Enslaved

Oh when I think of my long-suffering race,  For weary centuries despised, oppressed,  Enslaved and lynched, denied a human place  In the great life line of the Christian West;  And in the Black Land disinherited,  Robbed in the ancient country of its birth,  My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead,  For this my race that has no home on earth.  Then from the dark depths of my soul I cry  To the avenging angel to consume  The white man's world of wonders utterly:  Let it be swallowed up in earth's vast womb,  Or upward roll as sacrificial smoke  To liberate my people from its yoke!

Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.

The lyrical form of this poem is ababcdcdefefgg.