[Poems by Tabb in] Father Tabb a study of his life and works with uncollected and unpublished poems |
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TO THE FREEDMAN |
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 | [Poems by Tabb in] Father Tabb |  |
TO THE FREEDMAN
Friend of the dusky visage, whereuponWhen all things else have yielded to the light
Abides the cleaving shadow of a night
The darker for the noonday's fiercer sun;
Among earth's kindred nations nearer, none
Than thine and mine. Thou standest in the fight,
A slave beside a master for whose right
Thine arm, with his uplifted, lost or won.
Nay; now the victor vanquished, when the foe
Exulting in a land of bondage free,
Flung out the signal, “Smite the smiter!” lo,
Thou wouldst not; but with new-wed Liberty
Wentest thy way—nor yet as glad to go,
But oft in tears that all the world might see.
| [Poems by Tabb in] Father Tabb | |