BESIDE the ungathered rice he lay, his sickle in his hand;His breast was bare, his matted hair was buried in the sand. Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep, he saw his native land.
Wide through the landscape of his dreams the lordly Nigerflowed;Beneath the palm-trees on the plain once more a king he strode, And heard the tinkling caravans descend the mountain-road.
He saw once more his dark-eyed queen among her children stand;They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks, they held him bythe hand! -A tear burst from the sleeper"s lids, and fell into the sand.
And then at furious speed he rode along the Niger"s bank; His bridle-reins were golden chains, and, with a martial clank,At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel smiting his stallion"sflank.
Before him, like a blood-red flag, the bright flamingoesflew;From morn till night he followed their flight, o"er plains wherethe tamarindgrew,
Till he saw the roofs of Caffre huts, and the ocean rose to view.
At night he heard the lion roar, and the hyena scream,And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds beside some bidden streamAnd it passed, like a glorious roll of drums, through the triumph of his dream.
The forests, with their myriad
tongues, ahouted of liberty;
And the blast of the desert cried aloud, with a voice so wild and free,That he started in his sleep and smiled at their tempestuous glee.
He did not feel the driver"s whip, nor the burning heat of day,For death had illumined the land of sleep, and his lifeless body lay A worn-out fetter that the soul had broken and thrown away.
- LONGFELLOW
QUESTIONS
Where was the slave lying? What had he once been?What did he dream? How did the dream end?
