Copper Sun (Cullen)/Millennial

by Countee Cullen

Millennial

(To John Haynes Holmes)

ONCE in a thousand years a call may ringDivested so of every cumbering lie,A man espousing it may fight and sing,And count it but a little thing to die;Once in a thousand years a star may come,Six-pointed, tipped with such an astral flow,Its singing sisters must bow hushed in dumb,Half-mutinous, yet half-adoring show.

Once in as many years a man may riseSo cosmopolitan of thought and speech,Humanity reflected in his eyes,His heart a haven every race can reach,That doubters shall receive a mortal thrust,And own, “This man proves flesh exalts its dust.”