From the Dark Tower

"From the Dark Tower" is the eighth and final song in Dorothy Rudd Moore's song cycle From the Dark Tower for mezzo-soprano, cello and piano.

Date: 1972Composer: Dorothy Rudd MooreText: Countee CullenSong Collection: From the Dark Tower

Print vitals & song text

Audio

Track:

    Text

    From the Dark Tower

    We shall not always plant while others reap
    The golden increment of bursting fruit,
    Not always countenance, abject and mute,
    That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;
    Not everlastingly while others sleep
    Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
    Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
    We were not made to eternally weep.
    The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,
    White stars is no less lovely being dark,
    And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
    In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;
    So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
    And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.

    Videos

    Support us and help us grow

    Dear friends, Thank you for helping us build a comprehensive online archive of American song. Your gift is greatly appreciated.