The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be universal except by being a dynamic synthesis of all the cultural values of all civilizations. It will be monstrous unless it is seasoned with the salt of negri-tude, for it will be without the savor of humanity.

I must hide him in my inmostveins The Ancestor ... He is my faithful blood that demands fidelity Protecting my naked pride against Myself and the scorn of luckier races.

Let us listen to the voices of our Forebears ... In the smoky cabin, souls that wish us well are murmuring.

What if this were Hell, this absence of sleep, this poet's desert, this pain of living, this dying of not dying, this anguish of shadows, this passion over death and light.