2017

For a Poet

Composed by Jacqueline Hairston

Cullen’s Trilogy Song Collection

"For a Poet" is a song from the cycle "Cullen's Triology" by Jacqueline Hairston on poetry by Countee Cullen

Audio

“For a Poet” (from “Cullen’s Trilogy”)
Phillip Harris, baritone; Amelia Hammond, piano2:19

Jacqueline Hairston

Composer

Countee Cullen

Poet(s)/Writer(s)

2022

Date

University of California, Irvine, Winifred Smith Hall

Location

This recording was part of a 10am concert ("In Memorium – Dorothy Rudd Moore 1940–2022") on Saturday, October 15, 2022 during the 25th Anniversary African American Art Song Alliance Conference. The concert venue was Winifred Smith Hall at the University of California, Irvine.

Text

For a Poet by Countee Cullen

I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth,
And laid them away in a box of gold;
Where long will cling the lips of the moth,
I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth;
I hide no hate; I am not even wroth
Who found earth’s breath so keen and cold;
I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth,
And laid them away in a box of gold.