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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CREOLE SLAVE SONG: THE DIRGE OF SY. MALO, by GEORGE WASHINGTON CABLE Poet's Biography First Line: Alas! Young men, come, make lament Last Line: For carrion crows to feed upon. Subject(s): Slavery; Serfs | |||
Alas! young men, come, make lament For poor St. Malo in distress! They chased, they hunted him with dogs, They fired at him with a gun. They hauled him from the cypress swamp. His arms they tied behind his back, They tied his hands in front of him; They tied him to a horse's tail, They dragged him up into the town. Before those grand Cabildo men They charged that he had made a plot To cut the throats of all the whites. They asked him who his comrades were; Poor St. Malo said not a word! The judge his sentence read to him, And then they raised the gallows-tree. They drew the horse -- the cart moved off -- And left St. Malo hanging there. The sun was up an hour high When on the Levee he was hung; They left his body swinging there, For carrion crows to feed upon. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JOY IN THE WOODS by CLAUDE MCKAY ELIZABETH KECKLEY: 30 YEARS A SLAVE AND 4 YEARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE by E. ETHELBERT MILLER EMANCIPATION by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER JOHN BROWN'S BODY by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET THE NEW ARRIVAL by GEORGE WASHINGTON CABLE |
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