A Fair Copy of Countee Cullen’s Most Famous Poem – Yet I Do Marvel. In 1923, Cullen (1903-1946) wrote the above poem, which was first published the following year in the Century Magazine (November, 1924). Carl Van Vechten once remarked that one of Cullen’s lines was probably the most repeated of all contemporary black poets: “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing!”
Essentially an emotional, lyrical poet, Cullen once explained: “Most things I write I do for the sheer love of the music in them.” Cullen also published collections of his poetry such as Color (1925), Copper Sun (1927). He was working on another book of his favorite poems when he died. His work was embraced by black critics and the Black Community alike, and he became a major figure during the Harlem Renaissance.