His Day Is Done: A Nelson Mandela Tribute
Maya Angelou
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.
(photo credit col2.1)
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.
RANDOM HOUSE and the HOUSE 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
www.atrandom.com
Cover design: Anna Bauer
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Author’s Note
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
First Page
Photograph Credits
Dedication
Other Books by This Author
About the Author
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.
—NELSON MANDELA
(photo credit col3.1)
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.
(photo credit 1.1)
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.
(photo credit 1.2)
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.
(photo credit 1.3)
(photo credit 1.4)
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.
(photo credit 1.5)
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.
(photo credit 1.6)
(photo credit 1.7)
Even here in America
We felt the cool
Refreshing breeze of freedom
When Nelson Mandela took
The seat of the presidency
In his country
Where formerly he was not even allowed to vote.
We were enlarged by tears of pride
As we saw Nelson Mandela’s
Former prison guards
Invited, courteously, by him to watch
From the front rows
His inauguration.
(photo credit 1.8)
We saw him accept
The world’s award in Norway
With the grace and gratitude
Of Solon in Ancient Grecian courts
And the confidence of African Chiefs
From ancient royal stools.
(photo credit 1.9)
No sun outlasts its sunset
But will rise again
And bring the dawn.
Yes, Mandela’s day is done,
(photo credit 1.10)
Yet we, his inheritors,
Will open the gates wider
For reconciliation.
And we will respond
Generously to the cries
Of the Blacks and Whites,
Asians, Hispanics,
The poor who live piteously
On the floor of our planet.
(photo credit 1.11)
He has offered us understanding.
We will not withhold forgiveness
Even from those who do not ask.
Nelson Mandela’s day is done.
We confess it in tearful voices
Yet we lift our own to say:
Thank You.
(photo credit 1.12)
(photo credit 1.13)
Thank You, Our Gideon.
Thank You, Our David.
Our great courageous man.
We will not forget you.
We will not dishonor you.
We will remember and be glad
That you lived among us
(photo credit 1.14)
That you taught us
And
That you loved us
All!
(photo credit 1.15)
PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
col2.1 AP PHOTO / THEANA CALITZ-BILT
col3.1 MEDIA24 / GALLO IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES
1.1 APIC / GETTY IMAGES
1.2 KEYSTONE / GETTY IMAGES
1.3 MEDIA24 / GALLO IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES
1.4 JÜRGEN SCHADEBERG / GETTY IMAGES
1.5 AP PHOTO / GREG ENGLISH
1.6 HELIFILMS / GETTY IMAGES
1.7 AP PHOTO / DAVID BRAUCHLI
1.8 GÉRARD JULIEN / GETTY IMAGES
1.9 JOE ALEXANDER / GETTY IMAGES
1.10 AP PHOTO / DENIS FARRELL
1.11 AP PHOTO / DAVID BRAUCHLI
1.12 DAVE HOGAN / GETTY IMAGES
1.13 MIKE HEWITT-FIFA / GETTY IMAGES
1.14 MEDIA24 / GALLO IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES
1.15 TREVOR SAMSON / GETTY IMAGES
To all the world’s citizens,
who lost a friend
when President Nelson Mandela died
BY MAYA ANGELOU
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Gather Together in My Name
Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas
The Heart of a Woman
All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Mom & Me & Mom
ESSAYS
Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now
Even the Stars Look Lonesome
Letter to My Daughter
POETRY
Just Give Me a
Cool Drink of Water ’fore I Diiie
Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well
And Still I Rise
Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?
I Shall Not Be Moved
On the Pulse of Morning
Phenomenal Woman
The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou
A Brave and Startling Truth
Amazing Peace
Mother
Celebrations
His Day Is Done
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Poetry for Young People
My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me
Kofi and His Magic
PICTURE BOOKS
Love’s Exquisite Freedom
Now Sheba Sings the Song
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
COOKBOOKS
Great Food, All Day Long
Hallelujah! The Welcome Table
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Poet, writer, performer, teacher, and director MAYA ANGELOU was raised in Stamps, Arkansas, and then went to San Francisco. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she has also written five poetry collections, including I Shall Not Be Moved and Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?, and two cookbooks, Hallelujah! The Welcome Table and Great Food, All Day Long, as well as the celebrated poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she read at the inauguration of President William Jefferson Clinton, and “A Brave and Startling Truth,” written at the request of the United Nations and read at its fiftieth anniversary. She lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Maya Angelou, His Day Is Done: A Nelson Mandela Tribute
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