Robert Hayden

Here you will find the Poem Mourning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday of poet Robert Hayden

Mourning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday

Lord?s lost Him His mockingbird, 
His fancy warbler; 
Satan sweet-talked her, 
four bullets hushed her. 
Who would have thought 
she?d end that way? 


Four bullets hushed her. And the world a-clang with evil. 
Who?s going to make old hardened sinner men tremble now 
and the righteous rock? 
Oh who and oh who will sing Jesus down 
to help with struggling and doing without and being colored 
all through blue Monday? 
Till way next Sunday? 


All those angels 
in their cretonne clouds and finery 
the true believer saw 
when she rared back her head and sang, 
all those angels are surely weeping. 
Who would have thought 
she?d end that way? 


Four holes in her heart. The gold works wrecked. 
But she looks so natural in her big bronze coffin 
among the Broken Hearts and Gates-Ajar, 
it?s as if any moment she?d lift her head 
from its pillow of chill gardenias 
and turn this quiet into shouting Sunday 
and make folks forget what she did on Monday. 


Oh, Satan sweet-talked her, 
and four bullets hushed her. 
Lord?s lost Him His diva, 
His fancy warbler?s gone. 
Who would have thought, 
who would have thought she?d end that way?