George Moses Horton

When auburn Autumn mounts the stage,
And Summer fails her charms to yield,
Bleak nature turns another page,
...

Am I sadly cast aside,
On misfortune's rugged tide?
Will the world my pains deride
Forever?
...

I was a harness horse,
Constrained to travel weak or strong,
With orders from oppressing force,
Push along, push along.
...

Blown up with painful care and hard to light,
A glimmering torch blown in a moment out,
Suspended by a web, an angler's bait,
Floating at stake along the stream of chance,
...

Alas! and am I born for this,
To wear this slavish chain?
Deprived of all created bliss,
Through hardship, toil and pain!
...

Sweet memory, like a pleasing dream,
Still lends a dull and feeble ray;
For ages with her vestige teems,
When beauty's trace is worn away.
...

Esteville fire begins to burn;
The auburn fields of harvest rise;
The torrid flames again return,
And thunders roll along the skies.
...

Whilst tracing thy visage I sink in emotion,
For no other damsel so wond'rous I see;
Thy looks are so pleasing, thy charms so amazing,
...

It well bespeaks a man beheaded, quite
Divested of the laurel robe of life,
When every member struggles for its base,
...

Brave Grant, thou hero of the war,
Thou art the emblem of the morning star,
Transpiring from the East to banish fear,
...

Deceitful worm, that undermines the clay,
Which slyly steals the thoughtless soul away,
Pervading neighborhoods with sad surprise,
...

When on life's ocean first I spread my sail,
I then implored a mild auspicious gale;
And from the slippery strand I took my flight,
...

Sweet on the house top falls the gentle shower,
When jet black darkness crowns the silent hour,
When shrill the owlet pours her hollow tone,
...

Hail happy pair from whom such raptures rise,
On whom I gaze with pleasure and surprize;
From thy bright rays the gloom of strife is driven,
...

I feel myself in need
Of the inspiring strains of ancient lore,
My heart to lift, my empty mind to feed,
And all the world explore.
...

I loved thee from the earliest dawn,
When first I saw thy beauty's ray;
And will until life's eve comes on,
...

See sad deluded love, in years too late,
With tears desponding o'er the tomb of fate,
While dusky evening's veil excludes the light
...

Far, far above this world I soar,
And almost nature lose,
Aerial regions to explore,
With this ambitious Muse.
...

Oh, heartless dove! mount in the skies,
Spread thy soft wing upon the gale,
...

Salute the august train! a scene so grand,
With every tuneful band;
The mighty brave,
His country bound to save,
...