Gesina Human
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ST no. 46743782
ENG1501
Assignment 01
GESINA HUMAN ENG1501 Assignment 1 St no. 46743782
Poetry: (Seasons Come to Pass)
Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.
The Negro’s Complaint
William Cowper
(1789)
GESINA HUMAN ENG1501 Assignment 1 St no. 46743782
The poem "The Negro's Complaint" by William Cowper is a seven-stanza poem, with each stanza consisting of eight lines. The poem employs a rhyme scheme, which is "ababcdcd" with strong end rhymes. http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/help-me-analise-poem-436276 This is basically the slave voices asking, Is there a God, like you tell us there is, does he want you to buy and sell us like we are nothing? http://ambersliteraryramblings.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-negros-complaint-william-cowper.html
Question 1
Cowper presents this poem to the reader in the voice of a slave. During the 18th century, African Americans,who were mostly slaves, were considered to be mere property and had very few rights, if any, as human beings. This poem is critiquing slavery and it shows, from the voice of a slave, how horrible slavery really was.
Forced from Home and all its pleasures Afric's coast I left forlorn, To encrease a stranger's treasures O'er the raging billows borne; Men from England bought and sold me, Pay'd my price in paltry gold, But through slave they have enroll'd me Minds are never to be sold. http://ambersliteraryramblings.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-negros-complaint-william-cowper.html The poem documents in a sense, a man's journey, albeit a journey he did not want to take, from his home in Africa to a life of slavery. It is evident that he was uprooted harshly from his life in Africa as seen in this line… Forc'd from home