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A review by jtloong
The Dying Negro: A Poem (1775) by John Bicknell, Thomas Day
4.0
https://joshualoong.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/review-the-dying-negro/
In a world so entrenched with racist worldviews, it took bold voices to speak out against the injustices of slavery and advocate for abolition in 18th century Britain. It was the tireless work of progressive revolutionaries, like the authors I am reviewing in this piece and countless other people both black and white, that fought against this oppressive system. A battle that took centuries and a momentous shift in public opinion that came in fits and starts.
This poem came at a pivotal time in the road to abolition in the British Empire. A year before its publishing in 1773, the 1772 Sommersett’s Case technically established that slavery could not exist under British Common Law. A radical step forward for abolitionists in the British Isles. Most likely inspired by these happenings at home and his travels in Africa, John Bicknell penned The Dying Negro to display the injustices of the institution of slavery. The piece was edited by Thomas Day and published anonymously six times. It has been called as one of the first “significant piece(s) of verse propaganda directed explicitly against the English slave systems”.
The poem concerns itself with a black slave who falls in love with a white woman aboard a ship he is imprisoned on. It deals with the man’s memories of Africa, his tortured love for a woman he is forbidden from being with, and his struggles with his faith if God would put his soul below those with a different skin colour. It ends with the slave’s visions of a future revolution sweeping out from Africa to avenge the crimes of slavery.
I rated the poem 7/10. It was a truly historically significant piece of verse that may have helped sway people of their racist mindsets. The language is a bit archaic and would take some getting used to, but the poetic metre helps you get into a rhythm when you read it. I would definitely recommend this poem to anyone who is interested in race relations and abolitionist history.
Thinking about these writers living in times where they feared for themselves over their progressive opinions, so much so that they refused to publish the work with their names, is inspirational. Despite their fears, these writers spoke out against the system their people were perpetuating, and influenced the writing and work of future abolitionists. It makes me think about how we need more visionary writers to continually speak out against oppression and injustice even today.
I’ll leave it off with this passage that I particularly enjoyed:
"When crimes like these thy injur’d pow’r prophane,
O God of Nature! art thou call’d in vain?
Did’st thou for this sustain a mortal wound,
While Heav’n, and Earth, and Hell, hung trembling round?
That these vile fetters might my body bind,
And agony like this distract my mind?
On thee I call’d with reverential awe,
Ador’d thy wisdom, and embrac’d thy law;
Yet mark thy destin’d convert as he lies,
His groans of anguish, and his livid eyes,
These galling chains, polluted with his blood,
Then bid his tongue proclaim thee just and good!"
P.S. You can find this poem online here: http://www.brycchancarey.com/slavery/dying.htm
In a world so entrenched with racist worldviews, it took bold voices to speak out against the injustices of slavery and advocate for abolition in 18th century Britain. It was the tireless work of progressive revolutionaries, like the authors I am reviewing in this piece and countless other people both black and white, that fought against this oppressive system. A battle that took centuries and a momentous shift in public opinion that came in fits and starts.
This poem came at a pivotal time in the road to abolition in the British Empire. A year before its publishing in 1773, the 1772 Sommersett’s Case technically established that slavery could not exist under British Common Law. A radical step forward for abolitionists in the British Isles. Most likely inspired by these happenings at home and his travels in Africa, John Bicknell penned The Dying Negro to display the injustices of the institution of slavery. The piece was edited by Thomas Day and published anonymously six times. It has been called as one of the first “significant piece(s) of verse propaganda directed explicitly against the English slave systems”.
The poem concerns itself with a black slave who falls in love with a white woman aboard a ship he is imprisoned on. It deals with the man’s memories of Africa, his tortured love for a woman he is forbidden from being with, and his struggles with his faith if God would put his soul below those with a different skin colour. It ends with the slave’s visions of a future revolution sweeping out from Africa to avenge the crimes of slavery.
I rated the poem 7/10. It was a truly historically significant piece of verse that may have helped sway people of their racist mindsets. The language is a bit archaic and would take some getting used to, but the poetic metre helps you get into a rhythm when you read it. I would definitely recommend this poem to anyone who is interested in race relations and abolitionist history.
Thinking about these writers living in times where they feared for themselves over their progressive opinions, so much so that they refused to publish the work with their names, is inspirational. Despite their fears, these writers spoke out against the system their people were perpetuating, and influenced the writing and work of future abolitionists. It makes me think about how we need more visionary writers to continually speak out against oppression and injustice even today.
I’ll leave it off with this passage that I particularly enjoyed:
"When crimes like these thy injur’d pow’r prophane,
O God of Nature! art thou call’d in vain?
Did’st thou for this sustain a mortal wound,
While Heav’n, and Earth, and Hell, hung trembling round?
That these vile fetters might my body bind,
And agony like this distract my mind?
On thee I call’d with reverential awe,
Ador’d thy wisdom, and embrac’d thy law;
Yet mark thy destin’d convert as he lies,
His groans of anguish, and his livid eyes,
These galling chains, polluted with his blood,
Then bid his tongue proclaim thee just and good!"
P.S. You can find this poem online here: http://www.brycchancarey.com/slavery/dying.htm