A New Kind of Literary Pulse

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Classics 19th Century 20th Century African American Literature  1 min

I Cannot Sing

Edward Nathaniel Harleston

Edward Nathaniel Harleston

Born and raised in Charleston, Carolina, E. N. Harleston worked many jobs before self-publishing his first poems. After gaining some popularity in the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the first Black-run newspapers in the United States, he published his sole volume of poetry, The Toiler’s Life, in 1907.

I cannot sing, because when a child, My mother often hushed me. The others she allowed to sing, No matter what their melody. And since I've grown to manhood All music I applaud, But have no voice for singing, So I write my songs to God. I have ears and know the measures, And I'll write a song for you, But the world must do the singing Of my sonnets old and new. Now tell me, world of music, Why I cannot sing one song? Is it because my mother hushed me And laughed when I was wrong? Although I can write music, And tell when harmony