April Is National Poetry Month!  

 THE LOVE AMIE

(Dedicated to Mrs. Amy Jacques Garvey)

MARCUS GARVEY

I wandered far in life's stern way
To seek the good of every day;
But fell among the thieves of Thane,
Who tried to rob my honest name.

I found no brotherhood in man;
But here and there a vicious clan;
No truth, no love, no justice find
Their way into these groups unkind.

But you have been a light to me,
A fond and dear, and true Amie;
So what care I for falsest friend,
When on your love I can depend.

To steal one's wealth is always trash,
O'er which some men are ne'er abash;
But then to steal and blot a name,
It takes the courage of a Thane,

But all they do is only nought,
Because the battle has been fought,
And I have won your love, Amie,
The greatest treasure I can see.

October 31 1927 

April Is National Poetry Month!   

 MUSIC IN MY SOUL

MARCUS GARVEY 

There's music in my soul today,
A joy of heart not there before:
This state of conscience I relay
To rich and proud and meek and poor.

There's music in my happy Soul:
From Heaven's realm doth truly flow
This music in my happy Soul,
My conscience tells me rightly so.

My song of joy I sing to you:
Let peace and love forever be
Among ye men of every hue,
Of every land and charted sea.

I crave no other fortune great,
But joy to live in peace with God;
My hopes are fixed on His Estate,
In faith so true as prophets had.

This music in my soul today
I spread in truth with love unfurled;
On waves of cheer it goes, I pray,
To reach around the belted world.

August 23, 1927  

April Is National Poetry Month! 

  OUR DAY!

MARCUS GARVEY 

The Bread of life is gift of God to man,
The blood of Christ is solace grand:
To eat the food of Love Divine,
Brings hope that leads to glory's land.

The glorious Sacrament of Christ
Is tonic to the soul each day:
A ransom in the Blood of love,
Is gain for those who humbly pray.

As sons of Ham we eat the Bread,
And drink the Holy Christian Blood:
Our hope is in the Grace of God,
For sufferings thus understood.

Our day will come with showers true,
For God on evil things will frown:
Almighty love is all we claim,
Though man destroys and keeps us down.

1934  

April Is National Poetry Month!   

THE BRAVEST SOUL

MARCUS GARVEY

The toil of life is never ending;
It passes from one stage to others;
We live beneath its sombre bending,
And ape the customs of our fathers.

We glory in its radiant joys,
And smile with the everlasting sun;
This eternal change that man employs,
Has been so from Adam's day begun.

The bravest soul truly conquers all,
In seeing God in our fellow man,
This planet is just a spinning ball
Of God's wondrous spiritual plan.

In this life we may know no better;
But in death we pass to Spirit Land,
Where the Soul is free from all fetter,
To join God in His creative hand.

August 22, 1927  

April Is National Poetry Month!   

 

WHAT WE SEE

MARCUS GARVEY

To look into the world of sin,
And see men shine like burning gold,
To ask myself from right within,
Can I be just the same-as bold?
And out the answer comes to me:
"The same that governs them, does you."
its just the way you look, you see-
But of all things, be good and true.

1937

 April Is National Poetry Month!  

THE MYSTERY 

MARCUS GARVEY

All life is mystery to man
Who speculates the cause,
His final clue is God alone
Who made and holds the laws.
From Africa to Ancient Greece
The light of knowledge flew,
But up to now the truths revealed
Go back to what man knew.

There is a God above all things
His wisdom is complete,
As ages come and ages go
To leave us at His feet.
Eternity will ever be
The gauge of finite man,
For life to him is just a song
In passing with the clan.

We come to live, then go again,
And still some more are we,
As Nature blends in every form
Beyond the land and sea.
We're ever looking on before
To see life's moving train,
And as we go we leave behind
The same old human pain.

1935

 April Is National Poetry Month!

UNTITLED

MARCUS GARVEY

If I were you, I would
Search myself
To find out if there is any
Good in me.

1934  

April Is National Poetry Month! 

 FIND YOURSELF

MARCUS GARVEY 

All men have troubles of their own,
And burdens great to bear each day,
So keep your tales of woe, and frown
At all the ills that come your way:
You need not harbor sorry pain,
And make the world a living hell;
For there is naught in this to gain;
The wisdom of the age will tell.

