James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922.

Oriflamme

I THINK I see her sitting bowed and black,

Stricken and seared with slavery’s mortal scars,

Reft of her children, lonely, anguished, yet

Still looking at the stars.

Symbolic mother, we thy myriad sons,

Pounding our stubborn hearts on Freedom’s bars,

Clutching our birthright, fight with faces set,

Still visioning the stars!