"Thus all things added to my pain, / While grief compell'd me to complain; / When sable clouds began to rise / My mind grew darker than the skies."
— Equiano, Olaudah [Gustavus Vasa] (c. 1745-1797)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed and sold for the author, by T. Wilkins
Date
1789
Metaphor
"Thus all things added to my pain, / While grief compell'd me to complain; / When sable clouds began to rise / My mind grew darker than the skies."
Metaphor in Context
And why thus spar'd when nigh to hell?—
God only knew—I could not tell!
'A tott ring fence a bowing wall,'
'I thought myself ere since the fall.'
Oft times I mus'd, and nigh despair,
While birds melodious fill'd the air:
'Thrice happy songsters, ever free,'
How blest were they, compar'd to me!
Thus all things added to my pain,
While grief compell'd me to complain;
When sable clouds began to rise
My mind grew darker than the skies.
The English nation call'd to leave,
How did my breast with sorrows heave!
I long'd for rest—cried "Help me, Lord!
"Some mitigation, Lord, afford!"
Yet on, dejected, still I went—
Heart-throbbing woes within me pent;
Nor land, nor sea, could comfort give,
Nor aught my anxious mind relieve.
Weary with troubles yet unknown
To all but God and self alone,
Numerous months for peace I strove,
Numerous foes I had to prove.
(II, p. 164)
God only knew—I could not tell!
'A tott ring fence a bowing wall,'
'I thought myself ere since the fall.'
Oft times I mus'd, and nigh despair,
While birds melodious fill'd the air:
'Thrice happy songsters, ever free,'
How blest were they, compar'd to me!
Thus all things added to my pain,
While grief compell'd me to complain;
When sable clouds began to rise
My mind grew darker than the skies.
The English nation call'd to leave,
How did my breast with sorrows heave!
I long'd for rest—cried "Help me, Lord!
"Some mitigation, Lord, afford!"
Yet on, dejected, still I went—
Heart-throbbing woes within me pent;
Nor land, nor sea, could comfort give,
Nor aught my anxious mind relieve.
Weary with troubles yet unknown
To all but God and self alone,
Numerous months for peace I strove,
Numerous foes I had to prove.
(II, p. 164)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
11 entries in ESTC (1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794).
See The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself., 2 vols. (London: Printed and sold for the author, by T. Wilkins, 1789). <Link to Documenting the American South Edition><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Link to Vol. II in ECCO-TCP>
See The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself., 2 vols. (London: Printed and sold for the author, by T. Wilkins, 1789). <Link to Documenting the American South Edition><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Link to Vol. II in ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/18/2013
