"Ode to Ethiopia" is a poem by
Paul Laurence Dunbar, a noted
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
who achieved a national reputation in the United States before the end of the nineteenth century, published in his 1893 book ''Oak and Ivy''.
Summary
Dunbar presents ideas of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
as a mother, shows a pride in the
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
people, and encourages hope as well as racial pride. His poem emphasizes a belief in a brighter future ahead for the people of Ethiopia which is based on their own honor and hard labour.
Afro American Symphony
Part of this poem was used as a prologue to the fourth movement of
William Grant Still
William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, plus art songs, chamber music and works fo ...
's
Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American":
:Be proud, my race, in mind and soul;
:Thy name is writ on Glory's scroll
:In characters of fire.
:High 'mid the clouds of Fame's bright sky
:Thy banner's blazoned folds now fly,
:And truth shall lift them higher.
See also
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African American literature
African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. It begins with the works of such late 18th-century writers as Phillis Wheatley. Before the high point of slave narratives, African-A ...
References
External links
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1890s poems
1896 poems
Works by Paul Laurence Dunbar
African-American poetry
American poems
Works about Ethiopia
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