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

The Wild Goat by Claude McKay

O you would clothe me in silken frocks
     And house me from the cold,
And bind with bright bands my glossy locks,
     And buy me chains of gold;

And give me—meekly  to  do  my  will—
     The hapless sons of men:—
But the wild goat bounding on the barren hill
     Droops in the grassy pen.

​(Edited and Proofread by Brenda Martinez)