September 15, 2005

The Little black boy.....

Suley's : " I was over at a friend's great-grandmother's house. She's 95 years old (born in 1910!) and she just casually refers to all blacks as "nigras." We laugh at her, but she doesn't get it" reminded me of a poem I read when still in high school.... One of the most beautiful poems I've ver read. Here goes: 

My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;
White as an angel is the English child,
But I am black, as if bereav'd of light.

My mother taught me underneath a tree,
And sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And pointing to the east, began to say:

"Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
And gives his light, and gives his heat away;
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love;
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear,
The cloud will vanish; we shall hear his voice,
Saying: 'Come out from the grove, my love and care,
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.' "
 
Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;
And thus I say to little English boy,
When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,
 
I'll shade him from the heat, till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our father's knee;
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me.

William Blake (1757-1827)

The Little Black Boy

Ain't it just beautiful, huh?

Posted by Fitena at 08:09:58 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |
Comments
1 - I've read that before. William Blake is my favorite English poet. My favorite poem of his is "The Chimney Sweeper." I also like "Urizen." He's a weird guy, though. He and his wife used to sit naked in their backyard and reenact the garden of eden. They would have guests over while they were naked and would act totally normal, as if nothing were amiss.

Blake also claimed to be regularly visited by angels. When I think "mystic" I think of Blake.

A meme (pronounced "meem") is just a unit of cultural transmission. It's any information passed from one mind to another. It comes from the word for "memory" in Greek. There's even a field called "Memetics" that studies memes.

-Suley (Comment this)

Written by: Suley at 2005/09/16 - 12:54:48
2 - Ol suley always has such great info...

I love this poem! (Comment this)

Written by: Jenelle at 2005/09/17 - 23:37:08
3 - Didn't I tag BOTH of you for a music meme? Y'all are required by the Holy and Sacrosanct Laws of Bloggery to respond to memes posthaste or risk having your Potato license revoked. :)

-Suley (Comment this)

Written by: Suley at 2005/09/18 - 03:17:29
4 - Yo Suley, thnx for the info! I love the Chimney Sweeper too. I actually lost the book and the Little black Boy was the only one I'd memorised since it was my favourite! Check out the meme...
And J, thnks for stopping by, long time no hear :-)
Fitèna (Comment this)

Written by: Fitèna at 2005/09/19 - 09:02:17
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