Week 17 Reading Notes: Poem (Bell), Part B

This is another reading that I am not quite sure how I missed, but makes me glad that we had the opportunity to go back and read the ones we’ve missed this semester. This reading was a poem (as you can probably tell by the title), which was written by James Madison Bell, to be read at the great meeting of colored people in Sacramento following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This must have been a terrifying time for everyone in the nation, I could not imagine the panick and fear felt by the collective whole after their leader has been shot and killed. Whether it be Lincol, Garfield, McKinley, or Kennedy (the four U.S. presidents who have been assassinated throughout this nation’s history), this poem is very fitting for such a difficult time. The poem begins by talking about how terrible it is that this has happened, but gives some relief to this pain by saying that it is all part of God’s plan, and that it must have happened for a reason. It then goes onto to talk about how the person/people responsible for this are traitors, and how treason must be driven out from this land and treated as harshly as the act itself is. The poem ends by saying that Lincoln’s death will be avenged by making sure that his “noble principles maintain, ‘Till. Every base inhuman falcon is swept from freedom’s broad domain;Until from tower and from turret, From mountain height and prairie wide, One flag shall wave— and freedom’s spirit in peace and love o’er all preside.” (Bell) I think that this is a very powerful poem because of its message of hope and solidarity after such a terrible event in U.S history. It has a really good message that I believe the people, especially African Americans at this point in history, needed to hear and feel. I really enjoyed this poem, and I applaud Bell’s foresight in this moment of great need in this country.