Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FORMERLY A SLAVE' (AN IDEALIZED PORTRAIT, BY E. VEDDER), by HERMAN MELVILLE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FORMERLY A SLAVE' (AN IDEALIZED PORTRAIT, BY E. VEDDER), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The sufferance of her race is shown
Last Line: Sibylline, yet benign.
Subject(s): American Civil War; Paintings & Painters; Slavery; United States - History; Vedder, Elihu (1836-1923); Serfs


(In the Spring Exhibition of the National Academy, 1'65)

The sufferance of her race is shown,
And retrospect of life,
Which now too late deliverance dawns upon;
Yet is she not at strife.

Her children's children they shall know
The good withheld from her;
And so her reverie takes prophetic cheer --
In spirit she sees the stir

Far down the depth of thousand years,
And marks the revel shine;
Her dusky face is lit with sober light,
Sibylline, yet benign.





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