The Works of James M. Whitfield: America and Other Writings by a Nineteenth-Century African American Poet

MIDNIGHT MUSINGS

90 America and Other Poems May that same God whose ægis led Our patriot sires on Bunker’s⁵⁸ height, Shed the same blessings on our head, The heroes of a nobler fight— A fight not waged by fire and sword, And quenched in gore and human blood, But only by that Sacred Word, The mandate of Almighty God. Our cause is Love, our weapon Truth, Our ally is the living God; Matron and maiden, sire and youth, Shall feel the power of his rod. Prone to the dust, shall Slavery fall, And all its withering influence die, While liberty, the boon of all, Shall swell through earth, and air, and sky. MIDNIGHT MUSINGS THE gloomy night has cast a shroud Upon the dwelling-place of men; Hushed are the voices of the crowd, And silence reigns o’er hill and glen. My winged fancy takes its flight Through the unfathomed dark abyss, And rends the vail of somber night From many scenes of woe and bliss. 58. The first significant military conflict between the colonial army and British forces, the Battle of Bunker Hill took place on 17 June 1775, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Although the British troops emerged victorious, they suffered significant casualties, leading the colonists to claim a moral victory. America and Other Poems 91 I enter first the poor man’s cot; The sick wife, on her straw-made bed, Reflects upon her lowly lot, While piercing pains distract her head; The famished children’s cries for bread Are issued in such piteous tones, The father hangs his drooping head, To hear his wife and children’s moans.⁵⁹ The eyes of all that meager train Turned upon him to seek relief: The thought o’erwhelms his burning brain With silent but expressive grief. Near to the cot, a mansion proud Raises its stately roof tow’rd heaven; While mirth and revelry full loud Burst on the stillness of the even. Here wealth spreads her luxurious board, And glittering crowds the feast partake, Not caring how the starving horde Of hungry poor their fast may break. The wealth profusely squandered here, In gorgeous dress and proud array, Would furnish forth good homely cheer On many a dreary winter’s day, To those who now, by want oppressed, Or smitten by some dire disease, Pray fervently to God for rest, That death may come their pangs to ease. 59. A probable source (and subject) of the poem is Buffalo’s 1849 cholera epidemic, which killed nearly 900 people. 92 America and Other Poems And do you think a righteous God Will listen to your wretched pleas, That when you saw his chastening rod Inflicting famine and disease Upon your fellow-men, that ye Should grant no aid to their distress, But use your every energy To wrong, and crush them, and oppress? No! when you stand before his bar, You’ll hear pronounced this awful doom: “Depart from me, ye cursed, afar, And give my humble followers room!” ODE TO MUSIC⁶⁰ THERE’S music wheresoe’er we roam— ’T is heard in ocean’s crested foam, And in the billows’ deafening roar, Which madly burst upon the shore: They sing of Heaven’s eternal Lord, Who calms their raging by his word. There’s music in the gentle breeze, Which softly blows among the trees, Shaking fresh fragrance from the flowers, In blooming fields and shady bowers; They sing of Him whose power below, Caused trees, and grass, and flowers to grow. 60. First published in the North Star, 22 March 1850, 4. ...