Poems on the Slave Trade - IV (Post by Chris Kotecki)

In the fourth sonnet of Robert Southey’s “Poems on the Slave Trade,” Southey depicts a much more emotional side of the slave. This particular sonnet, which takes on a rhyme scheme of ABBA CDDC EFEFEF, is much more personal than the others, as it describes the emotional toll that slavery has on a person and his or her loved ones. The poem is filled with strong, emotional words that evoke feelings of misery and depression. The words that Southey uses to describe the emotional suffering of the slave and his loved one are so deep that they seem to become physical, wearing their bodies down.

The poem begins by discussing the “mercenary tyrants” who are now asleep. As soon as they are asleep, the “wretched slave” wakes up to weep. The poem describes how the slave never once complained or showed any sort of despair “through the toil and anguish of the day.” He stayed strong throughout the day, most likely because he knew that showing signs of weakness during the day would not help him in any sort of way.

Yet once night came, he weeps, thinking of the woman he loves, as she “weeps for him who will return no more.” In a way, this shows his compassion and unselfishness, yet also his anguish. At a time when he needs rest more than anything, he finds that he cannot sleep, and instead is crying through the night. Yet he does not cry for himself and the physical pain that he has suffered throughout the day. Instead, he thinks about how the woman he loves has been left alone, knowing that she will never see him again.

The most intriguing aspect of Southey’s sonnet is the form that it takes. Each poem in his “Poems on the Slave Trade” has a different tone, rhyme scheme, and style, yet the fourth sonnet seems to differ the most. While the other poems are filled with more anger and pain, this poem is more emotional in the fact that it describes a relationship that has been broken up forever due to slavery. In order to further convey this message, Southey uses a of the Petrarchen sonnet. In the first two quatrains, Southey discusses he anguish that the slave has been holding in all day, and is finally able to let out at night. Initially, one assumes that he weeps for himself. He is in physical and emotional pain. Yet, at the end of the second quatrain is the volta, and the poem takes a different turn. Here, the reader realizes that the slave is actually weeping for his lover that he left alone.

A sonnet that is written in the Petrarchen form typically describes some sort of unattainable love, which is why Southey uses this style to write the poem. What could make love more unattainable than when the man is captured and forced into slavery? The slave is essentially helpless in this particular situation, and has come to terms with the fact that he will never see his lover again. Still though, it is his lover’s despair that he worries most about.