The other fellow does not care
A bit, what ails and worries you;
In life he has to pay his fare
In living right as you should do:
He bears his burdens like a man,
And smiles with every wind;
There is a reason why he can
Thus master right his soul and mind.

To conscience go in quiet mood.
And find yourself each morn anew;
Feed thou upon the psychic food
That makes the gods in mortal hue:
This is the way that men are great-
All those who smile with Nature's laws-
So then, why brood and curse your fate?
Brace up and strike against your flaws!

October 26, 1927  

April Is National Poetry Month!   

HAVE FAITH IN SELF

MARCUS GARVEY 

I made myself in life anew,
By going to that royal fount of truth,
And searching for the secret of the few
Whose goal in life and aim is joy forsooth.
I found at last the friend and counselor
That taught me all that I in life should know;
It is the soul, the sovereign chancellor,
The guide and keeper of the good you sow.

I am advised-"Go ye, have faith in self,
And seek once more the guide that lives in you"
Much better than the world of sordid pelf,
Alas! I found the counsel to be true.

Aha! I know right now that I shall see
The good in life, and be a better man;
I will by thought and deed pull all to me,
In saving others, yea, every one.

Go down and search yourself awhile in part,
And tell me all of what you see and hear;
Isn't there something pulling at your heart?
Tell me the truth and have ye then no fear!
There is a voice that speaks to man, within,
It is the Soul that longs for you to know
There is no need for you to grope in sin,
For you in truth and light may ever grow.

October 27, 1927  

April Is National Poetry Month!   

THE START

MARCUS GARVEY

Today I start my life for good;
I am determined now to find
The value of my real manhood;
And not to travel as if blind.
am yet young in age and hope;
I shall so think and do aright,
Things human, and, all in my scope,
To make of life a shining light.
There shall be no mistake in plan,
For time does not permit to lose,
And win again, the race of man;
Hence, now I start, and rightly choose.
I shall not travel wild to find
That I have fallen almost flat,
Then rise to weep and leave behind
That I a coward was for that.
So find yourself in early age,
To know what you shall be in life;
Then go and write on hist'ry's page
The victories of your daily strife;
For every man is battling you,
To cross the plain, with haste to win-
And hoist the flag in colors blue-
Then show the world where he has been.

October 31, 1927  

 April Is National Poetry Month!

THE HYMN OF GLORY

MARCUS GARVEY

1. We sing to Him triumphant,
The God who reigns o'er men,
We tell of crimes defiant,
Against commandments ten.

2 Our race's travail of the night,
Has left us struggling on,
In God Almighty's twilight,
Another hope is born.

3. All men have kicked and slain us,
Across the narrow way,
From Egypt to Damascus,
Each one has had his day.

4. But now the tide is turning,
Confusions of the world,
And Christ our Lord is coming,
Our banners to unfurl.

5. As Egypt gave Him freedom,
By Angel's bidding, once,
We hope to gain the Kingdom,
While angels sing and dance.

6. We chant the hymn of glory,
And look to God above,
Our heads, though dark and hoary,
Shall claim the Saviour's love.

1934

April Is National Poetry Month! 

 THE BATTLE HYMN OF AFRICA

MARCUS GARVEY

Africa's sun is shining above the horizon clear,
The day for us is rising, for black men far and near;
Our God is in the front line, the heav'nly batallion leads,
Onward, make your banners shine, ye men of noble deeds.

There's a flag we love so well-
The red, the black and green,
Greatest emblem tongues can tell,
The brightest ever seen.

When pandemonium breaks, the earth will tremble fast,
Nor oceans, seas nor lakes shall save the first or last;
Our suffering has been long, our cries to God ascending;
We have counted ev'ry wrong which calls for an amending.

So into battle let us go, with the Cross before;
The Angels, great, from high to low, watch forevermore;
We see the enemy scatter, and watch their ranks divide-
With God there is no fetter for whom He doth provide.

All God's children, in trouble, or burdened down with care,
No matter where, how humble, His love is ever there;
So cheerful let our courage be and rally for the King,
The Saviour, Christ, the Lord, is He, whom angels tidings bring.

