Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen, born as Coleman Rutherford, was an African American poet, author and scholar who was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. He pronounced his name "Coun-tay", not "Coun-tee"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth30 May 1903
CityLexington, KY
CountryUnited States of America
atmosphere conservative methodists
I was reared in the conservative atmosphere of a Methodist parsonage.
hard-work secret break
There is no secret to success except hard work and getting something indefinable which we call 'the breaks.
hurt add action
The truth is... everything counts. Everything. Everything we do and everything we say. Everything helps or hurts; everything adds to or takes away from someone else.
love
Your love to me was like an unread book.
agonizing hide tend
So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds, And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
giving music within
My poetry, I think, has become the way of my giving out what music is within me.
pride night blood
All day long and all night through, One thing only must I do: Quench my pride and cool my blood, Lest I perish in the flood.