Poem #4: Early Affection

Early Affection

I lov'd thee from the earliest dawn,
  When first I saw thy beauty's ray,
And will, until life's eve comes on,
  And beauty's blossom fades away;
And when all things go well with thee,
With smiles and tears remember me.

I'll love thee when thy morn is past 
  And wheedling gallantry is o'er,
When youth is lost in ages blast,
  And when life's journey ends with thee,
O, then look back and think of me.

I'll love thee with a smile or frown,
  'Mid sorrow's gloom or pleasure's light, 
And when the chain of life runs down,
  Pursue thy last eternal flight,
When thou hast spread thy wing to flee,
Still, still, a moment wait for me.

I'll love thee for those sparkling eyes,
  To which my fondness was betray'd
Bearing the tincture of the skies,
  To glow when other beauties fade,
And when they sink too low to see,
Reflect an azure beam on me.

George Moses Horton 
Horton's last years were spent in Philadelphia writing Sunday's school stories and working for old North Carolina friends who lived in the city. Details of his death are unrecorded. Through Horton's unhappy marriage to a slave of Franklin Snipes, he was the father of a son Free and a daughter Rhody, both of whom bore their mother's name. 


Powell, William S. "The University of North Carolina Press." UNC Press. William S. Powell, 07 Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Aug. 2012. <http://www.uncpress.unc.edu/>.

Horton, George M. "George Moses Horton." African-American Poetry: An Anthology, 1773-1927. By Joan R. Sherman. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1997. 3-4. Print.