Gwendolyn Brooks

Gwendolyn Brooks

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an African-American poet. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 and was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985.

Read more about Gwendolyn Brooks:  Biography, Career, Excerpt, Honors and Legacy, Bibliography

Famous quotes by gwendolyn brooks:

    But who walks with Him? dares to take His arm,
    To slap Him on the shoulder, tweak His ear,
    Buy Him a Coca-Cola or a beer,
    Pooh-pooh His politics, call Him a fool?
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)

    And a man of tan engages
    For the springtime of her pride,
    Eats the green by easy stages,
    Nibbles at the root beneath
    With intimidating teeth.
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)

    Had she been worth the blood, the cramped cries, the little stuttering bravado,
    The gradual dulling of those Negro eyes,
    The sudden, overwhelming little-boyness in that barn?
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)

    They had supposed their formula was fixed.
    They had obeyed instructions to devise
    A type of cold, a type of hooded gaze.
    But when the Negroes came they were perplexed.
    These Negroes looked like men....
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)

    And still we wear our uniforms, follow
    The cracked cry of the bugles, comb and brush
    Our pride and prejudice, doctor the sallow
    Initial ardor, wish to keep it fresh.
    Still we applaud the President’s voice and face.
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)