Friday from the Archives: “The Verses from our Pen to him Belong” National Identity in the Political Homages of George Moses Horton“ an essay by Justin Williams in NCLR 28 (2019)
Justin Williams digs deep into the meanings behind Norton’s poetry that went beyond the slave narrative, showcasing how “while Horton’s poetry is often characterized by its disengagement with political issues like slavery, his writing nevertheless possesses a keen sense of his place in the national landscape.”
Williams examines both Horton’s poetical and letter writings. “Perhaps the most salient aspect of Horton’s poetry is that his silences speak more loudly than his rare instances of protest. In his 1845 volume of poetry, The Poetical Works of George Moses Horton: The Colored Bard of North Carolina, To Which is Prefixed the Life of the Author, Written by Himself, Horton’s “Life of the Author” section details the events that lead him to write poetry. The autobiographical sketch is far from anything resembling what one might recognize today as a slave narrative. Rather than the narrative of a runaway or an account of the vicissitudes of a cruel master, the sketch is drawn more as the portrait of an artist, recounting the extraordinary circumstances under which Horton pursued his passion for writing poetry.”
Horton follows in grand footsteps of remaking historical figures into individuals possessing very few, if any, flaws. Williams says, “That the same combination of rhetorical figures is used when Horton writes his homages to other renowned national figures – like Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, and General Sherman – suggests that Horton had a distinct vision of what constituted the nation’s heroes. To this effect, Horton places himself in the roles of both inheritor and cultivator of an American mythos. Horton calls attention to his own American-ness, implying that America’s narrative is his narrative to create and embody.”
Read the entire essay on ProQuest and purchase a copy of the 2019 issue here.
