Idle Moments : :: :: University of Virginia Library

Our speakers tell of progress,
And laud us to the skies,
Until we're so inflated
We can not hope to rise;
Unless some moral cyclone,
Shall tear the structure down,
And show the negro as he is,
And then ignore his frown.
For the truth must now be told,
And we all need speak it bold,
We must reconstruct our building,
Or twill find us in the cold.

Gross errors must be righted,
We should at once begin;
Tell Jacob of transgressions,
And Israel of her sins;
No more should songs of siren
Sweetly lull our souls to ease;
And peace proclaimed in Zion
When really there's no peace.
For the truth from earth must rise,
Justice, sleeping, ope her eyes,
We must know our true condition
And the remedy apply.

We boast of education,
But the masses still plod on,
In grossest superstition,
And for bread prefer a stone;
And some more highly favored,
Make their learning but a snare;
And are yet so mean and wretched,
That the stoutest hearts despair,
Some stand aloof to-day,
From those less learned than they,
And cannot see their brothers,
Still struggling on the way.

Bitter spite and petty jealousies
Exist on every hand;
Each Negro hates the other
And will injure all he can
The Negro who attempts to rise
Above the common mass:
He knows “he is dishonest,”
That “his progress can not last,
If a Negroe's word must go,
Lord bless us here below,
For we all are thieves and cut throats,
For we call each other so.

If you get a piece of property,
You're a rogue of deepest die:
If you remain in poverty,
You are sinning on the sly,
But if teacher or if preacher,
Good Lord, in mercy bless!
For you can not please creation,
Though you do your level best,

Our prayer book should be thus,
As we bow our heads in dust,
“From long-tongued, slanderous Negroes,
Good Lord, deliver us.”

We recognize no leaders,
For we all are in the lead,
Oft religion is a mockery,
Notwithstanding church and creed;
We will not help each other
On the hustings or the mart,
And we feel each one a brother,
And help him bear his part:
Remembering as we go,
To bear a brother's woe,
And help him in the race of life,
While in this vale below.

Our foes are all united,
We, divided, can but fall,
And yet I fear we are our own
Worst enemies for all;
With solid front for God and right,
No foe can e'er avail,
For “Right is Right as God is God”
And justice must prevail;
Let our hearts be for the right,
Let our purposes unite;
We need not fear the fiercest darts,
For we must win the fight.

See the errors to be righted,
Lord! nerve us for the task!
Though dark the night, the dawning
Must come when night is past;

By sword, by pen we labor,
Trusting Him, whose love doth bend
Like the blessed bow of promise,
To lead us to the end.
We have men both good and true,
Noble men who dare and do,
Fight on till death, my brother,
Its summons sends for you.