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| Millionaire Alelia Walker (above) established an exhibit of writings, musicals, and artists and often entertained famous Harlem figures such as Countee Cullen (who suggested that this room be called "The Dark Tower"). Her parties influenced many writers, artists, and musicians to follow their dreams. |
From the Dark Tower We shall not always plant while others reap The golden increment of bursting fruit, Not always countenance, abject and mute, That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; Not everlastingly while others sleep Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute, Not always bend to some more subtle brute; We were not made eternally to weep. The night whose sable breast relieves the stark White stars is no less lovely being dark, And there are buds that cannot bloom at all In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall. So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds, And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds. |