Nat Turner and Mournful Lute

Having looked at the pictures I fond myself astonished by the graphic nature of the pictures and the shear brutality of the slave trade. I have read a lot of narratives and reports of the slave trade and the evil and total dehumanization of the entire organization but it never hit as hard until I saw it. Seeing the baby with the umbilical cord still attached and the slaves being beaten and dying all over the ship made it real and tangible. I read a “True Story” by Mark Twain in which he recounts a story of a woman who had her seven children and husband ripped from her and sold away. That is a touching and moving story but it did not come close to touching me as the pictures did.
The poem for today that interested me most was Payne’s “The Mournful Lute.” Since the first class I have realized the importance of religion and the promise of salvation in the afterlife. The opening couplet speaks exactly to that. It really strikes me as terribly morbid and a sad, sad life. The idea of living to die and only to die is beyond depressing. I am starting to realize how unhappy and relentless and resilient the slaves must have been in order to wake up each morning. I hope that the reading become a little less depressing and a little more uplifting. I doubt it will happen because the African American life is one filled with strive and unhappiness still to this day.