Poems (Southey)/Volume 1/To the Genius of Africa
To the GENIUS of AFRICA.
O thou who from the mountain's height Roll'st down thy clouds with all their weightOf waters to old Nile's majestic tide; Or o'er the dark sepulchral plainRecallest Carthage in her ancient pride, The Mistress of the Main;Hear Genuis, hear thy Children's cry! Not always should'st thou love.to brood Stern o'er the desert solitudeWhere seas of sand toss their hot surges high; Nor Genius should the midnight songDetain thee in some milder mood The palmy plains amongWhere Gambia to the torches lightFlows radiant thro' the awaken'd night, Ah linger not to hear the song! Genius avenge thy Children's wrong!The Dæmon Commerce on your shore Pours all the horrors of his train,And hark! where from the field of gore Howls the hyena o'er the slain!Lo! where the flaming village fires the skies!Avenging Power, awake—arise!
Arise, thy children's wrongs redress! Ah heed the mother's wretchedness When in the hot infectious air O'er her sick babe she bows opprest— Ah hear her when the Christians tear The drooping infant from her breast! Whelm'd in the waters he shall rest! Hear thou the wretched mother's cries, Avenging Power awake! arise!
By the rank infected air That taints those dungeons of despair, By those who there imprison'd die Where the black herd promiscuous lie, By the scourges blacken'd o'erAnd stiff and hard with human gore, By every groan of deep distress,By every curse of wretchedness,By all the train of Crimes that flow From the hopelessness of Woe,By every drop of blood bespilt,By Afric's wrongs and Europe's guilt, Awake! arise! avenge!
And thou hast heard! and o'er their blood-fed plains Swept thine avenging hurricanes;And bade thy storms with whirlwind roarDash their proud navies on the shore;And where their armies claim'd the fightWither'd all the warrior's might;And o'er the unholy host with baneful breathThere Genius thou hast breath'd the gales of Death.[1]1795.
- ↑ Alluding to the fatalities attending the British Armament to, and in, the West Indies.