African American Poetry (1870-1928): A Digital Anthology

Gwendolyn Bennett, "Dirge" (1926)

Bury the love you bore for me
Deep beneath your laughing songs.
Cover it well with melody;
Let it lie where its ghost belongs.

Laughter was what you had given me.
That and joyous songs to rue.
Cover your love with melody,
For so it thrived and grew.


Published in Palms, October 1926