{"id":135,"date":"2025-08-17T15:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/?page_id=135"},"modified":"2025-09-09T16:10:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:10:03","slug":"robert-hayden-middle-passage-1945-1962","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/texts\/robert-hayden-middle-passage-1945-1962\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Hayden, \u201cMiddle Passage\u201d (1945, 1962)"},"content":{"rendered":"

INTRODUCTION<\/h3>\n
\"Hayden\"<\/a>
Robert Hayden (JSTOR<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robert Hayden<\/a> (1913\u20131980) grew up in Detroit, Michigan and published his first book of poetry in 1940.\u00a0 He then entered graduate school at the University of Michigan where he studied with the poet W.H. Auden.\u00a0 Hayden spent the rest of his career as an English professor and a poet.\u00a0 In 1976, he became the first black Library of Congress “consultant in poetry” (poet laureate).\u00a0 The historical poem “Middle Passage,” originally written in the 1940s and then later revised, is widely regarded as his masterpiece; Edward Hirsch calls it “a landmark for American poetry” and “a breakthrough in subject matter” (Heart of American Poetry,\u00a0<\/em>241).\u00a0 To write this epic of the African slave trade, the gruesome process of transporting kidnapped Africans into slavery in the Americas known as the “Middle Passage,” Hayden spent years researching historical documents and books.\u00a0 The poem has three numbered parts;\u00a0 Part I describes the horrors on the slave ships (like the Esperanza<\/em>); Part II depicts the slave trade through the recollections of white traders; and finally, Part III introducing Joseph Cinquez (Sengbe Pieh), an African hero, who led a famous slave revolt in 1839 aboard the Amistad<\/em> off the coast of Cuba.<\/p>\n

\n

Middle Passage<\/h3>\n

I<\/span><\/p>\n

Jes\u00fas, Estrella, Esperanza, Mercy:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sails flashing to the wind like weapons,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 sharks following the moans the fever and the dying;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 horror the corposant and compass rose.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Middle Passage:\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0voyage through death\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to life upon these shores.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c10 April 1800\u2014\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Blacks rebellious. Crew uneasy. Our linguist says\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 their moaning is a prayer for death,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ours and their own. Some try to starve themselves.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lost three this morning leaped with crazy laughter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to the waiting sharks, sang as they went under.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Desire, Adventure, Tartar, Ann:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Standing to America, bringing home\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 black gold, black ivory, black seed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Deep in the festering hold thy father lies,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of his bones New England pews are made,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0those are altar lights that were his eyes.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saviour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pilot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Me\u00a0<\/span>
\nOver\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Life\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tempestuous\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sea\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We pray that Thou wilt grant, O Lord,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nsafe passage to our vessels bringing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nheathen souls unto Thy chastening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saviour\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c8 bells. I cannot sleep, for I am sick\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with fear, but writing eases fear a little\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 since still my eyes can see these words take shape\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 upon the page & so I write, as one\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 would turn to exorcism. 4 days scudding,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 but now the sea is calm again. Misfortune\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 follows in our wake like sharks (our grinning\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tutelary gods). Which one of us\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 has killed an albatross? A plague among\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 our blacks\u2014Ophthalmia: blindness\u2014& we\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 have jettisoned the blind to no avail.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It spreads, the terrifying sickness spreads.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Its claws have scratched sight from the Capt.’s eyes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 & there is blindness in the fo\u2019c\u2019sle\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 & we must sail 3 weeks before we come\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to port.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What port awaits us, Davy Jones\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0or home? I\u2019ve heard of slavers drifting, drifting,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0playthings of wind and storm and chance, their crews\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0gone blind, the jungle hatred\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0crawling up on deck.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Thou\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Who\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Walked\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Galilee\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDeponent further sayeth\u00a0The Bella J<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 left the Guinea Coast\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with cargo of five hundred blacks and odd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for the barracoons of Florida:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThat there was hardly room \u2019tween-decks for half\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the sweltering cattle stowed spoon-fashion there;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 that some went mad of thirst and tore their flesh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and sucked the blood:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThat Crew and Captain lusted with the comeliest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of the savage girls kept naked in the cabins;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 that there was one they called The Guinea Rose\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and they cast lots and fought to lie with her:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThat when the Bo\u2019s\u2019n piped all hands, the flames\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 spreading from starboard already were beyond\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 control, the negroes howling and their chains\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 entangled with the flames:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThat the burning blacks could not be reached,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 that the Crew abandoned ship,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 leaving their shrieking negresses behind,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 that the Captain perished drunken with the wenches:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFurther Deponent sayeth not.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pilot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pilot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Me\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0II<\/span><\/p>\n

