"Comrades Four" by Claude McKay

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend July 9, 2017   Comrades Four   Claude McKay

Dear comrades, my comrades,     My heart is always true; An' ever an' ever     I shall remember you.   We all joined together,     Together joined we four; An' I have been first to     Pass t'rough the open door.   We four drilled together,     Together drilled we all; An' I've been the first to     Flee from the life o' gall.   We parted, dear comrades,     We parted all in tears, An' each went his own way     To shoulder life's sad cares.   O comrades, my comrades,     What is de lasting gain, But all t'rough de tempest     A heart of unmixed pain?   My comrades, loved comrades,     I hear your bitter cry; But life's pain will end, boys,     Will end yet—by an' by.                This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "Comrades Four" was first published in Constab Ballads (Watts, 1912).   Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889. His collections of poetry include Songs of Jamaica (Gardner, 1912) and Harlem Shadows (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922). He died in 1948.   Photo credit: Carl Van Vechten Poetry by McKay   Selected Poems (Dover Publications, 1999) "Dream Variations" by Langston Hughes "Song of the Son" by Jean Toomer "Lines to a Nasturtium" by Anne Spencer Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! 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