Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CHRISTIAN SETTLEMENTS IN AFRICA, by LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Winds! What have ye gathered from afric's strand Last Line: "when the sun from the midnight of chaos burst." Subject(s): Africa; Christianity; Missions & Missionaries | ||||||||
WINDS! what have ye gathered from Afric's strand, As ye swept the breadth of that fragrant land? The breath of the spice-bud, the rich perfume Of balm and of gum and of flowret's bloom? "We have gather'd nought, save a pagan prayer, And the stifling sigh of the heart's despair." Waves! what have ye heard on that ancient coast Where Egypt the might of her fame did boast, Where the statue of Memnon saluted the morn, And the pyramids tower in their giant scorn? "We have heard the curse of the slave-ship's crew, And the shriek of the chain'd as the shores withdrew." Stars! what have ye seen with the glancing eye From your burning thrones in the sapphire-sky? "We have mark'd young hope as it brightly glow'd, On Afric's breast whence the blood-drop flow'd, And we chanted the hymn which we sang at first, When the sun from the midnight of Chaos burst." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ENGLISH GRAVEYARD IN MALACCA by KAREN SWENSON THE FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS AT MOTHER TERESA'S by KAREN SWENSON EPITAPH ON HENRY MARTYN by THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY THE CAPTURE OF LUCKNOW by WILLIAM MCGONAGALL FATHER LUCIEN GALTIER by HELEN LETHERT MEIER MORAVIAN MISSIONS by JAMES MONTGOMERY THE GENESIS OF A MISSIONARY by FREDERICK WILLIAM HENRY MYERS COLUMBUS [JANUARY, 1487] by LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY |
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