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Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day —
I softly sing.
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow's somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
And sing, and sing.
I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
And I can sing.
This poem is in the public domain.
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James Weldon Johnson (1871 - 1938) was an attorney, author, diplomat, editor, journalist, poet, professor, and songwriter. Born in Jacksonville, Florida to Bahahamian immigrants, he became a civil rights activist, was a pioneering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, served as a consul to Venezuela and Nicaragua under President Roosevelt, and served as secretary of the NAACP for ten years. James was well known for his poetry, which championed social justice and celebrated Black culture and traditions through his powerful dialect and imagery. But he also made significant contributions to Broadway theater in the early 1900s, writing lyrics for music composed by his younger brother, Rosamond. The Johnson Brothers, as they were known, created some 200 songs, most notably "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
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