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76 'fhe shame and hate, which liken well Earth's garden to the nether hell, Had found in Nature's self a tongue, On which the gathered horror hung i As if from cliff, and stream, and glen, Burst, on the startled ears of men, That voice which rises unto GodSolemn and stern-the cry of blood ! It ceased-and all was still once more, Save ocean chafing on his shoreThe sicrhinrT of the wind between 'rhe b;oad banana's leaves of greenOr, bough by restless plumage shook-Or, distant brawl of mountain broolc Brief was the silence. Once aga.iu P ealed to the skies that frantic yellGlowed on the heavens a f,ery stain, And flashes rose and fell; And, painted on the biood-red sky, DJrk naked arms were tossed on high; And,,round the white man's lordly hall, Trade fierce and free, the brule lte made, And tho~e who crept along the wall, And answered to his lightest call With more than spaniel d read. The creature~ of his lawless beck 'V ere trampling on his very neck ! And, ou the nig ht-air, wild and clear, Rose woman's shriek of more than fear; 77 For bloodied arms were round her thrown And dark checks pressed agaiust her own'! Then, injured Afric, for the shame Of thy own daughters, vcncreance came Full on the scornful heartsoof those Who mocked thee in thy nameless ~vocs And to thy hapless c hildren gal'c ' One chOice-pollution, or the gra\·e! D.::uk-br~ wed Toussaint !-the storm had risen Obedient to his master-call- The .Negro's mind had burst its prison- Ilts hand its iron thrall ! Y~t where was he, whose fie ry zeal Ftrst taught the trampled heart to feel Until despair itself grew strong, ' Au d. vengeance fed its torch from wroncr 'I Now-when the thunder-bolt i::; spccdiu:~ Now-whcll oppression's heart is bleedingNow- when the latent curse of Time I s raining down in fire and blood- That curse, which through long years of crime, Had gathered, drop by drop, its flood: ·why strikes he not the foremost one Where Murder' s sternest deeds are done 1 H~ stood the aged palms beneath, fhat shadowed o'er his humble door Listening, with half-suspended breath,' |
