Analysis of On Liberty And Slavery

George Moses Horton 1779 (North Carolina) – 1883



Alas! and am I born for this,
To wear this slavish chain?
Deprived of all created bliss,
Through hardship, toil and pain!

How long have I in bondage lain,
And languished to be free!
Alas! and must I still complain--
Deprived of liberty.

Oh, Heaven! and is there no relief
This side the silent grave--
To soothe the pain--to quell the grief
And anguish of a slave?

Come Liberty, thou cheerful sound,
Roll through my ravished ears!
Come, let my grief in joys be drowned,
And drive away my fears.

Say unto foul oppression, Cease:
Ye tyrants rage no more,
And let the joyful trump of peace,
Now bid the vassal soar.

Soar on the pinions of that dove
Which long has cooed for thee,
And breathed her notes from Afric's grove,
The sound of Liberty.

Oh, Liberty! thou golden prize,
So often sought by blood--
We crave thy sacred sun to rise,
The gift of nature's God:

Bid Slavery hide her haggard face,
And barbarism fly:
I scorn to see the sad disgrace
In which enslaved I lie.

Dear Liberty! upon thy breast,
I languish to respire;
And like the Swan unto her nest,
I'd to thy smiles retire.

Oh, blest asylum--heavenly balm!
Unto thy boughs I flee--
And in thy shades the storm shall calm,
With songs of Liberty!


Scheme ABAB BCBC DEDE FGFG HIHI XCXC JXJX KLKL MCMX NCNC
Poetic Form Quatrain  (90%)
Etheree  (33%)
Metre 01011111 111101 01110101 110101 11110101 010111 01011101 011100 110011101 110101 11011101 010101 11001101 11111 11110111 010111 11010101 110111 01010111 110101 1101111 111111 0101111 011100 11001101 110111 11110111 011101 110010101 01001 11110101 010111 11000111 11011 01011001 111101 110101001 101111 00110111 111100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,211
Words 223
Sentences 19
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:07 min read
76

George Moses Horton

George Moses Horton was an African-American poet and the first African American poet to be published in the Southern United States. His book was published in 1828 while he was still a slave; he remained a slave until he was emancipated late in the Civil War. more…

All George Moses Horton poems | George Moses Horton Books

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