| James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922. |
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| Oblivion |
| | | Jessie Fauset |
| | | | | From the French of Massillon Coicou (Haiti) |
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| I HOPE when I am dead that I shall lie | |
| In some deserted grave—I cannot tell you why, | |
| But I should like to sleep in some neglected spot | |
| Unknown to every one, by every one forgot. | |
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| There lying I should taste with my dead breath | 5 |
| The utter lack of life, the fullest sense of death; | |
| And I should never hear the note of jealousy or hate, | |
| The tribute paid by passersby to tombs of state. | |
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| To me would never penetrate the prayers and tears | |
| That futilely bring torture to dead and dying ears; | 10 |
| There I should lie annihilate and my dead heart would bless | |
| Oblivion—the shroud and envelope of happiness. | |
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