LESSON 47 THE SLAVE'S DREAM

THE SLAVE'S DREAM

Beside the ungathered rice he lay,

His sickle [1] in his hand;

His breast was bare, his matted hair

Was buried in the sand;

Again, in the midst and shadow of sleep,

He saw his native land.

Wide through the landscape of his dreams

The lordly Niger flowed;

Beneath the palm-trees on the plain

Once more a king he strode,

And heard the tinkling caravans [2]

Descend the mountain road.

He saw once more his dark-eyed queen

Among her children stand;

They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks,

They held him by the hand!

A tear burst from the sleeper's lids,

And fell into the sand.

And then at furious speed he rode

Along the Niger's bank;

His bridle-reins were golden chains,

And, with a martial clank,

At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel

Smiting his stallion's flank.

Before him, like a blood-red flag,

The bright flamingoes [3] flew;

From morn till night he followed their flight,

O'er plains where the tamarind [4] grew,

Till he saw the roofs of Kaffir [5] huts,

And the ocean rose to view.

At night he heard the lion roar,

And the hyena [6] scream,

And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds

Beside some hidden stream;

And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums,

Through the triumph of his dream.

The forests with their myriad [7] tongues

Shouted of liberty;

And the blast of the desert cried aloud

With a voice so wild and free,

That he started in his sleep, and smiled

At their tempestuous [8] glee.

He did not feel the driver's whip

Nor the burning heat of day;

For death had illumined the Land of Sleep,

And his lifeless body lay,

A worn-out fetter [9] , that the soul

Had broken and thrown away.

—HENRY LONGFELLOW

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[1] sickle: A kind of reaping hook.

[2] caravans: Companies of travellers who went together for safety.

[3] flamingoes: Web-footed, long-necked birds over five feet high.

[4] tamarind: A tropical fruit-bearing tree.

[5] Kaffir: Kaffirs are certain native tribes living in South Africa.

[6] hyena: A flesh-eating animal, the cry of which is said to resemble shrieking laughter.

[7] myriad: Countless.

[8] tempestuous: Stormy; noisy.

[9] fetter: Chain for the feet.