Poems (Wordsworth, 1815)/Volume 2/We had a Fellow-passenger
IX.
September 1st, 1802.
We had a fellow-Passenger who came
From Calais with us, gaudy in array,—
A Negro Woman like a Lady gay,
Yet silent as a woman fearing blame;
Dejected, meek, yea pitiably tame,
She sate, from notice turning not away,
But on our proffered kindness still did lay
A weight of languid speech,—or at the same
Was silent, motionless in eyes and face.
She was a Negro Woman driven from France,
Rejected like all others of that race,
Not one of whom may now find footing there;
This the poor Out-cast did to us declare,
Nor murmured at the unfeeling Ordinance.