On the recordJanuary 1, 1903
The ten master songs I have mentioned tell in word and music of trouble and exile, of strife and hiding; they grope toward some unseen power and sigh for rest in the End.
Said by
W.E.B. Du Bois
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gutenberg.orgThe ten master songs I have mentioned tell in word and music of trouble and exile, of strife and hiding; they grope toward some unseen power and sigh for rest in the End.
Du Bois describes the overarching themes and emotional depth found within the spirituals he identifies as "master songs."
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More from W.E.B. Du Bois
Our song, our toil, our cheer, and warning have been given to this nation in blood-brotherhood.
But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins.
Such an assumption is the arrogance of peoples irreverent toward Time and ignorant of the deeds of men.
Hear my cry, O God the Reader; vouchsafe that this my book fall not still-born into the world wilderness.