The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-11-30
POETRY.
The Fugitive Slaves Apostrophe to the
North Star.

he Fugitive Slaves Apostrophe t.
North Star.
by REV. JOHN PIERPoINT.
Star of the North ! though night winds drift,
The ieecy drapery of the sky,
Between thy lamp and me, lift,
Yea, lift with hope, my sleepless eye
To the blue heights wherein thou dwellest
And, of land of freedom tellest.
Star of the North while blazing day
Pours round me its full tide of light,
And hides thy pale but faithful ray,
I, too, lie hid, and long for night;
For night II dare not walk at noon,
Nor dare trust the faithless moon.
Nor faithless man, whose burning 'us'
For gold hath riveted my cha'ns'
Nor other leader can | trust
But thee, of even the starry train;
For all the host around thee burning,
Like faithless man, keep turning, turning.
NAV not follow where they go;
Star of the North, look to thee
While on press for we'll know
Thy light and truth shall set me free:--
Thy light that no poor slave deceiyeth;
Thy truth, that all my soul believeth.
They of the East beheld the star
That over Bethehem's Manager glowed;
With joy they hailed it from afr,
And followed where it marked the road
Till, where its rays directly fell,
They found the Hope of Israel.
Wise were the men who followed thus
The star that sets men free from sin!
Star of the North! thou art to US
Who're slaves because we wear skin
Dark as is Nights protecting wing
Thou art to US holy thing.
And we are wise to follow thee;
/ trust thy steady light alone,
Star of the North! thou seem st to me
70 turn before the Almighty's throne.
To guide me through these forests dim,
And vast, to liberty and HIM.
Thy beam is on the CLASSY breast
Of the still spring, upon whose brink
/ lay my weary limbs to rest,
And bow my parched lips to drin9,
Guide Of the friendIess negro's way,
l bless thee for this quit ray
In the dark top of southern pines
nestled, when the drivers horn
Called to the field, in heightened lines.
My fellows, at the break Of morn,
And there lay till thy sweet face
Looked in upon "my hiding place."
The tangled cane-brake, where crept
For shelter from the heat of noon,
And where, while others toiled, slept
Till Weakened by the rising moon,
As its stalks felt the night wind free,
Gave me to catch glimpse of thee.
Star of the North in bright array,
The consultations round thee sweep,
Each holding on its nightly way,
Rising, or sinking in the deep,
And, as it hangs in mid heaven flaming,
The homage of some nation claiming,
This nation to the Eagle covers;
Fit ensign! she's bird of spol;-
Like worships like! for each devours
The earnings of another's toll!
I've felt her taons and her beas,
And now the gentler Lion seek.
The Lion, at the Vrgin's* feet
Crouches, and lays his mighty paw
Into her lap!-an emblem meet
OF England's Queen, and English law
Queen, that hath made her Islands free!
Law, that holds cut its shield to me!
Star of the North upon that shield
Thou shinest-Oh! forever shine!
The negro, from the cotton field
Shall, then, beneath its orb recne,
And feed the Lion, couched before it,
Nor heed the Eagle, screaming ore it,!
The consultations .fquild, Leo and Virgo al
ant by the astronomical fugitive.
MISC ELI, A N EOTJ s