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[Page 58]
THE DYING SLAVE.
1 Faint-gazing on the burning orb of day,
2 When Afric's injured son expiring lay,
3 His forehead cold, his labouring bosom bare,
4 His dewy temples, and his sable hair,
5 His poor companions kissed, and cried aloud,
6 Rejoicing, whilst his head in peace he bowed: —
7 Now thy long, long task is done,
8 Swiftly, brother, wilt thou run,
9 Ere to-morrow's golden beam
10 Glitter on thy parent stream,
11 Swiftly the delights to share,
12 The feast of joy that waits thee there.
13 Swiftly, brother, wilt thou ride
14 O'er the long and stormy tide,
15 Fleeter than the hurricane,
16 Till thou see'st those scenes again,
17 Where thy father's hut was reared,
18 Where thy mother's voice was heard;[Page 59]
19 Where thy infant brothers played
20 Beneath the fragrant citron shade;
21 Where through green savannahs wide
22 Cooling rivers silent glide,
23 Or the shrill cicalas sing
24 Ceaseless to their murmuring;
25 Where the dance, the festive song,
26 Of many a friend divided long,
27 Doomed through stranger lands to roam,
28 Shall bid thy spirit welcome home!
29 Fearless o'er the foaming tide
30 Again thy light canoe shall ride;
31 Fearless on the embattled plain
32 Thou shalt lift thy lance again;
33 Or, starting at the call of morn,
34 Wake the wild woods with thy horn;
35 Or, rushing down the mountain-slope,
36 O'ertake the nimble antelope;
37 Or lead the dance, 'mid blissful bands,
38 On cool Andracte's yellow sands;
39 Or, in the embowering orange-grove,
40 Tell to thy long-forsaken love
41 The wounds, the agony severe,
42 Thy patient spirit suffered here!
43 Fear not now the tyrant's power,
44 Past is his insulting hour;
45 Mark no more the sullen trait
46 On slavery's brow of scorn and hate;
47 Hear no more the long sigh borne
48 Murmuring on the gales of morn!
49 Go in peace; yet we remain
50 Far distant toiling on in pain;
51 Ere the great Sun fire the skies
52 To our work of woe we rise;[Page 60]
53 And see each night, without a friend,
54 The world's great comforter descend!
55 Tell our brethren, where ye meet,
56 Thus we toil with weary feet;
57 Yet tell them that Love's generous flame,
58 In joy, in wretchedness the same,
59 In distant worlds was ne'er forgot;
60 And tell them that we murmur not;
61 Tell them, though the pang will start,
62 And drain the life-blood from the heart, —
63 Tell them, generous shame forbids
64 The tear to stain our burning lids!
65 Tell them, in weariness and want,
66 For our native hills we pant,
67 Where soon, from shame and sorrow free,
68 We hope in death to follow thee!
Source edition
Bowles, William Lisle, 1762-1850. The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. I. With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan. Edinburgh: James Nichol, 9 North Bank Street..., 1855, pp. 58-60. (Page images digitized from a copy held at the University of California Libraries.)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by William Lisle Bowles
- ABBA THULE'S LAMENT FOR HIS SON PRINCE LE BOO. ()
- ABSENCE. ()
- ABSENCE. OCTOBER 26, 1791. ()
- AGE. ()
- APPROACH OF SUMMER. ()
- ART AND NATURE. THE BRIDGE BETWEEN CLIFTON AND LEIGH WOODS. ()
- ASSOCIATIONS. ()
- AT DOVER, 1786. ()
- AT MALVERN. ()
- AT OXFORD, 1786. ()
- AT TYNEMOUTH PRIORY, AFTER A TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE. ()
- AVENUE IN SAVERNAKE FOREST. ()
- BAMBOROUGH CASTLE. ()
- BATTLE OF CORRUNA. ()
- THE BATTLE OF THE NILE. ()
- THE BELLS, OSTEND. ()
- BEREAVEMENT. ()
- CADLAND, SOUTHAMPTON RIVER. ()
- A CENOTAPH, TO THE MEMORY OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ISAAC, WHO DIED AT CAPE ST NICHOLA MOLE, 1797. ()
- THE CONVENT. ()
- COOMBE-ELLEN. ()
- DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOKE, OF “THE BELLEROPHON,” KILLED IN THE SAME BATTLE. ()
- DIRGE OF NELSON. ()
- DISTANT VIEW OF ENGLAND FROM THE SEA. ()
- DOVER CLIFFS. ()
- ELEGIAC STANZAS. WRITTEN DURING SICKNESS AT BATH. ()
- ELEGY WRITTEN AT THE HOTWELLS, BRISTOL, JULY, 1789. ()
- EPITAPH ON H. WALMSLEY, ESQ., IN ALVERSTOKE CHURCH, HANTS. ()
- EVENING. ()
- EXHIBITION, 1807. ()
- FAIRY SKETCH. SCENE — NETLEY ABBEY. ()
- A GARDEN-SEAT AT HOME. ()
- THE GRAVE OF HOWARD. ()
- GREENWICH HOSPITAL. ()
- THE HARP OF HOEL. ()
- THE HARP, AND DESPAIR, OF COWPER. ()
- HOPE, AN ALLEGORICAL SKETCH. ()
- HOPE. ()
- HOUR-GLASS AND BIBLE. ()
- HYMN TO WODEN. ()
- IN HORTO REV. J. STILL, APUD KNOYLE, VILLAM AMŒNISSIMAM. ()
- IN MEMORIAM. ()
- INFLUENCE OF TIME ON GRIEF. ()
- INSCRIPTION. ()
- LACOCK NUNNERY. JUNE 24, 1837. ()
- THE LAST SONG OF CAMOENS. ()
- MILTON. ON THE BUSTS OF MILTON, IN YOUTH AND AGE, AT STOURHEAD. ()
- THE MISSIONARY. ()
- MONODY ON HENRY HEADLEY. ()
- MONODY ON THE DEATH OF DR WARTON. ()
- MONODY, WRITTEN AT MATLOCK. ()
- MUSIC. ()
- MUSIC. ()
- NETLEY ABBEY. ()
- ON A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE. ()
- ON A BEAUTIFUL SPRING, FORMING A COLD BATH, AT COOMBE, NEAR DONHEAD, BELONGING TO MY BROTHER, CHAS. BOWLES, ESQ. ()
- ON A LANDSCAPE BY RUBENS. ()
- ON ACCIDENTALLY MEETING A LADY NOW NO MORE. WRITTEN MANY YEARS AFTER THE FOREGOING SONNETS. ()
- ON AN UNFORTUNATE AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. WRITTEN DECEMBER 1783. ()
- ON ENTERING SWITZERLAND. ()
- ON HEARING “THE MESSIAH” PERFORMED IN GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL, SEPT. 18, 1835. ()
- ON LANDING AT OSTEND. ()
- ON LEAVING A PLACE OF RESIDENCE. ()
- ON LEAVING A VILLAGE IN SCOTLAND. ()
- ON LEAVING WINCHESTER SCHOOL. WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1782. ()
- ON MR HOWARD'S ACCOUNT OF LAZARETTOS. ()
- ON RESIGNING A SCHOLARSHIP OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND RETIRING TO A COUNTRY CURACY. ()
- ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. WILLIAM BENWELL, M.A. ()
- ON WILLIAM SOMMERS OF BREMHILL. ()
- OXFORD REVISITED. ()
- THE PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETY. INSCRIBED TO THE DUKE OF LEEDS. ()
- PICTURE OF A YOUNG LADY. ()
- PICTURE OF AN OLD MAN. ()
- PICTURES FROM THEOCRITUS. ()
- POLE-VELLUM, CORNWALL. A PICTURESQUE COTTAGE AND GROUNDS BELONGING TO J. LEMON, ESQ. ()
- RETROSPECTION. ()
- THE RHINE. ()
- THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDMUND BURKE. ()
- THE RIVER CHERWELL. ()
- THE RIVER WAINSBECK. ()
- A RUSTIC SEAT NEAR THE SEA. ()
- SHAKSPEARE. ()
- SKETCH FROM BOWDEN HILL AFTER SICKNESS. ()
- SKETCHES IN THE EXHIBITION, 1805. ()
- SONG OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN. ()
- SOUTHAMPTON CASTLE. INSCRIBED TO THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE. ()
- SOUTHAMPTON WATER. ()
- THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY BY SEA: A DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL POEM. ()
- THE SPIRIT OF NAVIGATION. ()
- ST MICHAEL'S MOUNT. INSCRIBED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD SOMERS. ()
- STANZAS FOR MUSIC. ()
- SUMMER EVENING AT HOME. ()
- SUN-DIAL, IN THE CHURCHYARD OF BREMHILL. ()
- THE SYLPH OF SUMMER. ()
- TO A FRIEND. ()
- TO SIR WALTER SCOTT. ON ACCIDENTLY MEETING AND PARTING WITH SIR WALTER SCOTT, WHOM I HAD NOT SEEN FOR MANY YEARS, IN THE STREETS OF LONDON, MAY 1828. ()
- TO THE RIVER ITCHIN. ()
- [TRANSLATION] OF A LATIN POEM BY THE REV. NEWTON OGLE, DEAN OF MANCHESTER. ()
- THE TWEED VISITED. ()
- THE VISIONARY BOY. ()
- WARDOUR CASTLE. ()
- WATER-PARTY ON BEAULIEU RIVER, IN THE NEW FOREST. ()
- THE WINDS. ()
- WINTER EVENING AT HOME. ()
- WOODSPRING ABBEY, 1836. ()