'Then farewell all, that must create The comfort of the wedded state; Instead of harmony, 'tis jar, And tumult, and intestine war. The love, that cheers life's latest stage, Proof against sickness and old age, But lives, when that exterior grace, 'Tis gentle, delicate, and kind, To faults compassionate or blind, Proves that the heart is none of his, Or soon expels him if it is. 50 62 THE NEGRO'S COMPLAINT. FORC'D from home and all it's pleasures, Afric's coast I left forlorn; To increase a stranger's treasures, O'er the raging billows borne. Men from England bought and sold me, Paid my price in paltry gold; But, though slave they have enroll'd me, Minds are never to be sold. Still in thought as free as ever, What are England's rights, I ask, 10 Me from my delights so sever, Me to torture, me to task? Fleecy locks and black complexion Cannot forfeit Nature's claim; Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in white and black the same. Why did all-creating nature Make the plant, for which we toil? Sighs must fan it, tears must water, Sweat of ours must dress the soil. 20 Think, ye masters iron-hearted, Lolling at your jovial boards; Think how many backs have smarted For the sweets, your cane affords. Is there, as ye sometimes tell us, Matches, blood-extorting screws, Agents of his will to use? 30 Hark! he answers-Wild tornadoes, Afric's sons should undergo, Fix'd their tyrants' habitations Where his whirlwinds answer-no. 40 By our blood in Afric wasted, Ere our necks receiv'd the chain; By the mis'ries that we tasted, All sustain❜d by patience, taught us Deem our nations brutes no longer, Till some reason ye shall find 50 Worthier of regard, and stronger Than the colour of our kind.. Slaves of gold, whose sordid dealings Ere you proudly question ours! PITY FOR POOR AFRICANS. Video meliora proboque Deteriora sequor. 56 I OWN I am shock'd at the purchase of slaves, And fear those, who buy them and sell them, are knaves; What I hear of their hardships, their tortures, and groans, Is almost enough to draw pity from stones. I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, |