Friend of the dusky visage, whereupon When all things else have yielded to the light Abides the cleaving shadow of a night The darker for the noonday's fiercer sun; Among earth's kindred nations nearer none Than thine and mine. Thou standest in the fight, A slave beside a master for whose right Thine arm, with his uplifted, lost or won. Nay, now the victor vanquished, when the foe Exulting in a land of bondage free, Flung out the signal, "Smite the smiter!" lo, Thou wouldst not; but with new-wed Liberty Wentest thy way -- nor yet as glad to go, But oft in tears that all the world might see. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GREAT CAROUSAL by LOUIS UNTERMEYER ROSE AYLMER by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR MILLS OF DESTINY by EVA K. ANGLESBURG HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 46 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH THE LAMENT OF THE OUTALISSI by THOMAS CAMPBELL ON SEEING A DROWNING MOTH by ALICE CARY |