Pale, and with the most savage breath of rum,
These godlike beasts- with brutal whips in hand-
Drove us to the godless hulls, cramped and glum,
As the night hung timid above our land.
An
open secret seemed to loom in grief
On that bleak, unforgiving night of nights:
I swear, even the stars above the thief
Shamefully receded their sovereign lights!
On that bleak, unforgiving night of nights:
I swear, even the stars above the thief
Shamefully receded their sovereign lights!
And who would dare to help? None. Not one soul-
Either of ourselves enslaved, or others ...
And so, far from Angola's glinting shoal,
Out they sailed ... with children, men, and mothers.
-jwm
1 comment:
About the painting:
Slave Deck of the Albatroz, 1845
On patrol for ships engaged in the illegal slave trade, Meynell painted this image of the lower deck of the captured slave ship Albatroz off the African coast.
Lt. Francis Meynell, Royal Navy, artist
Courtesy of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England
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