Silas X. Floyd, "Not By Bread Alone" (1909)
Man goeth apace in a mad wild race, and lays down his life for Things!
If we search far and wide, on every side, the end kept in view is the same:
Man counts for naught where the battles are fought, and Things in the end of the game.
For butter and bread, with hurrying tread, man goeth forth to the fray:
And when more and more his larder runs o'er, he thinks he has won the day.
Man bold that their strength throughout the world's length is houses and money and landa s for their souls,
And so for their souls, from equator to poles, they lift not the weight of their hands.
Though Giver of All, who markest the fall of the sparrows that downward come.
Who [illegible] our way by night and by day, of truth and of goodness the sum
Grant we may learn man's greed to spurn and know thine age-old plan
That Things is not the end of man's lot, but the end of Things is man.
Grant we [illegible] onward we go, and [illegible] sun flies fast from the [illegible]
That we should be spurred by every word which proceedeth out of Thy mouth.
Not alone for the sake of bread and of cake, grant that Thy children may strive.
But oh! [illegible] the song of the lark all day long, may our souls be keenly alive!
Published in Colored American Magazine, September 1909