With nothing to allay the smart
His dearest friend, or direst foe,
Seeks out the brave and faithful few,
Who, to themselves and Maker true,
Dare, in the name and fear of God,
To spread the living truth abroad!
Armed with the same sustaining power,
Against adversity's dark hour,
And from the deep deceitful guile
Which lurks in pleasure's hollow smile,
Or from the false and fitful beam
At first read, this passage doesn't stand out too much, however, while diving deeper into this, I've found that it really has a lot more significance. I feel like the way the author used a different style than the rest of the story has a greater impact. He ends each line with words like "God", "power", "guile", and "smile", and the use of these words creates a feeling of hope in times of despair. Two lines that stand out the most are "Armed with the same sustaining power, Against adversity's dark hour". These lines convey that through the power and glory of God that anyone can overcome dark times and great adversity. You could really see how this passage is directed toward slavery and slave owners. It is meant to give the slaves hope and to persevere but you could tell that he is also criticizing slave owners for practicing slavery. The entire excerpt is a metaphor that entices the reader to compare good vs. bad and slaves vs. slave owner, it was brilliantly accomplished within this passage. When you break down this passage and read it with the difficult words translated into simple words, you can really appreciate the lengths that he is going through to tell everyone to keep on persevering.
Hello Austin!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your close reading. On a quick, one time read, I definitely did not pull any of your analysis out on my own. After reading your analysis, then re-reading the excerpt, it all has such greater meaning. I also like how you pointed out the last words of each line. You almost have a whole separate poem if you just wrote out all of the last words of each line.
Thank you for sharing!
Amanda