New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-06-04
THE POETRY oF ABoLrrrosIsM.

n. 5gS5 i 8
THE POETRY oF ABoLrrrosIsM.
We have, nowadays, a great many kinds of
poets. We have them Of the sentimental sort in
great abundance. The magazines and news
papers of the land are crowded with their trashy
ami wishy-washy productions. We have them
of the humorous and burlesque order-like John
G. SAKE, K. N. Pepper, fwho writes "pomes"
fol the Knickerbocker) and the inimitable bard
who so eloquently invites us, from the pedestal
of the "Kia Stafehute,n to Buy Our Shirts
at Moodys." But the poet of Aboitiondom has
only recently made his appearance among us
in full-fedged glory. Whittier has, in times
past, gotten up some rather rhapsodical verses on
the subject, and Mackay's Floating Down the
Mississp' attracted temporary attention. But the
great poeLthe poet.laureate, if we may so call
him of the modern negrophsts, has just made
hi$ entree upon the stage. He discovered himself,
few days ago. in the city of Buffalo, and covered
himself all over with glory.
a correspondent Of the Cincinnati Gazette, re-
porting the proceedings of the Northern Methodist
Conference in Buffalo, states that the hall of the
convention was one morning flooded with hand
bills, containing twenty six verses of g ponae !"
BY this great Abolition bard. Unluckily for US,
the correspondent aforesaid gives us only six Of
these, but we presume they are fair samples Of all
tile rest. Satisfied that otr readers are unable to
stand them all in lump, we propose to admin
lister them in broken doses. In this way, also, the
peculiar beauties and excellencies Of each stanza
may be better seen, and more fully appreciated.
The pome, it will be observed, is in the nature
OF lamentation over the condition Of the South
ern slave and recites his woes in manner that is
at once startling and " stunning Here goes
verse the first
With grevous fetters he is bound
Ill He's laden with chain
He's dOdGhed to work and till the ground
In raising sugar cane. I
The STYLE it will be seen, is the "Glpn' style of
poetry-much the most effective for descriptive
purposes The assertions Of fact contained in this
verse, we suppose no one will dispute It is well
known that the slaves of Louisiana are unable to
work and till the ground (. in raising sugar canep
unless they are heavily ironed and fettered. For
this reason it is common custom for each planter
to cali up all his slaves in the morning and have
them fettered and laden with a chain Ihe ob
lection that this would interfere with their capac
ity for work we regard as too absurd for serious
| notice. @
Verse the second:
| Our language he hath never known
| His sorrows make him dumb
| His grievous bondage makes him groan--
| He drinks the drunkard's rum
| We regret that we cannot agree with the poet
touching the negroes acquaintance with ssour Ian
/ guage.n Here, in New Orleans and in many parts o
Louisiana, the darkies speak what is called "Gombc
/ FRENCH exclusively and cur author has no douh
taken this to be true Of the whole South. We, how
ever, assure him that he is in error. We have dis
tinct recollection of three or four occasions in ou
life when we heard the English language spoken BY
| the negro population. So far from their sorrow!
making them "dumb, we assert that at least half
dozen in every hundred have the power Of speech
This is an undenable fact, and shows that the poe
has been msinformed We trust that he will correc
it in his next edition. As to his bondage making hin
groan, and his drinking the drunkard's rum, w
have only to say we never yet heard groan fron
a darkey when drinking either rum or whisky.
i broad grin and bright smile generally accompan
i that operation whenever we have seen it pei
formed. Nor is the negro SO unjust and cruel
the drunkard'' as to drink that individual
:" = seeing that he can generally get as muc
rum of his own to drink as he can well setup to.
Having settled the question of drink, the poet,
the next verse, describes the darkey's fare in \,
spect of food. Here it is:
One peck of meal he has week,
And scanty is his meat; 5
His raging hunger makes him weak
In body, hands and feet
Here again the picture is oyerdrawn. So ia
from this being true, it is well known that on
tablespoonful of meal week, and an eighth OF a
ounce of meat, is considered by most of our plan
) II Tba II
greasy and hearty on this fare, and is SO far fro
being q weak that he can work all day, and the
dance half the night. IN. B. We.call special a
tenton to the rhyme Of the first and third line
.sWeekr and :" weak is good. 1t couldn't
better.)
II The three remaining verses of this magnifcel
poem we give without comment. We have mac
seyenty-four attempts to do justice to them in th
Y respect, but our feelings overcome us every tim
and our paper is saturated with briny tears. He
4 | are the verses:
!. He has no bed on which to sleep;
d He's treated like the swine;
II Inamentation hear him weep
d In sorrow and feplne.
II What degradation we are in
Il Corrupted when we fell;
I'll With Africis sons we live in sin,
i And choose the way to hell.
y Oh, wretched state of deep disgrace
d Its dreadful to rehearse;
II A wicked slavery stains our race
:, With judgments or curse.
i 1t only remains for us, in justice to this subn
j poet, to hand his name down to posterity. 1t
' Kelsey-Daniel Kelsey. The name, of itself, is n
a poetical one, nor suggestive Of the " divi
atlatus." But we think il must be conceded,
every impartial person, that Kelsey has not or
y climbed to the very top of Parnassus, but $
' serenely upon the highest limb Of the tallest tr
y that grows ON that sacred mount. We feel that
! are justified in calling for three cheers for Kelsey
= three cheers, together with rousing z tigei
y Vipe Kelsey! 1oJours Kelsey! Kelsey! X
= sey!!
Il RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
|. LECTURES ON NATURAL HISTORY. ByP. A. CHI
!, bourne. New York: Barnes & Burr. Sold HI
/ by II. d. McGinnis.
This is series Of four lectures on the RELATE
~. M