DEAD FIRES

by: Jesse Fauset (1882-1961)

      F this is peace, this dead and leaden thing,
      Then better far the hateful fret, the sting.
      Better the wound forever seeking balm
      Than this gray calm!
       
      Is this pain's surcease? Better far the ache,
      The long-drawn dreary day, the night's white wake,
      Better the choking sigh, the sobbing breath
      Than passion's death!

"Dead Fires" is reprinted from The Book of American Negro Poetry. Ed. James Weldon Johnson. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1922

MORE POEMS BY JESSE FAUSET

RELATED LINKS

BROWSE THE POETRY ARCHIVE:

[ A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z ]

Home · Poetry Store · Links · Email · © 2002 Poetry-Archive.com