| James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922. |
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| Compensation |
| | | James Edwin Campbell |
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| O, RICH young lord, thou ridest by | |
| With looks of high disdain; | |
| It chafes me not thy title high, | |
| Thy blood of oldest strain. | |
| The lady riding at thy side | 5 |
| Is but in name thy promised bride, | |
| Ride on, young lord, ride on! | |
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| Her father wills and she obeys, | |
| The custom of her class; | |
| ’Tis Land not Love the trothing sways— | 10 |
| For Land he sells his lass. | |
| Her fair white hand, young lord, is thine, | |
| Her soul, proud fool, her soul is mine, | |
| Ride on, young lord, ride on! | |
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| No title high my father bore; | 15 |
| The tenant of thy farm, | |
| He left me what I value more: | |
| Clean heart, clear brain, strong arm | |
| And love for bird and beast and bee | |
| And song of lark and hymn of sea, | 20 |
| Ride on, young lord, ride on! | |
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| The boundless sky to me belongs, | |
| The paltry acres thine; | |
| The painted beauty sings thy songs, | |
| The lavrock lilts me mine; | 25 |
| The hot-housed orchid blooms for thee, | |
| The gorse and heather bloom for me, | |
| Ride on, young lord, ride on! | |
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