Slave Singing At Midnight, The

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Loud he sang the psalm of David!
He, a Negro and enslaved,
Sang of Israel's victory,
Sang of Zion, bright and free.

In that hour, when night is calmest,
Sang he from the Hebrew Psalmist,
In a voice so sweet and clear
That I could not choose but hear,

Songs of triumph, and ascriptions,
Such as reached the swart Egyptians,
When upon the Red Sea coast
Perished Pharaoh and his host.

And the voice of his devotion
Filled my soul with strange emotion;
For its tones by turns were glad,
Sweetly solemn, wildly sad.

Paul and Silas, in their prison,
Sang of Christ, the Lord arisen,
And an earthquake's arm of might
Broke their dungeon-gates at night.

But, alas! what holy angel
Brings the Slave this glad evangel?
And what earthquake's arm of might
Breaks his dungeon-gates at night?

Next 10 Poems

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Slave's Dream, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Snow-flakes
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Something Left Undone
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Son Of The Evening Star, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Sound Of The Sea, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Spirit Of Poetry, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : St. John's, Cambridge
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Sundown
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Sunrise On The Hills
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : The Arrow And The Song

Previous 10 Poems

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Slave In The Dismal Swamp, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Skeleton In Armor, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Sir Humphrey Gilbert
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Shakespeare
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Seaweed
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Republic, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Reaper And The Flowers, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Rainy Day, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Rain In Summer
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Quadroon Girl, The