William Stanley Braithwaite, "Messengers of Dreams" (1907)
The messengers of dreams that run
Above the tree-tops in the sun.
Whether of great or little worth
They carry the heart's desires forth
East and west and south and north.
I know the night will close them in—-
And they will meet the tempest's din—-
Ere they come to that far-off inn.
The inn that stands on the bourne ofhope,
Where Fear and Delight together cope
For victory on a little slope.
My heart can tell them, every one,
The returning messengers that run
Above the tree tops-in the sun.
Published in The Voice of the Negro, July 1907