"The Dawn’s Awake!" by Otto Leland Bohanan

The Dawn's awake! / A flash

Support Poem-a-Day February 2, 2020   The Dawn's Awake! Otto Leland Bohanan The Dawn's awake!     A flash of smoldering flame and fire Ignites the East. Then, higher, higher,     O'er all the sky so gray, forlorn,  The torch of gold is borne.  The Dawn's awake!    The dawn of a thousand dreams and thrills.  And music singing in the hills     A pæen of eternal spring  Voices the new awakening.  The Dawn's awake!       Whispers of pent-up harmonies,  With the mingled fragrance of the trees;       Faint snaches of half-forgotten song— Fathers! Torn and numb,—    The boon of light we craved, awaited long,  Has come, has come!  This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on February 2, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.   "The Dawn's Awake!" originally appeared in The Book of American Negro Poetry (Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922).  Otto Leland Bohanan was born around 1895 in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Howard University and taught English at the Catholic University. He also worked as a music instructor at DeWitt Clinton High School, and died in 1932.   "It Was Summer Now and the Colored People Came Out Into the Sunshine" by Morgan Parker read more "Land Ho" by Kwame Dawes  read more Thanks to Roger Reeves, author of King Me (Copper Canyon Press, 2013), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read an extended Q&A about Reeves' curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Make a one-time contribution to help us publish Poem-a-Day.   Make your support go further by enrolling in monthly giving and joining the Mug Club! Copyright © 2020 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: The Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane St #901 New York, NY 10038 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.