Horner's Corner

Wordsworth: To Toussaint l’Ouverture

by on Jul.10, 2009, under history, poetry

Toussaint-LOuvertureTO TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE

TOUSSAINT, the most unhappy man of men!
Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough
Within thy hearing, or thy head be now
Pillowed in some deep dungeon’s earless den;
O miserable Chieftain! where and when
Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou
Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow:
Though fallen thyself, never to rise again,
Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind
Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies;
There’s not a breathing of the common wind
That will forget thee; thou hast great allies;
Thy friends are exultations, agonies,
And love, and man’s unconquerable mind.

William Wordsworth

Toussaint led the slaves of Haiti in their revolt, inspired by the  the French Revolution. It was the first great successful slave revolution in modern history. Although captured by the French and imprisoned by them, he was a hero to all those inspired by the same ideals – as Wordsworth here indicates. See also my posting ‘The Bois Caiman and the Tennis Court Oath’

toussaint

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