To Toussaint Louverture - poem by Wordsworth

The sonnet, To Toussaint Louverture by british poet William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770 Cockermouth, Cumberland – April 13, 1850) gives an example of how closely Toussaint Louverture's actions and later imprisonment by the French, were followed around the world.

TO TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE By William Wordsworth TOUSSAINT, the most unhappy of men! Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing, or thy head be now Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den; - O miserable Chieftain! where and when Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow: Though fallen thyself, never to rise again, Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies; There's not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee; thou hast great allies; Thy friends are exultations, agonies, And love, and man's unconquerable mind.

created 1802, ~August 1-29; published 1803, Morning Post, London, February 2, 1803

Reference

• Wordsworth, William. The Complete Poetical Works. London: Macmillan and Co., 1888; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/145/. [Date of access: November 9, 2005].
• Mary Persyn: The Sublime Turn Away from Empire: Wordsworth's Encounter with Colonial Slavery, 1802
• Dietrich H. Fischer: William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850) A Selection - English and German