Ho, Africa, victorious! See, the foe goes down!
The Christ and Simon lead us to wear the triumphant crown;
Jesus remembers dearly the sacrifice with the cross,
So raise those banners gladly-never to suffer loss!

And so the war is ending, the victor's palm is ours,
Crushed 'neath a sorry bending, like dead, fallen flowers
Thus lay the proud men of the day, all lost, forever,
Where the demons never say to God, "We'll deliver."

1927

April Is National Poetry Month! 

 

THE FIGHT IS ON

MARCUS GARVEY

1. The fight is on to-day,
The glory is at hand;
No more must we delay,
But join the marching band.

Chorus:
The field is ever open,
For those of courage great,
For Heav'n has sent its token,
So march to glorious fate.

2. The Prophets told us when
The time would come to speak,
And through the greatest men
God's help, in faith, to seek.

3. Throughout the live long day,
As battles we do fight,
The Cross of Christ display,
To keep Him all in sight.

4. In conflicts of the night,
The stars will lead us on,
So strike with all your might,
And raise the Pilgrim's song.

1934

April Is National Poetry Month! 

 A RALLYING SONG

MARCUS GARVEY

1. Oh glorious race of mighty men,

The homeland calls to you;
Our fathers wrought with faith divine,
So let us march in line. (Refrain)

2. If foe we meet across the way,
Our courage hold on high,
For Victory is near at hand,
So march ye with the band.
Refrain: Oh glorious race, Etc.

3. Old Africa is calling you,
So wave the banner high;
No foe shall win the glorious day,
Shout ye, and march and pray.
Refrain: Oh glorious race, Etc.

4. Our God is leading us away,
And land and seas divide,
For hosts are here in royal form,
March on and fear no storm.
Refrain: Oh glorious race, Etc.

5. New Africa beholds the sight,
The world will tremble then,
Good men of might will worship God
And bless the heaving sod.
Refrain: Oh glorious race, Etc.

6. Tell the people everywhere you go,
"The day is here again,"
The Ethiopian's God appears
To deal with all affairs.

1934  

April Is National Poetry Month! 

 

KEEP COOL (A SONG)

MARCUS GARVEY

Suns have set and suns will rise

Upon many gloomy lives;
Those who sit around and say:
"Nothing good comes down our way."
Some say: "What's the use to try,
Life is awful hard and dry."
If they'd bring such news to you,
This is what you ought to do.

Chorus
Let no trouble worry you;
Keep cool, keep cool!
Don't get hot like some folk do,
Keep cool, keep cool!
What's the use of prancing high
While the world goes smiling by.
You can win if you would try,
Keep cool, keep cool.

Throw your troubles far away,
Smile a little every day,
And the sun will start to shine,
Making life so true and fine.
Do not let a little care
Fill your life with grief and fear:
Just be calm, be brave and true,
Keep your head and you'll get through.

Chorus
Let no trouble worry you;
Keep cool, keep cool!
just be brave and ever true;
Keep cool, keep cool!
If they'd put you in a flame,
Though you should not bear the blame,
Do not start to raising cane,
Keep cool, keep cool.

 April Is National Poetry Month!

A RECITATIVE SONG! 

(For Julius Winston Garvey)

MARCUS GARVEY

1. I am a little soldier, fighting hard for life,

I came upop the scene of cruel human strife,
My father taught me to be always good and true,
And in the battle ever try to be a blue.

2. I've met so many hard and awful blows, you know,
But friends, I heard that "we shall reap just what we sow,"
So I shall e'er a Negro man of courage be,
And work with other noble men who'll toil with me.

3. I promise to engage in what is good and right,
And for the cause of race to make a manly fight;
The world shall be my cautious battle stage,
For I shall follow wisely footprints of old age.

4. The endless fight of men for right against the wrong,
Shall steel my youthful courage on and make me strong;
But I shall need God's help all seasons of the year,
To safely fight for you with heart that's void of fear.

5. The Negro's cause is now beset with many darts,
But we can win if we have true and loyal hearts;
Young though I be, I'll stand and march with you,
If you will serve and hold the line, like men-true blue.

1934

April Is National Poetry Month! 

 

THE BLACK MOTHER 

MARCUS GARVEY

Where can I find love that never changes

Smiles that are true and always just the same,
Caring not how the fierce tempest rages,
Willing ever to shield my honored name?

