Georgia Douglas Johnson, "Afterglow" (1920)
Knew rapture and despair;
I vaunted o'er the plains of earth
And scaled each shining stair.
Drank deep the waters of content
And drained the cup of gall,
Was regal and was impotent,
Was suzerain and thrall:
Now by reflection's placid pool,
At evening's tranquil hour,
I smile across the backward way
And pledge anew, my vow:
For every glancing, golden gleam,
I offer, gladly, Pain;
And i would give a thousand worlds,
To live it all again.
First publishedi n The Crisis, March 1920