Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE EXILE, by FORD MADOX FORD Poet's Biography First Line: My father had many oxen Last Line: Of hirelings once queen's daughters and slaves the seed of kings. Alternate Author Name(s): Hueffer, Ford Hermann; Hueffer, Ford Madox Subject(s): African Americans; Slavery; Southern States; Negroes; American Blacks; Serfs; South (u.s.) | ||||||||
MY father had many oxen Yet all are gone; My father had many servants; I sit alone. He followed the Southern women, He drank of the Southern wines, He fought in the Southern quarrels My star declines. I will go to the Southern houses, I will sit 'mid the maids at hire; I will bear their meat to the tables and carry wood to their fire; Where the cheep of the rat and mouse is all night long will I lie, Awake in the byres and the stables. When the white moon looks from the sky, And over the Southern waters, and the wind blows warm from the South, With the bitter tears in my eyelids and the heavy sighs in my mouth, I shall hear through the gaping gables how the Southern night bird sings Of hirelings once Queen's daughters and slaves the seed of Kings. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MYSTIC RIVER by GALWAY KINNELL ENTERING THE SOUTH by LUCILLE CLIFTON SNAPSHOTS OF THE COTTON SOUTH by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS JULY IN GEORGY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON O SOUTHLAND! by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MY SOUTH: 1. ON THE PORCH by DONALD JUSTICE MY SOUTH: 3. ON THE FARM by DONALD JUSTICE |
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