Songs
of the Slave
About Kirke Mechem
Composers
Bureau and an update About Songs of the Slave
Songs
of the Slave from Shirmer From Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, An American Slave (Chapter II -- full
text)
"Slaves
sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the
slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and
he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved
by its tears. At least, such is my experience. I have often
sung to drown my sorrow, but seldom to express my happiness.
Crying for joy, and singing for joy, were alike uncommon
to me while in the jaws of slavery. The singing of a man
cast away upon a desolate island might be as appropriately
considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the
singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other
are prompted by the same emotion."
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