 | [John Brown and the colored child, in] The freedmen's book |  |
TO THE LOYAL AND BRAVE CAPTAIN ROBERT SMALL, Hero of the Steamboat Planter, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY L. MARIA CHILD.
241
JOHN BROWN AND THE COLORED CHILD.
[_]
[When John Brown went from the jail to the gallows, in Charlestown, Virginia, December 2, 1859, he stooped to kiss a little colored child.]
A winter sunshine, still and bright,
The Blue Hills bathed with golden light,
And earth was smiling to the sky,
When calmly he went forth to die.
The Blue Hills bathed with golden light,
And earth was smiling to the sky,
When calmly he went forth to die.
Infernal passions festered there,
Where peaceful Nature looked so fair;
And fiercely, in the morning sun,
Flashed glitt'ring bayonet and gun.
Where peaceful Nature looked so fair;
And fiercely, in the morning sun,
Flashed glitt'ring bayonet and gun.
The old man met no friendly eye,
When last he looked on earth and sky;
But one small child, with timid air,
Was gazing on his hoary hair.
When last he looked on earth and sky;
But one small child, with timid air,
Was gazing on his hoary hair.
As that dark brow to his upturned,
The tender heart within him yearned;
And, fondly stooping o'er her face,
He kissed her for her injured race.
The tender heart within him yearned;
And, fondly stooping o'er her face,
He kissed her for her injured race.
242
The little one she knew not why
That kind old man went forth to die;
Nor why, 'mid all that pomp and stir,
He stooped to give a kiss to her.
That kind old man went forth to die;
Nor why, 'mid all that pomp and stir,
He stooped to give a kiss to her.
But Jesus smiled that sight to see,
And said, “He did it unto me.”
The golden harps then sweetly rung,
And this the song the angels sung:
And said, “He did it unto me.”
The golden harps then sweetly rung,
And this the song the angels sung:
“Who loves the poor doth love the Lord;
Earth cannot dim thy bright reward:
We hover o'er yon gallows high,
And wait to bear thee to the sky.”
Earth cannot dim thy bright reward:
We hover o'er yon gallows high,
And wait to bear thee to the sky.”
| [John Brown and the colored child, in] The freedmen's book | |