Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
Poems on SlaveryThe Quadroon Girl
T
Lay moored with idle sail;
He waited for the rising moon,
And for the evening gale.
And all her listless crew
Watched the gray alligator slide
Into the still bayou.
Reached them from time to time,
Like airs that breathe from Paradise
Upon a world of crime.
Smoked thoughtfully and slow;
The Slaver’s thumb was on the latch,
He seemed in haste to go.
In yonder broad lagoon;
I only wait the evening tides,
And the rising of the moon.”
In timid attitude,
Like one half curious, half amazed,
A Quadroon maiden stood.
Her arms and neck were bare;
No garment she wore save a kirtle bright,
And her own long, raven hair.
As holy, meek, and faint,
As lights in some cathedral aisle
The features of a saint.
The thoughtful planter said;
Then looked upon the Slaver’s gold,
And then upon the maid.
With such accursèd gains:
For he knew whose passions gave her life,
Whose blood ran in her veins.
He took the glittering gold!
Then pale as death grew the maiden’s cheek,
Her hands as icy cold.
He led her by the hand,
To be his slave and paramour
In a strange and distant land!