The Liberator (newspaper)/September 18, 1857/Poems by Frances Ellen Watkins

Poems by Frances Ellen Watkins. We have before us a little collection of poems upon miscellaneous subjects, which we desire to commend to the notice of the contemners of the colored race, as an evidence of what that depressed people can accomplish in the field of general literature. The authoress, Miss Watkins, is a young lady of color, a native of Baltimore, and still resident there. She is very favorably known as a public speaker. She is about 22 years of age, of pleasing appearance and interesting manners, and one who is destined, we anticipate, to aid largely in the elevation and redemption of her sisters and brethren.

The poems in this little paper-covered volume—of which the tenth thousand has been issued—are, as Mr. Garrison says in an appropriate Introduction, ‘very creditable to her, both in a literary and moral point of view, and indicate the possession of a talent which, if carefully cultivated and properly encouraged, cannot fail to secure for herself a poetic reputation.’—Salem Observer.