I hereby swear that to uphold your house I would lay my bones in quick destroying lime Or turn my flesh to timber for all time; Cut down my womanhood; lop off the boughs Of that perpetual ecstasy that grows From the heart's core; condemn it as a crime If it be broader than a beam, or climb Above the stature that your roof allows. I am not the hearthstone nor the cornerstone Within this noble fabric you have builded; Not by my beauty was its cornice gilded; Not on my courage were its arches thrown: My lord, adjudge my strength, and set me where I bear a little more than I can bear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 5. THE DANCING GIRL by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON GHOSTS OF THE OLD YEAR by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE MARRIAGE (1) by TIMOTHY LIU NIGHT AND DAY: 4 by ISAAC ROSENBERG MEMOIR OF A PROUD BOY by CARL SANDBURG |