Aye, lad, and I have seen those factories,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nGambia, Rio Pongo, Calabar;\u00a0<\/span>
\nhave watched the artful mongos baiting traps\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nof war wherein the victor and the vanquished\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Were caught as prizes for our barracoons.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nHave seen the nigger kings whose vanity\u00a0<\/span>
\nand greed turned wild black hides of Fellatah,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nMandingo, Ibo, Kru to gold for us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And there was one\u2014King Anthracite we named him\u2014\u00a0<\/span>
\nfetish face beneath French parasols\u00a0<\/span>
\nof brass and orange velvet, impudent mouth\u00a0<\/span>
\nwhose cups were carven skulls of enemies:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019d honor us with drum and feast and conjo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nand palm-oil-glistening wenches deft in love,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nand for tin crowns that shone with paste,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nred calico and German-silver trinkets\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Would have the drums talk war and send\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nhis warriors to burn the sleeping villages\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nand kill the sick and old and lead the young\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nin coffles to our factories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Twenty years a trader, twenty years,\u00a0<\/span>
\nfor there was wealth aplenty to be harvested\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nfrom those black fields, and I\u2019d be trading still\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nbut for the fevers melting down my bones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0III<\/span><\/p>\n

Shuttles in the rocking loom of history,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nthe dark ships move, the dark ships move,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\ntheir bright ironical names\u00a0<\/span>
\nlike jests of kindness on a murderer\u2019s mouth;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nplough through thrashing glister toward\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nfata morgana\u2019s lucent melting shore,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nweave toward New World littorals that are\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nmirage and myth and actual shore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Voyage through death,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 voyage whose chartings are unlove.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A charnel stench, effluvium of living death\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nspreads outward from the hold,\u00a0<\/span>
\nwhere the living and the dead, the horribly dying,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nlie interlocked, lie foul with blood and excrement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Deep in the festering hold thy father lies,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the corpse of mercy rots with him,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 rats eat love\u2019s rotten gelid eyes.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But, oh, the living look at you\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with human eyes whose suffering accuses you,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whose hatred reaches through the swill of dark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to strike you like a leper\u2019s claw.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You cannot stare that hatred down\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 or chain the fear that stalks the watches\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and breathes on you its fetid scorching breath;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cannot kill the deep immortal human wish,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the timeless will.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBut for the storm that flung up barriers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of wind and wave,\u00a0The Amistad<\/em>, se\u00f1ores,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0would have reached the port of Pr\u00edncipe in two,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0three days at most; but for the storm we should\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0have been prepared for what befell.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Swift as the puma\u2019s leap it came. There was\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0that interval of moonless calm filled only\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0with the water\u2019s and the rigging\u2019s usual sounds,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0then sudden movement, blows and snarling cries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and they had fallen on us with machete\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and marlinspike. It was as though the very\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0air, the night itself were striking us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Exhausted by the rigors of the storm,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0we were no match for them. Our men went down\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0before the murderous Africans. Our loyal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Celestino ran from below with gun\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and lantern and I saw, before the cane-\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0knife\u2019s wounding flash, Cinquez,\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0that surly brute who calls himself a prince,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0directing, urging on the ghastly work.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He hacked the poor mulatto down, and then\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0he turned on me. The decks were slippery\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0when daylight finally came. It sickens me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to think of what I saw, of how these apes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0threw overboard the butchered bodies of\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0our men, true Christians all, like so much jetsam.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Enough, enough. The rest is quickly told:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cinquez was forced to spare the two of us\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0you see to steer the ship to Africa,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and we like phantoms doomed to rove the sea\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0voyaged east by day and west by night,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0deceiving them, hoping for rescue,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0prisoners on our own vessel, till\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0at length we drifted to the shores of this\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0your land, America, where we were freed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0from our unspeakable misery. Now we\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0demand, good sirs, the extradition of\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cinquez and his accomplices to La\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Havana. And it distresses us to know\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0there are so many here who seem inclined\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to justify the mutiny of these blacks.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We find it paradoxical indeed\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0that you whose wealth, whose tree of liberty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0are rooted in the labor of your slaves\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0should suffer the august John Quincy Adams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to speak with so much passion of the right\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of chattel slaves to kill their lawful masters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and with his Roman rhetoric weave a hero\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0garland for Cinquez. I tell you that\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0we are determined to return to Cuba\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0with our slaves and there see justice done. Cinquez\u2014\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0or let us say \u2018the Prince\u2019\u2014Cinquez shall die.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The deep immortal human wish,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the timeless will:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cinquez its deathless primaveral image,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0life that transfigures many lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Voyage through death\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to life upon these shores.<\/span><\/p>\n

Handout –Hayden<\/a><\/p>\n

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