Good Novel
And, as our horses slowly drew
Nearer the little house in view,
All briefly I heard the history
Of this little old Negro woman and
Her husband, house and scrap of land;
How they were slaves and had been made free
By their dying master, years ago
In old Virginia; and then had come
North here into a free state - so,
Safe forever, to found a home -
For themselves alone? - for they left South there
Five strong sons, who had, alas!
All been sold ere it came to pass
This first old master with his last breath
Had freed the parents. - (He went to death
Agonized and in dire despair
That the poor slave children might not share
Their parents' freedom. And wildly then