Frank B. Coffin, "Only" (1897)
Only Afric's jungles
Satisfied his mind,
While the happy Negro
On his couch reclined.
Only a human trading ship
Coasting along the shore,
The Negro knew not whither
Still he had to go.
Only a "Star Spangled banner,"
The Negro saw it wave,
But he saw not "land of free"
Neither "home of brave."
Only slavery's hardships
The Negro bore for years,
On through the wilderness
With headaches and tears.
Only John Brown's body
Is moulding in the clay,
Yet his soul is marching,
Showing us the way.
Only Bull Run's battle,
Up sprang General Grant,
Four long years of bloodshed,
Freedom was the chant.
Only Abraham Lincoln
Gave the mighty stroke,
And four million Negroes
Lost the slavish yoke.
Only an education,
That is what he wants,
And to be a citizen
But they say he can't.
Only abiding by the law
Of our God and man,
And on all public questions
For the right, he tries to stand.
Only to suit the appetites
Of other wicked men,
Our race is mobb'd and lynch'd
Isn't that a sin?
Only proud America
Detests human strife,
Still has not courage to
Protect human life.
Only that coming day,
'Pointed hour make haste,
She must stand 'fore her God,
Past that solemn test.
Published in Coffin's Poems, with Ajax' Ordeals (1897)