This I find at home, only with Mother,
Who cares for me with patient tenderness;
She from every human pain would rather
Save me, and drink the dregs of bitterness.

If on life's way I happen to flounder,
My true thoughts should be of Mother dear,
She is the rock that ne'er rifts asunder,
The cry of her child, be it far or near.

This is love wonderful beyond compare;
It is God's choicest gift to mortal man;
You, who know Mother, in this thought must share,
For, she, of all, is Angel of your Clan.

My Mother is black, loveliest of all;
Yes, she is as pure as the new made morn;
Her song of glee is a clear rythmic call
To these arms of love to which I was born.

I shall never forget you, sweet Mother,
Where'er in life I may happen to roam;
Thou shalt always be the Fairy Charmer
To turn my dearest thoughts to things at home.

1927

April Is National Poetry Month! 

BLACK WOMAN

MARCUS GARVEY

Black queen of beauty, thou hast given color to the world!
Among other women thou art royal and the fairest!
Like the brightest of jewels in the regal diadem,
Shin'st thou, Goddess of Africa, Nature's purest emblem!

Black men worship at thy virginal shrine of truest love,
Because in thine eyes are virtue's steady and holy mark,
As we see in no other, clothed in silk or fine linen,
From ancient Venus, the Goddess, to mythical Helen.

When Africa stood at the head of the elder nations,
The Gods used to travel from foreign lands to look at thee:
On couch of costly Eastern materials, all perfumed,
Reclined thee, as in thy path flow'rs were strewn-
sweetest that bloomed.

Thy transcendent marvelous beauty made the whole world mad,
Bringing Solomon to tears as he viewed thy comeliness;
Anthony and the elder Ceasars wept at thy royal feet,
Preferring death than to leave thy presence, their foes to meet.

You, in all ages, have attracted the adoring world,
And caused many a bloody banner to be unfurled:
You have sat upon exalted and lofty eminence,
To see a world fight in your ancient African defense.

Today you have been dethroned, through the weakness of your men,
While, in frenzy, those who of yore craved your smiles and your hand-
Those who were all monsters and could not with love approach you-
Have insulted your pride and now attack your good virtue.

Because of disunion you became mother of the world,
Giving tinge of robust color to five continents,
Making a greater world of millions of colored races,
Whose claim to beauty is reflected through our black faces.

From the handsome Indian to European brunette,
There is a claim for that credit of their sunny beauty
That no one can e'er to take from thee, 0 Queen of all
women

Who have borne trials and troubles and racial burden.
Once more we shall, in Africa, fight and conquer for you,
Restoring the pearly crown that proud Queen Sheba did wear:
Yea, it may mean blood, it may mean death; but still we shall fight,

Bearing our banners to Vict'ry, men of Afric's might.
Superior Angels look like you in Heaven above,
For thou art fairest, queen of the seasons, queen of our love:
No condition shall make us ever in life desert thee,
Sweet Goddess of the ever green land and placid blue sea.

February 28, 1927  

April Is National Poetry Month! 

YOUR DUTY TO-MORROW

MARCUS GARVEY

WITH GOD'S GRACE-
Look back and help for humanity's sake.
Measure your charity by the acts of others toward you
while you were climbing.

Forget not the past with all its good and ill reports.
Contemplate your future by the experiences you have had,
If you must strike to live, strike hard and sure.

1933  

April Is National Poetry Month! 

YOUR DUTY TO-DAY

MARCUS GARVEY

Believe in God
Lift yourself
Lift your family
Lift your clan
Lift your race
Lift your country
Lift your nation
And be
An imperial whole.

1933

April Is National Poetry Month!  

 

GET UP AND GO!

MARCUS GARVEY

Please clear the way and let me pass,
If you intend to give up here:
It seems a shame that you should yield
Your life without its fullest share.

You are a coward for your pains,
To come this way, and then blow out:
Real men are made of stuff to last,
Which they, themselves, would never doubt.

Get up! You broken bits of flesh!
Take courage and go fighting on;
For every black man there's a day,
Which pride in race has well begun.

1936  

April Is National Poetry Month!  

GET UP AND DO

MARCUS GARVEY

You sit and quarrel all your life,
And blame the moving world at large:
You fail to enter in the strife,
To sail in fortune's happy barge.

