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| Nelson "Rolihlahla" Mandela 1918-2013 |
As I taught my classes today, my heart was at half staff as I grieved the loss and quietly celebrated the life of one of my heroes...Nelson Mandela.
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| Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1825-1911 |
While struggling in my head and heart to find the words to say...a poem by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (famous abolitionist and poet) echoed in my ear. I submit "Bury Me In A Free Land" as a "tribute in poem" to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Following is an excerpt of this moving poem...
Bury Me in A Free Land
Make me a grave where'er you will,
In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill;
Make it among earth's humblest graves,
But not in a land where men are slaves.
I could not rest if around my grave
I heard the steps of a trembling slave;
His shadow above my silent tomb
Would make it a place of fearful gloom.
I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might
Can rob no man of his dearest right;
My rest shall be calm in any grave
Where none can call his brother a slave.
I ask no monument, proud and high,
To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;
All that my yearning spirit craves,
Is bury me not in a land of slaves.
In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill;
Make it among earth's humblest graves,
But not in a land where men are slaves.
I could not rest if around my grave
I heard the steps of a trembling slave;
His shadow above my silent tomb
Would make it a place of fearful gloom.
I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might
Can rob no man of his dearest right;
My rest shall be calm in any grave
Where none can call his brother a slave.
I ask no monument, proud and high,
To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;
All that my yearning spirit craves,
Is bury me not in a land of slaves.
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| "Mr. Mandela, sleep well in a free land!" |
Nelson Mandela: Free, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013
ReplyDeleteNelson Mandela was an idol to me it is sad that he died, he has impacted many peoples life such as mine and I won't ever forget these words "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph in it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.