William Stanley Braithwaite, "Malaguena" (1907)
Malaguéna, Malaguéna
Though your eyes have never burned me,
Nor your lips have spake, and turned me
In a whirl of mad delight.
But the many stars that whisper
In the night,
And the vagrant winds that lisper
Through the day
In the music of my dreams have learned to play
Malaguéna, Malaguéna--
All things name you, Malaguéna,
Malaguena, Malaguéna
Birds that sing in rangeless rapture,
And the glory that we capture
From the coronated rose:
All the passion in the ocean's
Ebbs and flows;
Ah, they fill me with emotions
Hot as flame
When I seek you in the shadow of a name,
Malaguéna, Malaguéna!
When I meet you, Malaguéna,
Malaguéna, Malaguéna
Shall we stop and gaze in wonder?
Nav, like winds that meet in thunder
We will close in tight embrace,
And my kisses flash like lightning
On your face;
Then our souls will feel the tightning
Each to each,
Till remoulded into one they break in speech,
Malaguéna, Malaguéna!
Published in The Voice of the Negro, March 1907