Bury Me in a Free Land
About the poet
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1825 –1911
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born on September 24, 1825, in Baltimore and raised by her
aunt and uncle.
A poet, novelist, and journalist, Harper was also a prominent abolitionist and an activist in the
temperance and women’s suffrage movements. She traveled to multiple states to lecture and give
speeches about these issues. In May 1866, she delivered the speech, “We Are All Bound Up
Together” at the National Women’s Rights Convention in New York, sharing the stage with
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. “You white women speak here of rights,” she
said. “I speak of wrongs.”
With Margaret Murray Washington, the wife of Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, and
other prominent African American women, Harper helped found the National Association of
Coloured Women and served as its vice president in 1897.
Harper authored numerous books, including the poetry collections Sketches of Southern Life
(Ferguson Bros. & Co., 1891); Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects (Merrihew & Thompson,
1854); and the recently recovered Forest Leaves (1845). She is best known for her novel Iola
Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted (Garrigues Brothers, 1892). Harper also penned numerous short
stories, particularly “The Two Offers,” an early feminist work, believed to be the first short story
published by an African American woman in the U.S.
Before marrying Fenton Harper, a widower, with whom she had a daughter, Harper worked at
Union Seminary in Ohio, where she taught sewing. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper died in
Philadelphia on February 22, 1911.
Bury Me in a Free Land (The Poem)
Make me a grave where'er you will,
In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill;
Make it among earth's humblest graves,
But not in a land where men are slaves.
I could not rest if around my grave
I heard the steps of a trembling slave;
His shadow above my silent tomb
Would make it a place of fearful gloom.
I could not rest if I heard the tread
Of a coffle gang to the shambles led,
And the mother's shriek of wild despair
Rise like a curse on the trembling air.
I could not sleep if I saw the lash
Drinking her blood at each fearful gash,
And I saw her babes torn from her breast,
Like trembling doves from their parent nest.
I'd shudder and start if I heard the bay
Of bloodhounds seizing their human prey,
And I heard the captive plead in vain
As they bound afresh his galling chain.
If I saw young girls from their mother's arms
Bartered and sold for their youthful charms,
My eye would flash with a mournful flame,
My death-paled cheek grow red with shame.
I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might
Can rob no man of his dearest right;
My rest shall be calm in any grave
Where none can call his brother a slave.
I ask no monument, proud and high,
To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;
All that my yearning spirit craves,
Is bury me not in a land of slaves.
Frances Harper — “Bury Me in a Free Land”, “A Double Standard”
Historical Context
‘Bury Me in a Free Land’ was written for The Anti-Slavery Bugle newspaper in 1858. It was an
abolitionist newspaper published from June 20, 1845, to May 4, 1861. Writers like Frances Ellen
Watkins Harper wrote on Anti-Slavery, women’s rights, and women’s suffrage in this paper.
Likewise, this poem also highlights the horrors of slavery and how inhumane the condition of the
slaves was. However, this poem was recited in the film, “August 28: A Day in the Life of a
People”. Moreover, the last stanza of the poem is on the wall of the Contemplative Court in the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Last but not least,
this poem is one of Harper’s best-known works.
Bury Me in a Free Land’ is a poem written by African-American poet and abolitionist Frances
Harper. In this poem, Harper strongly protests against slavery, a curse to humankind. She wants
to be buried in a “Free Land” where no man calls his brother a slave.
Moreover, the poet uses vivid imagery and metaphors to portray the oppression of the slaves.
Being an activist of human rights, she became extremely angry whenever she heard of this
heartless custom and the torturing slaves endured. In this poem, she projects those images which
make it clear how cruel the institution of slavery was.
Summary of the Poem
‘Bury Me in a Free Land’ by Frances Harper depicts the cruel custom of slavery and presents the
speaker’s wish to be buried in a land where no men are slaves.
In this poem, the speaker wants to be buried among the graves of humble people. It can be
anywhere in this world but it should be at a place where slavery doesn’t exist in any form.
She can’t rest at a place where slaves tread on and a mother cries out of wild despair for the loss
of her innocent children. Moreover, she can’t be buried at a place where a white ruthlessly
tortures his fellow brother only for his color, and young girls are sold as objects. All the speaker
wants is to be buried “not in a land of slaves”.
Structure of the Poem
‘Bury Me in a Free Land’ consists of eight quatrains (A quatrain is a verse form that is made up
of four lines with fifteen different possible rhyme schemes). In each quatrain of this poem, the
poet uses a regular rhyme scheme (The word "rhyme” refers to the pattern of similar sounding
words used in writing) and the rhyme scheme is AABB. This scheme goes on like this. So, the
rhyming lines, like a rhyming couplet (A couplet is a literary device that is made up of two
rhyming lines of verse. These fall in succession, or one after another.), present a single idea.
Apart from that, there is a regularity in the syllable count of the lines. There are a total of nine
syllables in each line. Here, the poet uses both the iambic meter (The meter is the pattern of beats
in a line of poetry. It is a combination of the number of beats and arrangement of stresses.) and
anapestic meter. However, the overall poem is composed of iambic tetrameter with a few
variations.
