Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
France: Vols. IX–X. 1876–79.
Toussaint L’Ouverture
By William Wordsworth (1770–1850)T
Whether the whistling rustic tends his plough
Within thy hearing, or thou liest now
Buried in some deep dungeon’s earless den:
O miserable chieftain!—where and when
Wilt thou find patience?—Yet die not, do thou
Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow;
Though fallen thyself, never to rise again,
Live and take comfort. Thou hast left behind
Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies,—
There ’s not a breathing of the common wind
That will forget thee: thou hast great allies.
Thy friends are exultations, agonies,
And love, and man’s unconquerable mind.