Get up my man and do the "stuff"
That leads to blazing glory's fame:
Hold on, and be like good Macduff,
And damn the man who'd foil your name.

1935

April Is National Poetry Month!  

GO AND WIN

MARCUS GARVEY

Ye Negroes of the world, another day has come,
To test your worth of racial character;
Your lives and homes, you see, are threatened everywhere;
The time is now for you to do and then to dare.

Your youth must struggle with the facts as they are seen,
And blaze the trail for home and life redeemed:
Your hope, I claim, is in the courage of the time,
So go ye forth and win the battle that's sublime.

1933

April Is National Poetry Month! 

THE WORLD IS HELL

MARCUS GARVEY

The World is Hell as man shows it;
The creatures are of steel;
To live is of superior wit,
To fail is thus to feel.

No smile is genuine my friend,
Its all a pleasing lie;
Be ever ready to defend
Or shape your mind to die.

1934  

April Is National Poetry Month!  

WHITE AND BLACK

MARCUS GARVEY

The white man held the blacks as slaves,
And bled their souls in living death;
Bishops and priests, and kings themselves,
Preached that the law was right and just;
And so the people worked and died,
And crumbled into material dust.
Good God! The scheme is just the same
Today, between the black and white
Races of men, who gallop after fame.
Can'st Thou not change this bloody thing,
And make white people see the truth
That over blacks must be their king,
Not white, but of their sornber hue,
To rule a nation of themselves?

October 31, 1927  

April Is National Poetry Month!  

BLACK AND WHITE

MARCUS GARVEY

I'm black not white, which is no crime;
To have all things makes one so great:
If blacks did have, all whites would crave
More black to be for all that time.
The whites have ALL, in regal state,
And blacks do think them more sublime
But whites would think the blacks so brave
If they had greater wealth all time.

1934  

April Is National Poetry Month!  

GOING WRONG

MARCUS GARVEY

My God! the world is going wrong
Frail man has made a mess of things:
And now the Devil seems on top,
Confusing Presidents and Kings.

Oh come, good Lord, with grace divine,
And stem the tide of human sin,
For left alone we'll ruin make,
And close the gate to enter in.

There's hell on every hand today,
And man is raising cain all round:
There're curses, blasphemies, galore,
Stop them, 0 Lord, and check the bound.

The Devil smiles at his good work,
And men do dance with satisfaction:
But hell let loose is sin on sin:
Send Lord your benediction.

In solemn notes the Negro cries:
"We are getting hell on every side,"
Come, Lord, and clean the dens of men,
And make us with the good abide,

1934  

April Is National Poetry Month!  

 THE FALL OF SLAVERY

(For The Benefit of Haile Selassie and Benito Mussolini)

MARCUS GARVEY

The man who holds a slave and laughs at ease

Is devil with a heart of hardest stone:
The man who also lives with pride to tease
Humanity should oft be left alone.
All men should have the freedom of all rights,
For nature made no sovereign but the soul,
And all should look toward the glorious heights,
To seek the sweet enjoyment of the whole.

When selfish creature, void of love for man,
Inflicts his will upon the helpless weak,
All else should spurn him, as they can,
To force him from the sovereign evil peak.
The thoughtful man who loves his brothers well,
Is king to keep upon an earthly throne;
But slavers all should go right down to Hell,
To sleep upon the stabs of burning stone.

The precious life of man demands a will
To fight to hold the trust of his defence,
Though tyrants would all manly freedom kill,
True knights of love should guard the human fence.
Let's set the human standard high for all,
And see that pompous kings and lords obey,
And when they fail through sin, proclaim their fall,
And hasten in for all the freedman's day.

1937  

April Is National Poetry Month!  

AFRICA FOR THE AFRICANS

MARCUS GARVEY

Say! Africa for the Africans,
Like America for the Americans:
This the rallying cry for a nation,
Be it in peace or revolution.

Blacks are men, no longer cringing fools;
They demand a place, not like weak tools;
But among the world of nations great
They demand a free self-governing state.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Great Africa wakes;
She is calling her sons, and none forsakes,
But to colors of the nation runs,
Even though assailed by enemy guns.

