The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1860-10-26
yflistellalleous.
JUAN PLACIDO.
ny JOHN O. WHITTIER.


Juan Placido was born slave on the cstat'
of Don Terrible do Castro. Ills father wa
an African, his mother mulatto. His mis-
trcss learned him to read. When he wa
twelve years of age, she died; and he fell int
less compassionate hands. At the age o
eighteen on seeing his mother struck with ,
heavy Whip, he for the first time turned upol
his tormentors. To use his own words, :!
felt the blow in my heart To utter lout
cry, and from q downcast boy, with tn,
tiinidlty of one meek asa lamb, to become al
at once ike raging lion, was thing OF
moment. lie was, however. subducd. ant
the next morning, together with his mother
q tenderly nurturcd and delicate woman
severely scourged. On seeing his mother
rudcly stripped. and thrown upon the groun,
hc at first, with tears, implorcd the oversees
to spare her; but ut tho sound Of the frs
blow, NJ IL cut into her naked flesh, he spran;
once more upon tho ruilian, who having su
perior strength, beat him until ho was ncare
dead than alive.
Alters suffering all the vicissitudes ofslaycry
hunger, nakedncss, stripes; after bravely an'
nobly bearing up against that slow, drcadfu
process which reduces the man to o thing
the image of God tn n piece OF merchandise
until hc had reached his thirty-eighth year
hc was unexpectedly released from his bonds
Some literary gentlemen in Havana, int
whose hands two OF three pieces OF his com
position had fallen, struck with tho yigor
spirit, and natural grace which they mani
tested, sought out the author. and raised {
subscription to purchase his freedom. III
came to Havana, and maintained himself b,
house painting, and such other employment
as his talents placed within his reach. III
wrote several poems, which have been pub
lishcd in Spanish at Havana, and translated
by DR.. Madden, under the title Of :"Poem'
by Slave"
1t is not too much to say Of these poems
that they will bear comparison with most o.
of the productions of modern Spanish litcra
turc. Certain 1t is, that their author is the
only Cuban poet. His style is bold and free
energetic. Some of his pieces arc sportiyt
and graceful: such is his address to the Cu
cuya, or Cuban FREELY. This beautiful insect
is sometimes fastened, in tiny nets, to the
light dresses of the Cuban ladies; a custom
to which the writer gallantly alludcs in thu
following lines:
"Ah! still as one looks on such brightness and
On such beauty as hers, one might envy tho doom
ora captive Cucuya, that's destined like this,
To be touched by her hand, and revived by hei
kiss.
In the cage her delicate hand has prepared,
The beautiful prisoner nestles unscaredi.
O'er her fair forehead shining senerely and bright
In beauty's own bondage revealing Its light.
And, when the light dance and reyel are done,
Shs bears 70 away t0 her alcoyc alone,
Where fed by her hand from tho care mats mos
choice
In secret II CLEANS at the sound Other voice.
q, beautiful maiden may heaven accord
Thy care OF the captive n fitting reward
And never may fortune tho fstters remove,
Ola heart that Is thine in tho bondage ofloyo =
In his "Drcam, "a fragment OF some length
he dwclls, in u touching manner, upon the
scenes OF his early years. 1t is addressed to
his brother Florence, who was a slave neaI
Mantanzas, while the author was in the same
condition at Havana. There is plaintiyC
and melancholy sweetness in these lines, a
natural pathos, which find their way to the
heart:-
Thou knowest, dear Florence, my suferings OF old
The struggles maintained with oppression for
years;
We shared them together; and each was consoled
With the love which was nutured by sorrow and
tears.
but now far apart, the sad pleasure Is gone;
We mnge our signs and our SORROWS no Inorej
The course Is q new one which each has 10 rum
Aud drcary for each is the pathway before.
INT in slumber our spirits at least shall commune,
We will meet. as of old, in the visions ofslecp,
In dreams which call back early days, when nj
noon,
For solitude pinng. in anguish Of late,
The heighth Of Quintan sought tor reposci
And there in the cool and the silence, the weight
Ofmy cares was forgotten,-i felt not my woes.
Exhausted and weary, the spell OF the place,
sank down on my eyelids and son slumber stole
So sweetly upon me, II left no trace
0fsorrow o'crcasting the light of the soul"
The writer then imagines himself bore light
" through the air to the place Of his birth.
The valley Of the Mantanzas lies beneath
him, hallowcd by tho graves of his parents.
He proceeds:
~ cared on that spot where together We playcdi
our innocent pastimes came fresh TO my mind,
Our mothers caress, and the fondness displayed
In each word and each look ofa parent 50 kind
looked on the mountain, whose fastncsses Wild
The fugitives seek from the rifle and hound,
Below were the fields where they suffered and
toilodi
And there the low graves of their comrades are
found.
The mill.hou.e was there, and the turmoil OF oldi
Ilut
known.
looked for tho stream where in childhood stroll.
When moment OF quiet and peace was my own.
With mingled emotions OF pleasure and pain.
Dear Florence ! sighed TO behold the once more;
souget thee, my brother. embraced thee again.
IJolnd hse a'iare, as fcf hse eJo's" !"
Some of his devotional pieces evince the
fervor and true feeling of the christian poet.
His "0dc to Religion" contains many admir-
able lines. Speaking of the martyrs Of the
early days Of christianity, he says finely
.s,ill In that cradle, purpled with their blood.
Tho infant faith waxed stronger day By day"
I cannot forbcar quoting tho last stanza Of
this poem:
20, God OF mercy, throned In glory high,
On earth aud all its misery look down ]!
Behold the wretched, hear the captlve's cry.
And all the exiled children round the thr ono
There would fain In contemplation gnre
On thy eternal beauty, and would make
or love one lasting canticle OF praise,
And every theme but thee henceiorth forsake,'
His best and noblcst production is an ode
TO Cuba written on the occasion oi DIR. Mad
den's departure from the island, and present.
cd to that gentleman. II was never pub
lished in Cuba, as its sentiments would have
snhiactcd the author 70 persecution. IL