Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 1.djvu/57

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41

By those who there imprison'd die
Where the black herd promiscuous lie,
By the scourges blacken'd o'er
And stiff and hard with human gore,
By every groan of deep distress,
By every curse of wretchedness,
By all the train of Crimes that flow
From the hopelessness of Woe,
By every drop of blood bespilt,
By Afric's wrongs and Europe's guilt,
Awake! arise! avenge!

And thou hast heard! and o'er their blood-fed plains
Swept thine avenging hurricanes;
And bade thy storms with whirlwind roar
Dash their proud navies on the shore;
And where their armies claim'd the fight
Wither'd all the warrior's might;
And o'er the unholy host with baneful breath
There Genius thou hast breath'd the gales of Death.[1]
1795.



  1. Alluding to the fatalities attending the British Armament to, and in, the West Indies.