I am trying to trace the author of a cycle of poems (from memory they
were about 6 0r 7) each devoted to a different colour. Again to the
best of my recollection the name of a colour appeared in each title.
The only one I (dimly)remember is 'Yellow' in which the rhyme sun
song/gong appears. Indeed the title of the poem or of the collection
may have been Sun Song. The poems were in English (not translations)
and I think the poet was American rather than English. I am virtually
certain he( and it was a he not a she) was a modern poet ( ie after
1945 ) and not too obscure, since this particular cycle was part of a
larger collection of his poems printed in hardback and on display in
the Lending section ( ie not confined to the Reference section) of the
Manchester (England) City Public Library, some 25 years ago. That is
to say, this was not some amateur poet publishing privately or in
obscure pamphlet form.The only other recollection I have is that the
cover of the hardback was yellow and with a black sunburst design on
it.

I'm going to take a flyer on this one, even though I'm not 100%
certain that it is the answer.  I'm only about 90% certain -- the
evidence is circumstantial, but appears pretty strong.

I believe that the book you're looking for is "Sun Song" by Amon Saba
Saakana, also known as Sebastian Clarke.

I found the book initially by searching on the Library of Congress
Online Catalog ( http://catalog.loc.gov/ ) for the title "sun song". 
The only book named "Sun Song" that was published prior to 25 years
ago (or even prior to 1990) was Saakana's work.

Basic search for title "sun song"
Library of Congress Online Catalog
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=sun+song&Search_Code=TALL&PID=1934&SEQ=20021018193841&CNT=25&HIST=1

"Sun song / [by] Sebastian Clarke"
Library of Congress Online Catalog
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=2&ti=1,2&Search_Arg=sun+song&Search_Code=TALL&PID=1934&CNT=25&SEQ=20021018193027&SID=1

(I tried the search again in the British Library Public Catalogue (
http://blpc.bl.uk/ ), without success; they do not appear to have this
book.)

I could not find any indication of the contents of "Sun Song" online;
nor have I found an image of the book's cover.  However, it is a work
of poetry:

"Poetry Collections" [under heading "Clarke, Sebastian"], originally
compiled by Anson Gonzalez, created and updated by Alana Ochoa
Trafford
Alana's Trinibago Pages
http://users.erols.com/alana.interport/bibindex/poetry.html

"Displaying books where Author is Clarke, Sebastian, Title is Sun
Song."
BookFinder.com 
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=s,ta15fpH2tBUjUPbXIR3rqvezI_3851280475_1:26:64

"Displaying books where Author is Saakana, Amon S., Title is Sun Song"
BookFinder.com
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=nEsZKjfoOIdv392j3rAEtjUXKXk_5766542986_2:14:64

It is notable that a later book by Saakana is entitled "Tones &
Colours: Poetry".

"Tones & colours : poetry / by Amon Saba Saakana"
Library of Congress Online Catalog
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?SC=Author&PID=1934&SA=Saakana,+Amon+Saba,+1948-&SA=Saakana,+Amon+Saba,+1948-&BROWSE=1&HC=8&SID=10

So, in sum, this is a book published in 1973, entitled "Sun Song",
containing poetry, by a poet who also wrote a work with "Colours" in
the title.  Thus, this seems to be the book you want.  (The fact that
Saakana / Clarke is from Trinidad, not the United States, is one
divergence from the book you recall; but every other detail seems to
match.)

If it should turn out that my answer is incorrect, please let me know
in a request for clarification, and I'd be happy to do additional
research.  Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy the book!

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Library of Congress Online Catalog, British
Library Public Catalog, Google, and BookFinder.com,:

"sun song"
"clarke sebastian"
"sebastian clarke"
saakana

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Request for Answer Clarification by herbois-ga on 20 Oct 2002 13:57 PDT

The speed and thoroughness of your research is truly impressive. I
shan't know whether you've located the right book for me until I get
hold of a copy. That may take a while, but meantime I just wanted you
to know how much I appreciate your efforts.

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 21 Oct 2002 17:34 PDT

Thank you for your kind words.  I hope that you find the book -- and
find it is indeed the one you recall!

I shan't know if this is the answer I'm looking for until I get hold
of a copy of the book in question; but right or wrong I can't fault
the speed and application of your researcher. Most impressive.