- Despite the plural usage in the title, Songs to the Dark Virgin is actually a single song setting all three stanzas of Langston Hughes‘ poem of the same name.
- Price published Songs to the Dark Virgin in 1941. The poem comes from Hughes’ volume of poetry, The Weary Blues (1926).1
- Fun fact – Marion Anderson regularly performed the song, among other works by Price.
- Price dedicated Songs to the Dark Virgin to her daughter, who was also named Florence.
- Click here to read the song’s text.
- The poem juxtaposes beautiful imagery against the harsh reality of being Black in America at the time.2
Sources
- “Songs to the Dark Virgin,” Song of America, accessed February 19, 2025, https://songofamerica.net/song/songs-to-the-dark-virgin/.
- Michael Lively, “Multi-Linear Continuity and ‘Songs to the Dark Virgin’ by Florence Price [1888-1953],” College Music Symposium (2023), accessed February 19, 2025, https://symposium.music.org/63-1/item/11581-multi-linear-continuity-and-songs-to-the-dark-virgin-by-florence-price-1888-1953.html#:~:text=The%20poem%20is%20comprised%20of,(Smith%202007%2C%2089).
Cut IDs
26886