Bury Me in a Free Land

Bury Me in a Free Land

"Bury Me in a Free Land" is a poem by Frances Harper, an African American abolitionist and poet.

:Make me a grave where'er you will,:In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill;:Make it among earth's humblest graves,:But not in a land where men are slaves.

:I could not rest if around my grave:I heard the steps of a trembling slave;:His shadow above my silent tomb:Would make it a place of fearful gloom.

:I could not rest if I heard the tread:Of a coffle gang to the shambles led,:And the mother's shriek of wild despair:Rise like a curse on the trembling air.

:I could not sleep if I saw the lash:Drinking her blood at each fearful gash,:And I saw her babes torn from her breast,:Like trembling doves from their parent nest.

:I'd shudder and start if I heard the bay:Of bloodhounds seizing their human prey,:And I heard the captive plead in vain:As they bound afresh his galling chain.

:If I saw young girls from their mother's arms:Bartered and sold for their youthful charms,:My eye would flash with a mournful flame,:My death-paled cheek grow red with shame.

:I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might:Can rob no man of his dearest right;:My rest shall be calm in any grave:Where none can call his brother a slave.

:I ask no monument, proud and high,:To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;:All that my yearning spirit craves,:Is bury me not in a land of slaves.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie — is a cowboy folk song. Also known as The Cowboy s Lament , The Dying Cowboy and Bury Me Out on the Lone Prairie , the song is described as the most famous cowboy ballad.[1][2] Based on a sailor s song, the song has been recorded by many artists,… …   Wikipedia

  • Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie — ( Ne m enterrez pas dans la prairie solitaire en français) est une chanson traditionnelle de cow boy. Aussi connue sous le nom de The Cow boy Lament ( La lamentation du cow boy ), The Dying Cow boy ( Le Cow boy mourant ), cette chanson est la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bury — infobox UK place country = England latitude = 53.593 longitude = 2.298 official name = Bury metropolitan county = Greater Manchester population = 60,718 metropolitan borough = Bury region = North West England constituency westminster = Bury North …   Wikipedia

  • Land mine — For other uses, see Land mine (disambiguation). Minefield redirects here. For other uses, see Minefield (disambiguation). Examples of anti personnel mines. From left to right: an M14, Valmara 69 (a bounding mine), and VS 50 …   Wikipedia

  • History of slavery in Indiana — Slavery in Indiana occurred between the time of French rule during late seventeenth century and 1826, with a few traces of slavery afterward. When the United States first took control of the region, slavery was tolerated as a necessity to keep… …   Wikipedia

  • Frances Harper — Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (24 September, 1825 22 February, 1911) born to free parents in Baltimore, Maryland, was an African American abolitionist and poet.Life and worksHer mother died when she was three years old and after that, Harper was… …   Wikipedia

  • Harper, Frances E.W. — ▪ American author and social reformer in full  Frances Ellen Watkins Harper , née  Frances Ella Watkins  born September 24, 1825, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. died February 22, 1911, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania       American author, orator, and… …   Universalium

  • Russia — /rush euh/, n. 1. Also called Russian Empire. Russian, Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Cap.: St. Petersburg (1703 1917). 2. See Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 3. See Russian… …   Universalium

  • Mthwakazi — This word Mthwakazi is derived from the name of Queen Mu Thwa, the first ruler of the Mthwakazi territory who ruled around 7,000 years ago. She was the matriarch of the Aba Thwa, the San people who were derogatively called the Bushmen by… …   Wikipedia

  • 2010 Haiti earthquake — 2010 Haiti earthquake …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”