“God pity us indeed, for we are human, And do not always see, The vision when it comes, the shining change, Or, if we see it, do not follow it, Because it is too hard, too strange, too new, Too unbelievable, too difficult, Warring too much with common, easy ways, And now I know this, standing in this light, Who have been half alive these many years, Brooding on my own sorrow, my own pain, Saying "I am a barren bough. Expect, Nor fruit nor blossom from a barren bough."” IfsKnowsWayYearsHumansHas BeensHardLightPainEasyDifficultMy OwnCommonHalfVisionToo MuchAliveStrangeSorrowStandingShiningFruitPityUnbelievableBarrenEasy WayBrooding Author:Stephen Vincent Benet
“I am a thing not new, I am as old As human nature. I am that which lurks, Ready to spring whenever a bar is loosed; The ancient trait which fights incessantly Against restraint, balks at the upward climb; The weight forever seeking to obey The law of downward pull; and I am more: The bitter fruit am I of planted seed; The resultant, the inevitable end Of evil forces and the powers of wrong.” HumansEndsLawFightingEvilForceForeverHuman NatureReadySpringWeightFruitAncientSeekingSeedsBarsBitterInevitableClimbsTraitsRestraintIncessantly Author:James Weldon Johnson