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!

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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.