Act 5 — Scene 2.—Forest at Night.
Reading edition
Enter Glen and Melinda, R.
Melinda. I am so tired and hungry, that I cannot go further. It is so cloudy that we cannot see the North Star, and therefore cannot tell whether we are going to Canada, or further South. Let’s sit down here.
Glen. I know that we cannot see the North Star, Melinda, and I fear we’ve lost our way. But, see! the clouds are passing away, and it’ll soon be clear. See! yonder is a star; yonder is another and another. Ah! yonder is the North Star, and we are safe!
“Star of the North! though night winds drift The fleecy drapery of the sky Between thy lamp and me, I lift, Yea, lift with hope my sleepless eye, To the blue heights wherein thou dwellest, And of a land of freedom tellest. “Star of the North! while blazing day Pours round me its full tide of light, And hides thy pale but faithful ray, I, too, lie hid, and long for night: For night: I dare not walk at noon, Nor dare I trust the faithless moon— “Nor faithless man, whose burning lust For gold hath riveted my chain,— Nor other leader can I trust But thee, of even the starry train; For all the host around thee burning, Like faithless man, keep turning, turning. “I may not follow where they go:— Star of the North! I look to thee While on I press; for well I know, Thy light and truth shall set me free:— Thy light, that no poor slave deceiveth; Thy truth, that all my soul believeth. “Thy beam is on the glassy breast Of the still spring, upon whose brink I lay my weary limbs to rest, And bow my parching lips to drink. Guide of the friendless negro’s way, I bless thee for this quiet ray! “In the dark top of southern pines I nestled, when the Driver’s horn Called to the field, in lengthening lines, My fellows, at the break of morn. And there I lay till thy sweet face Looked in upon “my hiding place.” “The tangled cane-brake, where I crept For shelter from the heat of noon, And where, while others toiled, I slept, Till wakened by the rising moon, As its stalks felt the night wind free, Gave me to catch a glimpse of thee. “Star of the North! in bright array The constellations round thee sweep, Each holding on its nightly way, Rising, or sinking in the deep, And, as it hangs in mid heaven flaming, The homage of some nation claiming. “This nation to the Eagle cowers; Fit ensign! she’s a bird of spoil:— Like worships like! for each devours The earnings of another’s toil. I’ve felt her talons and her beak, And now the gentler Lion seek. “The Lion, at the Monarch’s feet Crouches, and lays his mighty paw Into her lap!—an emblem meet Of England’s Queen, and English law: Queen, that hath made her Islands free! Law, that holds out its shield to me! “Star of the North! upon that shield Thou shinest,—Oh, for ever shine! The negro, from the cotton field Shall, then, beneath its orb recline, And feed the Lion, couched before it, Nor heed the Eagle, screaming o’er it!”
With the thoughts of servitude behind us, and the North Star before us, we will go forward with cheerful hearts. Come, Melinda, let’s go on.
[Exit, L.