MY dark-browed daughter of the Sun, Dear Bedouin of the desert sands, Sad daughter of the ravished lands, Of savage Sinai, Babylon— O, Egypt-eyed, thou art to me A God-encompassed mystery. I see sad Hagar in thy eyes, The obelisks, the pyramids, Lie hid beneath thy drooping lids, The tawny Nile of Moses lies Portrayed in thy strange people's force, And solemn mystery of source. The black abundance of thy hair Falls like some sad twilight of June Above the dying afternoon, And mourns thy people's mute despair. The large solemnity of night, O Israel, is in thy sight. Then come where stars of freedom spill Their splendor, Jewess. In this land, The same broad hollow of God's hand That held you ever, outholds still. And whether you be right or nay, 'Tis God's, not Russia's, here to say. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET (ON AN OLD BOOK WITH UNCUT LEAVES) by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE COTTON BOLL by HENRY TIMROD THIS I REMEMBER by ELISABETH CHANNING ALLEN ABER STATIONS: STATIO PRIMA by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN SONNET, TO THE AUTHOR OFR 'THE REVOLT OF ISLAM' by JOHN CHALK CLARIS GENESIS 24 by ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH |