From bright West Indies’ sunny seas,
Comes, borne upon the balmy breeze,
The joyous shout, the gladsome tone,
Long in those bloody isles unknown;
Bearing across the heaving wave
The song of the unfettered slave.
No charging squadrons shook the ground,
When freedom here her claims obtained;
No cannon, with tremendous sound,
The noble patriot’s cause maintained:
No furious battle-charger neighed,
No brother fell by brother’s blade.
None of those desperate scenes of strife,
Which mark the warrior’s proud career,
The awful waste of human life,
Have ever been enacted here;
But truth and justice spoke from heaven,
And slavery’s galling chain was riven.
‘T was moral force which broke the chain,
That bound eight hundred thousand men;
And when we see it snapped in twain,
Shall we not join in praises then? —
And prayers unto Almighty God,
Who smote to earth the tyrant’s rod?
And from those islands of the sea,
The scenes of blood and crime and wrong,
The glorious anthem of the free,
Now swells in mighty chorus strong;
Telling th’ oppressed, where’er they roam,
Those islands now are freedom’s home.
(James Monroe Whitfield)
More Poetry from James Monroe Whitfield:
James Monroe Whitfield Poems based on Topics: God, Man, Heaven, Life, Slavery, Praise, Joy & Excitement, Tyranny & Despotism, Home, Work & Career- A Poem (James Monroe Whitfield Poems)
- How Long (James Monroe Whitfield Poems)
- The Misanthropis (James Monroe Whitfield Poems)
- The Arch Apostate (James Monroe Whitfield Poems)
- America (James Monroe Whitfield Poems)
- To A. H. (James Monroe Whitfield Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Life Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Heaven Poems, Home Poems, Work & Career Poems, Praise Poems, Slavery Poems, Tyranny & Despotism PoemsBased on Keywords: battle-charger
- One Day And Another: A Lyrical Eclogue - Part IV (Madison Julius Cawein Poems)
- Hudibras - The Lady's Answer to The Knight (Samuel Butler Poems)
- A Congratulatory Epistle From His Holiness The Pope To The Reverend Dr. Snape (Nicholas Amhurst Poems)
- Bristowe Tragedie: Or The Dethe Of Syr Charles Badwin (Thomas Chatterton Poems)
- Queen Mab: Part V. (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)