“Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing.”

“And if I please you so, my lover,Remember praise is comely.”

“Not for myself I make this prayer But for this race of mine That stretches forth from shadowed places Dark hands for bread and wine.”

“The image of God cut in ebony.”

“O black and unknown bards of long ago How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? How in your darkness did you come to know The power and beauty of the minstrel's lyre?”

“In the Negro countenance you will often meet with strong traits of benignity. I have felt yearnings of tenderness towards some of these faces.”