"Lift Every Voice and Sing"

Also known as the African-American anthem, the song by James Weldon Johnson contrasts images of a dark past with those of a bright future.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 11 Unit 5's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: The Harlem Renaissance, The New Negro, To Usward, Lift Every Voice and Sing, On 'From the Dark Tower' , How It Feels to Be Colored Me, Sweat, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Mother to Son, critical reviews
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. harmony
    an agreeable sound property
    Lift every voice and sing
    Till earth and heaven ring,
    Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
  2. rejoice
    express great happiness
    Let our rejoicing rise
    High as the listening skies
  3. resound
    ring or echo with noise
    Let it resound loud as the rolling sea
  4. chasten
    correct by punishment or discipline
    Stony the road we trod,
    Bitter the chastening rod
  5. steady
    marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
    Yet with a steady beat
    Have not our weary feet
    Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
  6. slaughter
    the savage and excessive killing of many people
    We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered
  7. gloomy
    depressingly dark
    Out from the gloomy past
  8. gleam
    a flash of light
    Till now we stand at last
    Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast
  9. weary
    physically and mentally fatigued
    God of our weary years,
    God of our silent tears
  10. stray
    wander from a direct course or at random
    Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
    Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Created on Mon Nov 17 05:59:37 EST 2014 (updated Mon Nov 17 09:21:08 EST 2014)

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