Poem-a-Day - "Joy" by Clarissa Scott Delaney

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February 6, 2022 

Joy

Clarissa Scott Delaney

Joy shakes me like the wind that lifts a sail,
Like the roistering wind
That laughs through stalwart pines.
It floods me like the sun
On rain-drenched trees
That flash with silver and green.

I abandon myself to joy—
I laugh—I sing.
Too long have I walked a desolate way,
Too long stumbled down a maze
Bewildered.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on February 6, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“Joy” appeared in Opportunity IV, no. 26 (October 1926).

Clarissa Scott Delaney was a poet, essaysist, and social worker associated with the Harlem Renaissance movement. She died in 1927.

Opportunity
(October, 1926)

“On Joy and Sorrow” by Kahlil Gibran
read more
“Harlem Wine” by Countee Cullen
read more

Thanks to John Murillo, author of Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry (Four Way Books, 2020), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Listen to a Q&A about Murillo’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year.
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