27
But thou art too lovely and precious a gem,
To be bound to their burdens and sullied by them—
For shame, Ellen, shame!—cast thy bondage aside,
And away to the south, as my blessing and pride.
Oh, come where no winter thy footsteps can wrong,
But where flowers are blossoming all the year long,
Where the palmetto's shadow is over my home,
And the lemon and orange wave white in their bloom!
Oh come to my home, where my servants shall all
Depart at thy bidding and come at thy call—
They shall heed thee as mistress with trembling and awe,
And each wish of thy heart shall be felt as a law.'
Oh, could ye have seen her—that pride of our girls,
Arise and cast back the dark wealth of her curls,
With a scorn in her eye which the gazer could feel,
And a glance like the sunshine that flashes on steel!
'Go back, haughty Southron! thy treasures of gold
Are dim with the blood of the hearts thou hast sold;
Thy home may be lovely, but round it I hear
The crack of the whip and the footsteps of fear!
And the sky of thy south may be brighter than ours,
And greener thy landscapes and fairer thy flowers;
But, dearer the blast round our mountains which raves,
Than the sweet summer zephyr which breathes over slaves!
