Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/373

regarded slavery. One evening, however, when I was more than usually annoyed and quite disconcerted by the observations of the people who came to see me, I found my—deliverance.

But I must give the history in the form which it has assumed in my memory.

DIFFERENT IMPRESSIONS.

I was in company

With men and women,

And heard small talk

Of little things,

Of poor pursuits,

And narrow feelings,

And narrow views

Of narrow minds.

I rushed out

To breathe more freely,

To look on nature.

The evening star

Rose pure and bright,

The western sky

Was flushed with light,

The crescent moon

Shone sweetly down

Amid the shadows

Of the town.

Where whispering trees

And fragrant flowers

Stood hushed in silent

Fragrant bowers.

All was romance,

All loveliness,

Wrapped in a trance

Of mystic bliss.

I looked on

In bitterness,

And sighed and asked,

Why the great Lord

Made such rich beauty

For such a race

Of little men?

I was in company

With men and women;