The Anti-slavery Harp: A Collection of Songs for Anti-slavery Meetings

Chapter 29: YE HERALDS OF FREEDOM.

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About This Book

A compilation of abolitionist songs and lyric pamphlets intended for anti-slavery gatherings, offering moral appeals, narratives of suffering, and calls to collective action. Poems dramatize the anguish of enslaved mothers, the fate of separated families, and the experiences of fugitives guided by the North Star, while urging political and religious solidarity against slavery. Several pieces adapt their words to familiar popular airs to facilitate communal singing, and the collection blends emotional testimony, exhortation, and patriotic imagery to mobilize audiences for emancipation.

YE HERALDS OF FREEDOM.

Ye heralds of freedom, ye noble and brave,

Who dare to insist on the rights of the slave,

Go onward, go onward, your cause is of God,

And he will soon sever the oppressor’s strong rod.

The finger of slander may now at you point,

That finger will soon lose the strength of its joint;

And those who now plead for the rights of the slave,

Will soon be acknowledged the good and the brave.

Though thrones and dominions, and kingdoms and powers,

May now all oppose you, the victory is yours;

The banner of Jesus will soon be unfurled,

And he will give freedom and peace to the world.

Go under his standard, and fight by his side,

O’er mountains and billows you’ll then safely ride;

His gracious protection will be to you given,

And bright crowns of glory he’ll give you in heaven.