• Arame Sene
• FIQWS 10015 HA 25
• Poetic Analysis EssayNovember 22nd, 2019

The voices of the enslaved.

Slavery is any system in which principles of property law are applied to people, allowing individuals to own, buy, and sell other individuals. Slavery has changed many colored people’s life whether they have been through it or not. Lucy Terry and Frances Harper are examples of the itinerary of slavery.Lucy Terry, also known as Lucy Terry Prince, was an enslaved woman in the 1700s. She was brought from Africa to America and was baptized as a Christian in her early years. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an African American abolitionist, poet, and teacher. She used to live in Baltimore and had the opportunity to attend school because her parents were free blacks. In the two poems, the authors have divergent views about the idea of being colonized. In the poem “Bars Fight”, the author praises the colonists because of the treatment they gave her. When in the other poem, “Bible Defense of Slavery”, the author talks about the colonists who used the Bible to manipulate enslaved people by giving them false facts.“Bars Fight” is a ballad about an attack on two families by Native Americans and is a poem that has an AA BB rhyme. While reading the poem, the use of anaphora and alliteration can be noticed when words are repeated at the beginning of the sentence and repetition of the consonants. The title of the poem “Bars Fight” comes from the area where the attack took place, the “Bars” is an area in Deerfield.In this poem, Lucy Terry can be considered a griot because she was spreading the news about what happened during the attack. Griots, originally from West 2Sene2Africa mostly in Senegal and Mali, are considered as storytellers, song singers, and poets. As stated by Lucy Terry, “Bars Fight”: “Eunice Allen see the Indians coming, and hopes to see herself by running, and had not her petticoats stopped her, the awful creatures had not cached her (line 22)”. Lucy Terry showed her anger by using strong words to describe the way Eunice Allen, one of her friends, was killed. Through her poem, we can see familiarity with people who were killed in the attack. She showed sadness and compassion while narrating their deaths, and anger when she described the Native Americans. The author stated in the poem “Bars Fight”: “some very valiant men to slay” (Terry 4). Lucy Terry used very positive words to describe her “friends”, the colonists. Knowing that she used to be enslaved, it can be perplexing to see the tenderness she uses while describing them. In this poem, we can see the use of pathos and telos because the poem has a sense of emotion and many readers would feel empathy. Also, the poem “Bars Fight” is a poem that is full of hidden messages and confessions from the author toward her audience. LucyTerry’s admiration for the colonist comes from the experience of being well treated.The poem “Bible Defense of Slavery” is a sonnet composed of an ABCD rhyme. The author also used personification and talked about slavery as a human being. In “the defense of slavery”, the author is addressing her goal to advocate for enslaved people. In the second stanza of the poem “Bible Defense of Slavery”, Harper stated that “Let holy horror blanch each cheek, pale every brow with fears; and rocks and stones, if ye could speak, ye well might melt to tears! “. This shows the religious tone that was used in the text when the author used the words “holy”. It emphasizes the idea that the author expresses how God is used for the benefit of the colonist. Additionally, Harper is furious enslavers when she said that even rocks and stones that were used to torture enslaved people would be themselves devastated by their wickedness if 3Sene3they could talk. Moreover, in the fourth stanza, Harper stated that “A (reverend) man, whose light should be the guide of age and youth, brings to the shrine of slavery the sacrifice of truth”. This means that the colonists brainwashed enslaved people by using the role of a leader, who is supposed to be a man of God. They were dishonest towards enslaved people by providing false information from the Bible. Considering that a reverend is a guide for the souls that are sure to bring them in the right direction. Harper in every part of her poem gives a rough mode toward the enslavers because they were evils and heartless. Another example can be used in the last stanza, “ Oh! When ye pray for heathens lands and plead for their dark shores, remember slavery’s cruel hands make heathens at your doors! “. The author brought attention to their non-Christian status and that since the colonists, tortured, and took liberty from enslaved people when the day of revenge will come, they will face what they deserve. Harper in her poem used liberation and nommo to be the voice of enslaved people and to advocate for them throughout her powerful words. The author used perfect words to share her message. The religious tone that was used added a sense of anger and confidence to it which was the goal. In both poems, “Bars Fight” by Lucy Terry and “Bible Defense of Slavery” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, the authors have a controversial perspective about slavery. On one hand, admiration, and the other, revulsion. Both stories are important because they play the role of a griot, which is to tell a story like Lucy Terry’s and to speak for people who did not have the opportunity to do so like Ellen Harper. It is also important because both authors addressed their words to enslavers in order to expose their sentiments towards them and for colonists to realize their terrible actions and be mindful about slavery

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