Categories
19th century African-American America American American Poetry Black History Christian Christianity General new england Sara Louisa Forten United States women women poets

An Appeal to Women


by Sara Louisa Forten Purvis

Oh, woman, woman in thy brightest hour
Of conscious worth, of pride, of conscious power
Oh, nobly dare to act a Christian’s part,
That well befits a lovely woman’s heart!
Dare to be good, as thou canst dare be great;
Despise the taunts of envy, scorn and hate;
Our ‘skins may differ,’ but from thee we claim
A sister’s privilege, in a sister’s name.

We are thy sisters, Oh, woman, woman in thy brightest hour
Of conscious worth, of pride, of conscious power
Oh, nobly dare to act a Christian’s part,
That well befits a lovely woman’s heart!
Ddare to be good, as thou canst dare be great;
Despise the taunts of envy, scorn and hate;
Our ‘skins may differ,’ but from thee we claim
A sister’s privilege, in a sister’s name.

We are thy sisters, – God has truly said,
That of one blood, the nations he has made.
Oh, christian woman, in a christian land,
Canst thou unblushing read this great command?
Suffer the wrongs which wring our inmost heart
To draw one throb of pity on thy part;
Our ‘skins may differ,’ but from thee we claim
A sister’s privilege, in a sister’s name.

Oh, woman! – though upon thy fairer brow
The hues of roses and of lilies grow—
These soon must wither in their kindred earth,
From whence the fair and dark have equal birth.
Let a bright halo o’er thy virtues shed
A lustre, that shall live when thou art dead;
Let coming ages learn to bless they name
Upon the altar of immortal fame.

Categories
18th Century Alexander Pope British Poetry Christian Christianity Religion and Spirituality Uncategorized

“The Christian to His Dying Soul”


Vital spark of heav’nly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, ling’ring, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.

Hark! they whisper; angels say,
Sister Spirit, come away!
What is this absorbs me quite?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?

The world recedes; it disappears!
Heav’n opens on my eyes! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring!
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?

Categories
African-American American American Poetry Belief Christian Christianity Faith Frances E. W. Harper Religion and Spirituality United Kingodm

“A Grain of Sand” by Frances E. W. Harper


Do you see this grain of sand
Lying loosely in my hand?
Do you know to me it brought
Just a simple loving thought?
When one gazes night by night
On the glorious stars of light,
Oh how little seems the span
Measured round the life of man.

Oh! how fleeting are his years
With their smiles and their tears;
Can it be that God does care
For such atoms as we are?
Then outspake this grain of sand
‘I was fashioned by His hand
In the star lit realms of space
I was made to have a place.

‘Should the ocean flood the world,
Were its mountains ‘gainst me hurled
All the force they could employ
Wouldn’t a single grain destroy;
And if I, a thing so light,
Have a place within His sight;
You are linked unto his throne
Cannot live nor die alone.

In the everlasting arms
Mid life’s dangers and alarms
Let calm trust your spirit fill;
Know He’s God, and then be still.’
Trustingly I raised my head
Hearing what the atom said;
Knowing man is greater far
Than the brightest sun or star.