"O ye slaves whom Massa beat, / Ye are stained with guilt within / As ye hope for mercy sweet / So forgive your Massas' Sin."
— More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Author
Place of Publication
London and Bath
Publisher
J. Marshall and S. Hazard, Cheap Repository
Date
1795
Metaphor
"O ye slaves whom Massa beat, / Ye are stained with guilt within / As ye hope for mercy sweet / So forgive your Massas' Sin."
Metaphor in Context
Told me too, like one who knew him,
(Can such love as this be true?)
How he dy'd for them that slew him.
Died for wretched Yamba too.
Freely he his mercy proffer'd,
And to Sinners he was sent;
E'en to Massa pardon's offer'd;
O if Massa would repent!
Wicked deed full many a time
Sinful Yamba too hath done;
But she wails to God her crime;
But she trusts his only Son.
O ye slaves whom Massa beat,
Ye are stained with guilt within
As ye hope for mercy sweet
So forgive your Massas' Sin.
And with grief when sinking low,
Mark the Road that Yamba trod;
Think how all her pain and woe
Brought the Captive home to God.
(Can such love as this be true?)
How he dy'd for them that slew him.
Died for wretched Yamba too.
Freely he his mercy proffer'd,
And to Sinners he was sent;
E'en to Massa pardon's offer'd;
O if Massa would repent!
Wicked deed full many a time
Sinful Yamba too hath done;
But she wails to God her crime;
But she trusts his only Son.
O ye slaves whom Massa beat,
Ye are stained with guilt within
As ye hope for mercy sweet
So forgive your Massas' Sin.
And with grief when sinking low,
Mark the Road that Yamba trod;
Think how all her pain and woe
Brought the Captive home to God.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Hannah More [attrib.], The Sorrows of Yamba or The Negro Woman's Lamentation (London: Cheap Repository, 1795). <Link to UVa E-Text Center>
Date of Entry
06/17/2011
