James Weldon Johnson (Джеймс Уэлдон Джонсон)
* * *
(On the Anniversary of Lincoln's Birth) Father, Father Abraham, To-day look on us from above; On us, the offspring of thy faith, The children of thy Christ-like love. For that which we have humbly wrought, Give us to-day thy kindly smile; Wherein we've failed or fallen short, Bear with us, Father, yet awhile. Father, Father Abraham, To-day we lift our hearts to thee, Filled with the thought of what great price Was paid, that we might ransomed be. To-day we consecrate ourselves Anew in hand and heart and brain, To send this judgment down the years: The ransom was not paid in vain.
James Weldon Johnson’s other poems: