Table of songs and quotes
| Chapter | Title of Chapter | Chapter's Song | Significance of the song | Author | Title | Comment |
| 1 | Of Our Spiritual Strivings | Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen | Arthur Symons | The Crying of the Waters | ||
| 2 | Of the Dawn of Freedom | My Lord, What a Mourning | The end (Mourning) and the beginning (Morning) | James Lowell | "The Present Crisis" | Truth on the Scaffold sways the future |
| 3 | Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others | A Great Camp-meeting in the Promised Land | Sarcastic selection? Not a master song | Byron | "Child Harold's Pilgrimmage" | Who would be free must strike |
| 4 | Of the Meaning of Progress | My Way's Cloudy | The song of groping | Schiller | "The Maid of Orleans" | In German |
| 5 | Of the Wings of Atalanta | The Rocks and the Mountains | Song of fugitives | Whittier | "Howard at Atlanta" | Tether's broken, slave and master are together |
| 6 | Of the Training of Black Men | March On | the second, Afro-American, stage of Black music | Fitzgerald | "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" | Body a shame when souls can fly |
| 7 | Of the Black Belt | Bright Sparkles in the Churchyard | "a step removed from the more primitive types: there is the maze-like medley" | Song of Solomon | "" | Work for others |
| 8 | Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece | Children, You'll be Called On | Not a master song | W.V. Moody | "The Brute" | Describes life of oppressor and oppressed |
| 9 | Of the Sons of Master and Man | I'm a Rolling | Not a master song | Mrs. Browning | "The Relation of the Negroes to the Whites in the South" | We are too close pressed to have two dreams |
| 10 | Of the Faith of the Fathers | Steal Away | Song of songs, from the faith of our fathers, Afro-American Music | Fiona Macleod | "Dim Face of Beauty" | What are White material gains in face of the sad mystery of ages... |
| 11 | Of the Passing of the First-Born | I Hope My Mother Will be There | A step removed from the more primitive types. Burst of melody hovering over the "passing of the first-born | Swinburne | "Itylus" | Remembrance vow |
| 12 | "Of Alexander Crummell" | "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" | Cradle song of death, which all men know. | Lord Tennyson | "The Passing of Arthur" | This world only echoes the greatness of the soul |
| 13 | "Of the Coming of John" | "You May Bury Me in the East" or "I'll Hear The Trumpet Sound" | Fast toward Africa, or The voices of Exile | Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning | "Romance of the Ganges" | Plea for God to calm the unquiet night |
| 14 | "The Sorrow Songs" | "Wrestlin' Jacob" | Poem of helpful strife | "Negro Spiritual" | "Lay This Body Down" | Soul shall meet some day |
| 14 (txt) | "The Sorrow Songs" | Do Bana | ||||
| 14 (txt) | "The Sorrow Songs" | My Soul Wants Something New | ||||
| 14 (txt) | "The Sorrow Songs" | Poor Rosy | ||||
| 14 (txt) | "The Sorrow Songs" | Weary Traveler | ||||