Cry it loud, and shout it Ion' hurrah!
Time has changed, so hail! New Africa!
We are now awakened, rights to see:
We shall fight for dearest liberty.

Mighty kingdoms have been truly reared
On the bones of blackmen, facts declared;
History tells this awful, pungent truth,
Africa awakes to her rights forsooth.

Europe cries to Europeans, ho!
Asiatics claim Asia, so
Australia for Australians,
And Africa for the Africans.

Blackmen's hands have joined now together,
They will fight and brave all death's weather,
Motherland to save, and make her free,
Spreading joy for all to live and see.

None shall turn us back, in freedom's name,
We go marching like to men of fame
Who have given laws and codes to kings,
Sending evil flying on crippled wings.

Blackmen shall in groups reassemble,
Rich and poor and the great and humble:
Justice shall be their rallying cry,
When millions of soldiers pass us by.

Look for that day, coming, surely soon,
When the sons of Ham will show no coon
Could the mighty deeds of valor do
Which shall bring giants for peace to sue.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Better times are near;
Let us front the conflict and prepare;
Greet the world as soldiers, bravely true:
"Sunder not," Africa shouts to you.

1927 

April Is National Poetry Month! 

HAIL! UNITED STATES OF AFRICA!

MARCUS GARVEY

Hail! United States of Africa-free!
Hail! Motherland most bright, divinely fair!
State in perfect sisterhood united,
Born of truth; mighty thou shalt ever be.

Hail! Sweet land of our father's noble kin!
Let joy within thy bounds be ever known;
Friend of the wandering poor, and helpless, thou,
Light to all, such as freedom's reigns within.

From Liberia's peaceful western coast
To the foaming Cape at the southern end,
There's but one law and sentiment sublime,
One flag, and its emblem of which we boast.

The Nigeria’s are all united now,
Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast, too.
Gambia, Senegal, not divided,
But in one union happily bow.

The treason of the centuries is dead,
All alien whites are forever gone;
The glad home of Sheba is once more free,
As o'er the world the black n-tan raised his head.

Bechuanaland, a State with Kenya,
Members of the Federal Union grand,
Send their greetings to sister Zanzibar,
And so does laughing Tanganyika.

Over in Grand Mother Mozambique,
The pretty Union Flag floats in the air,
She is sister to good Somaliland,
Smiling with the children of Dahomey.

Three lusty cheers for old Basutoland,
Timbuctoo, Tunis and Algeria,
Uganda, Kamerun, all together
Are in the Union with Nyasaland.

We waited long for fiery Morocco,
Now with Guinea and Togo she has come,
All free and equal in the sisterhood,
Like Swazi, Zululand and the Congo.

There is no state left out of the Union-
The East, West, North, South, including Central,
Are in the nation, strong forever,
Over blacks in glorious dominion.

Hail! United States of Africa-free!
Country of the brave black man's liberty;
State of greater nationhood thou hast won,
A new life for the race is just begun.

1927 

Wave your RED, BLACK, and GREEN

Welcome to the 8th Annual April Is National Poetry Month Celebration!

This year we honor a Black Nationalist, Pan-Africanist. The imbuer of “Black Is Beautiful. Black Pride.” Founder of the United Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.) with over 600,000,000 members strong and over 1100 chapters worldwide, which included The African Legion and The Black Cross Nurse Auxiliary. The founder of the historic Black Star Line and African Communities League of the world. The People’s Political Party. Co-founder of The African Orthodox Church (AOC).

The founder of The Negro Factories Corporation (NFC). That fostered other U.N.I.A. business enterprises, including The Universal Steam Laundry, a doll factory, and a chain of grocery stores. The Universal restaurants. Tailor shops, dressmaking shops, and millinery stores. He owned several properties, including the Phyllis Wheatley Hotel and a fleet of trucks. Employed over 1,000 Negros.

A Writer, publisher, and editor. The founder of the “Black World” magazine. A poet.

We will be forever impacted by his contributions and commitment to the Negro race.

For the next 30 days. We will pay homage.

Called a rabble-rouser, heretic, Negro agitator. The most dangerous enemy of the Negro race.

Set-up on politically motivated trumped-up charges given a posthumous pardon.

Without further ado, I present the Black people’s redeemer.

Welcome to the year of 

BLACK MOSES