Liberty and Slavery
Alas! and am I born for this,
To wear this slavish chain?
Deprived of all created bliss,
Though hardship, toil and pain!
How long have I in bondage lain,
And languished to be free!
Alas! and must I still complain --
Deprived of liberty.
Oh, Heaven! and is there no relief
This side the silent grave --
To soothe the pain - to quell the grief
And anguish of a slave?
Say unto foul oppression, Cease:
Ye tyrants rage no more,
And let the joyful trump of peace,
Now bid the vassal soar.
Soar on the pinions of that dove
Which long has cooed for thee,
And breathed her notes from Afric's grove,
The sound of Liberty.
Oh, Liberty! thou golden prize,
So often sought by blood --
We crave thy sacred sun to rise,
The gift of nature's God!
Bid Slavery hide her haggard face,
And barbarism fly:
I scorn to see the sad disgrace
In which enslaved I lie.
Dear Liberty! upon thy breast,
I languish to respire;
And like the Swan unto her nest,
I'd to thy smiles retire.
Oh, blest asylum -- heavenly balm!
Unto thy boughs I flee --
And in thy shades the storm shall calm,
With songs of Liberty!
George Moses Horton (1797? - 1883)
A slave in North Carolina for 66 years, Horton published 150 poems in three volumes for 1829 1865. His subjects include his bondage, love, religion, nature, the art of poetry and the Civil War. Fun Fact: George taught himself how to read with and old speller and a copy of the Methodist hymnal. Want another? He always had a love for poetry and began composing psalm - meter verses in his head.
Horton, George M. "George Moses Horton." African-American Poetry: An Anthology, 1773-1927. By Joan R. Sherman. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1997. 2-3. Print.
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