African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

Countee Cullen, "A Brown Girl Dead" (1925)

With two white roses on her breasts,
   White candles at head and feet,
Dark Madonna of the grave she rests;
   Lord Death has found her sweet.

Her mother pawned her wedding ring
   To lay her out in white;
She'd be so proud she'd dance and sing
   To see herself tonight.


Published in Survey Graphic, March 1925
Also published in Color, 1925
Also published in The New Negro: an Interpretation, 1925

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  1. Countee Cullen, "Color" (full text) (1925) Amardeep Singh

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  1. Black Beauty: "Brown Skin" Aesthetics" Amardeep Singh