Lucy Terry, who was a slave until 1756, wrote this poem while she was enslaved. This is a poem about the attack on Old Deerfield. In this poem, she talks about how the Indians killed 5 enslaved men. She seems to have a great attachment to making a point of saying their names so they will not be forgotten. They must be people that she knew, people that she knew to be great, or just people who were slaves also. It was August 25, 1746 and the Indians were out to kill some very fearless enslaved men.
The Indians ended up killing 5 slaves. First was Samuel Allen, who was a hero and is a hero no more. Terry says, “his face no more shall we behold.” She is saying that without a face his memory might be forgotten. Then there was Eleazar Hawks, who was killed without knowledge of the Indians being there. Before he had time to fight he was shot and killed. Oliver Amsden was killed and his friends were in grief.
Terry has really taken these deaths to heart. These men are just a few that died in their fight in ending slavery. Adonijah Gil let was heard to have lost his life. John Sadler escaped being killed by fleeing across the river. Eunice Allen tried to save herself by running, but she was caught and was “tommy hawked” and left dead. I had questions about this story, were these slaves able to write and read? If not then how was her poem remembered (published)? How long after? Was the translation muffled? I’m sure that she recited her poem enough times for people to remember.
The Essay on Louise Erdrich's Poem "Indian Boarding School: The Runaways"
1.Home’s the place we head for in our sleep. 2. Boxcars stumbling north in dreams 3. don’t wait for us. We catch them on the run. 4. The rails, old lacerations that we love, 5. shoot parallel across the face and break 6. just under Turtle Mountains. Riding scars 7. you can’t get lost. Home is the place they cross. 8. The lame guard strikes a match and makes the dark 9. less ...
She really seems to want to have these men and the woman remembered. People probably memorized the poem; this is a verbal culture rather than a written one. They heavily relied on stories about their homeland to maintain their sense of belonging.
