Now Calvary was loveliness: Lilies that flowered thereupon Pulled off the white moon’s pallid dress, And put the morning’s vesture on. “Why seek the living among the dead? He is not here,” the angel said. The early winds took up the words, And bore them to the lilting birds, The leafing trees, and everything That breathed the living breath of spring. THE LAST QUARTER MOON OF THE DYING YEAR The last quarter moon of the dying year, Pendant behind a naked cottonwood tree On a frosty, dawning morning With the back of her silver head Turned to the waking sun. Quiet like the waters Of Galilee After the Lord had bid them “Peace, be still.” O silent beauty, indescribable! Dead, do they say? Would God that I shall seem So beautiful in death. PAEAN Across the dewy lawn she treads Before the sun awakes While lush, green grasses bow their heads To kiss the tracks she makes. The violets, in clusters, stand And stare her beauty through, And seem so happy in her hand, They know not what to do. She must have come whence zephyrs blow, From sprites’ or angels’ lands; Her heart is meet for God to know-- Oh, heaven is where she stands! GLADYS MAY CASELY HAYFORD “I was born at Axim on the African Gold Coast in 1904 on the 11th of May to singularly cultured and intellectual parents, my mother being one of the daughters of Judge Smith, the first Judge of the Excomission Court of Sierra Leone, and my father being one of the three pioneer lawyers of the Gold Coast. I am a Fanti, of the Fanti tribe which spreads from Axim right down the Gold Coast, to Acera, and is subdivided into groups speaking different dialects. It is said that the Acera branch, at one time, wandered away from the main body and eventually arrived also at the sea coast, speaking another tongue, but retaining the same customs. I spent five years in England, three of which were spent in school. I went to Penrohs College, Colwyn Bay in Wales, and on my return home became a school teacher in The Girls Vocational School, Sierra Leone. By twenty, I had the firm conviction that I was meant to write for Africa. This was accentuated by the help which our boys and girls need so much and fired by the determination to show those who are prejudiced against colour, that we deny inferiority to them, spiritually, intellectually and morally; and to prove it. I argued that the first thing to do, was to imbue our own people with the idea of their own beauty, superiority and individuality, with a love and admiration for our own country, which has been systematically suppressed. Consequently I studied the beautiful points of Negro physique, texture of skin, beauty of hair, soft sweetness of eyes, charm of curves, so that none should think it a shame to be black, but rather a glorious adventure.” NATIVITY