a-Day, please consider making a donation to help make it possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038