Authors: Maya Angelou
His Day Is Done
This poem was written
on behalf of the American people
on the occasion of the death of
Nelson Mandela on December 5, 2013
,
at the request of the U.S. Department of State
.
Copyright © 2014 by Maya Angelou
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint and division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
R
ANDOM
H
OUSE
and the H
OUSE
colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.
Photograph credits are located on
this page
.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Angelou, Maya.
His day is done : a Nelson Mandela tribute / Maya Angelou.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-8129-9701-9
eBook ISBN 978-0-8129-9702-6
1. Mandela, Nelson, 1918–2013—Poetry. I. Title.
PS3551.N464H57 2014 811’.54—dc23 2013049202
Cover design: Anna Bauer
v3.1
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world
.
—N
ELSON
M
ANDELA
His day is done,
Is done.
The news came on the wings of a wind
Reluctant to carry its burden.
Nelson Mandela’s day is done.
The news, expected and still unwelcome,
Reached us in the United States and suddenly
Our world became somber.
Our skies were leadened.
His day is done.
We see you, South African people,
Standing speechless at the slamming
Of that final door
Through which no traveler returns.
Our spirits reach out to you:
Bantu, Zulu, Xhosa, Boer.
We think of you
And your Son of Africa,
Your Father,
Your One More Wonder of the World.
We send our souls to you
As you reflect upon
Your David armed with
A mere stone facing down
The Mighty Goliath.
Your man of strength, Gideon,
Emerging triumphant
Although born into the brutal embrace of Apartheid,
Scarred by the savage atmosphere of racism,
Unjustly imprisoned
In the bloody maws of South African dungeons.
Would the man survive?
Could the man survive?
His answer strengthened men and women
Around the world.
In the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas,
On the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco,
In Chicago’s Loop,
In New Orleans’ Mardi Gras,
In New York City’s Times Square,
We watched as the hope of Africa sprang
Through the prison’s doors.
His stupendous heart intact,
His gargantuan will
Hale and hearty.
He had not been crippled by brutes
Nor was his passion for the rights
Of human beings
Diminished by twenty-seven years of imprisonment.
