“The currents of song came from every source from which the national character was forming; all, more or less, striving to present a unified consciousness of native art.”

Presenting poetry as an expression of many cultural currents within a nation · Introduction, Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1924

• Culture
• Identity
• Poetry

“Negro poetic expression hovers for the moment, pardonably perhaps, over the race problem, but its highest allegiance is to Poetry—it must soar.”

Arguing that poetry can arise from social struggle while aspiring beyond immediate circumstance · Essay, The Negro in American Literature

• Freedom
• Poetry
• Struggle

“Our poetry needs, more than anything else, encouragement and support, to reveal its qualities.”

Arguing that poetry flourishes when readers actively value and sustain it · Introduction, Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1913

• Community
• Poetry
• Support