“Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.”

Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Frederick Douglass photo
Frederick Douglass 274
American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman 1818–1895

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Context: His mother taught him to sing. And when he had grown up and had listened to the world's song, he felt that there could be no greater happiness than to return to her song. In her song dwelt the most precious and most incomprehensible dreams of mankind. The heath grew into the heavens in those days. The songbirds of the air listened in wonder to this song, the most beautiful song of life.

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