For a Poet

(To John Gaston Edgar)

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                            [wroth = angry]

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.

Discussion questions:

1. What's Romantic (or not) about the poem?

2. What gothic or sublime elements are identifiable? What mood or tone do they build?

3. As the poem is written by an African American poet, what pressures to read the poem either separately from Romanticism or as part of it?