Leslie Pinckney Hill

Leslie Pinckney Hill was an American educator, poet, and playwright active in the early twentieth century. His poetry addressed racial identity and social justice, and his works include the collection The Wings of Oppression. Biography ↓More ↓

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Leslie Pinckney Hill

Summer Magic

So many cares to vex the day, So many fears to haunt the night, My heart was all but weaned away From every lure of old delight. Then summer came, announced by June, With beauty, miracle and mirth. She hung aloft the rounding moon, She poured her sunshine on the earth, She drove the sap and broke the bud, She set the crimson rose afire. She stirred again my sullen blood, And waked in me a new desire. Before my cottage door she spread The softest carpet nature weaves, And deftly arched above my head A canopy of shady leaves.

Biography

Leslie Pinckney Hill was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1880 and worked as an educator and writer. He graduated from Harvard University and served as president of the Cheyney Training School for Teachers in Pennsylvania, a position he held for several decades. Hill's poetry addresses themes of racial oppression, faith, and the resilience of Black Americans. His style blends traditional forms with a direct, earnest tone, often drawing on biblical and historical imagery. His poetry collection The Wings of Oppression appeared in 1921. He also wrote verse drama, including a work about the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture. Hill's educational leadership helped shape an institution that later became Cheyney University. He died in 1960.

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