"Morning on Shinnecock" by Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend Support Poem-a-Day November 23, 2019   Morning on Shinnecock   Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

The rising sun had crowned the hills,    And added beauty to the plain; O grand and wondrous spectacle!   That only nature could explain. I stood within a leafy grove,   And gazed around in blissful awe; The sky appeared one mass of blue,   That seemed to spread from sea to shore. Far as the human eye could see,   Were stretched the fields of waving corn. Soft on my ear the warbling birds   Were heralding the birth of morn. While here and there a cottage quaint   Seemed to repose in quiet ease Amid the trees, whose leaflets waved   And fluttered in the passing breeze. O morning hour! so dear thy joy,   And how I longed for thee to last; But e'en thy fading into day   Brought me an echo of the past. 'Twas this,—how fair my life began;   How pleasant was its hour of dawn; But, merging into sorrow's day,   Then beauty faded with the morn.            This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on November 23, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About this Poem   "Morning on Shinnecock" originally appeared in Annual Report of the Montauk Tribe of Indians for the Year 1916.   Olivia Ward Bush-Banks was born in Sag Harbor, New York, on February 27, 1869, to parents of African and Montauk descent. She is the author of Original Poems (Louis A. Basinet Press) and Driftwood (Atlantic Printing Co., 1914). She died in New York City on April 8, 1944. Poetry by Banks   The Collected Works of Olivia Ward Bush-Banks (Oxford University Press, 1991)   "Prayer at Sunrise" by James Weldon Johnson "who will be the messenger of this land" by Jaki Shelton Green "America Talks to Me Like a Mother" by Catie Rosemurgy November Guest Editor: Sherwin Bitsui   Thanks to Sherwin Bitsui, author of Dissolve (Copper Canyon Press, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Bitsui about his curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. A culture break, a source of daily renewal...   If reading Poem-a-Day has become a meaningful part of your day, please consider supporting this free series with a donation. Your gift makes publishing Poem-a-Day 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   Unsubscribe here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

From Our Sponsors