Poems on the Slave Trade- II (Robert Southey)

In the second part of Robert Southey’s “Poems on the Slave Trade”, he is describing the journey back on the slave ships. It is obvious by the first line that the slave is not happy and is fighting to prevent what is coming. However, it seems as if he is fighting for no reason—as if his words fall on deaf ears. While he is struggling to keep his freedom, it is doing him no good because there is no one there to help. Line 4 makes this seem as just another day by stating “The heavens all-favoring smile, the breeze is fair;” portraying the image that there is nothing special or unique about this day. Rather, he is just another slave and another slave ship in the British slave trade.

The sonnet continues on and the slave seems to have quieted down. While still enraged, he seems to be observing what is going on around him. Continuing from the fourth line, the crew seems quiet comfortable with this routine. Instead of being cautious or having feelings of guilt, it appears as if the crew is laughing and joking and carrying on as if nothing were happening. It is now that the slave realizes that there is no real point in crying or fighting. He has just become another part of the slave trade and nothing will change that. It still seems though, as if he is trying to hold out hope and is reaching out for his homeland. Lines 7 and 8 appear to be the slave asking himself why he is still trying to look out at the sea— home is only getting further and further away.

It seems as if the slave begins to fight an inner battle with himself, saying to “Go pine in want and anguish and despair” but that there will be no mercy from anyone. But he changes his mood, hoping that justice will prevail and carry this all way like the wind. It is by the “god of justice” that there will be “liberty and death the slave”, meaning that slavery will die and the emancipation of slaves will be granted.

Throughout the entire sonnet, Southey keeps a strong voice for the speaker. There is never a time when it seems as if the slave is torn down and vulnerable, rather he seems charged with emotion and anger towards what is happening to him. The sonnet carries a ‘ABBA CDDC EFEF GG’ rhyme scheme, but it is only the first eight lines that the rhymes really seem to stand out. The last six lines, while still rhyming, give the feeling that the slave has cooled down a little and is not as hostel as before. The emphasis on each word is not as strong in the last six lines, but it turns to the actual words that carrying the weight instead of the rhythm. By describing the “want and anguish and despair”, the reader is really being to see within the slave to the true feelings. This almost gives the feeling that the initial shock has worn off and he is finally internalizing the situation that is being flooded with all these new and unusual emotions. However, he is able to end it with a bit of hope and the feeling that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.