Literary Devices
There are several literary devices used in this poem that make the poet’s idea more vibrant and
picturesque. Likewise, Harper uses litote in the lines such as, “But not in a land where men are
slaves”, for emphasising more her hatred towards the custom of slavery. The poet uses
alliteration, consonance, and assonance for creating an internal rhythm in the poem. As an
example, the second line, “In a lowly plain, or lofty hill”, contains a repetition of the “l” sound.
It’s an example of alliteration. The poet also uses personification in the poem and it is present in
the phrase “silent tomb”. There is a simile in the line, “Rise like a curse on the trembling air”.
Alongside, in “trembling air” the poet uses pathetic falacy. However, Harper also uses several
important metaphors in the poem such as the “bay of bloodhounds” and “death-paled cheek”.
Analysis of Bury Me in a Free Land
Stanza One
Make me a grave where’er you will,
In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill;
Make it among earth’s humblest graves,
But not in a land where men are slaves.
‘Bury Me in a Free Land’ emphasizes the main idea of the poem in the first stanza. The poetic
persona says she doesn’t care if her grave is in a “lowly plain” or on a “lofty hill”. The speaker
will not mind if her grave is among “earth’s humblest graves”. But, she strictly prohibits a land
where men are slaves. She abhors the custom of slavery in any form. Moreover, it seems that the
speaker isn’t afraid of death at all. What haunts her, is the idea of slavery.
Stanza Two
I could not rest if around my grave
I heard the steps of a trembling slave;
His shadow above my silent tomb
Would make it a place of fearful gloom.
What the speaker has said in the first stanza, is a statement. From the second stanza, she talks
about the reasons that have made her say so. According to the speaker, she can’t rest if she hears
the steps of a “trembling slave” all the time around her grave. Here, the “trembling slave” depicts
what a slave goes through. He can’t even stand on his feet. Moreover, the speaker says his
shadow above her tomb will make the graveyard “a place of fearful gloom”. Slavery, without any
doubt, makes a place fearful. This custom implies how cruel a man can be to his fellow being.
Stanza Three
I could not rest if I heard the tread
Of a coffle gang to the shambles led,
And the mother’s shriek of wild despair
Rise like a curse on the trembling air.
Thereafter, in the third stanza, the speaker says she can’t rest if she hears the tread of a “coffle
gang” led to the shambles. Here, “coffle gang” depicts an image of a group of slaves chained
together and moving in a specific direction slowly. Moreover, the speaker can’t lie at a place
where a slave mother’s shriek rises “like a curse on the trembling air”. Here, the poet uses a
metaphor(A metaphor is used to describe an object, person, situation, or action in a way that
helps a reader understand it, without using “like” or “as”.) to compare the mother’s shriek to
“wild despair”. Her screaming is wild as it reflects how much pain she is going through. At the
same place, it also reflects a sense of despair as she can do nothing to proclaim her rights. Her
shriek is so powerful that it even makes the air tremble as if it is also mourning her condition.
Stanza Four
I could not sleep if I saw the lash
Drinking her blood at each fearful gash,
And I saw her babes torn from her breast,
Like trembling doves from their parent nest.
In the fourth stanza of ‘Bury Me in a Free Land’, the speaker says she can’t sleep if she sees the
mother is being lashed ruthlessly. It’s interesting to note here that the poet uses the past tense
throughout the poem. It refers that the custom of slavery was in existence for a long time.
However, the poet personifies the “lash” that drinks “blood at each fearful gash”. It’s also a use
of metonymy(Metonymy is a kind of figurative language that refers to a situation in which one
term is substituted for another.) Here, the poet refers to the user of the instrument meant for
torturing. Thereafter, the poet can see her babies torn from her breast like “trembling doves from
their parent nest”(similie- A simile is a comparison between two unlike things that uses the
words "like” or "as”.). The image depicts the cruelty of men that don’t even leave infants unhurt.
Stanza Five
I’d shudder and start if I heard the bay
Of bloodhounds seizing their human prey,
And I heard the captive plead in vain
As they bound afresh his galling chain.
Moreover, the speaker says the bay of bloodhounds while seizing their “human prey” will make
her shudder and start. Here, the poet uses two metaphors. One is the comparison between white
men and bloodhounds. While in the next one, the poet compares black humans to the “human
prey” of the bloodhounds. Whatsoever, the speaker has also heard a captive pleading in vain as
the oppressors bind a new chain to that slave. Here, the poet uses another metaphor in “galling
chain”. Here, the chain causes vexation to the slave.
Stanza Six
If I saw young girls from their mother’s arms
Bartered and sold for their youthful charms,
My eye would flash with a mournful flame,
My death-paled cheek grow red with shame.
In the sixth stanza of ‘Bury Me in a Free Land’, the speaker talks about young girls who are
snatched away from their mother’s arms. They are bartered and sold for their “youthful charms”.
Here, “youthful charms” is a reference to their physical beauty in youth. However, the sight
makes even the eyes of a corpse flash with a “mournful flame”. Being dead, the speaker can do
nothing except for mourning and cursing the oppressors. Moreover, her “death-paled cheek” will
grow red with shame. It’s not a shame on the offenders alone. Rather, it’s a shame to humanity.
Stanza Seven
I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might
Can rob no man of his dearest right;
My rest shall be calm in any grave
Where none can call his brother a slave.
The speaker can sleep or die where “bloated” can’t rob a man of his “dearest right”. Here,
“bloated” stands for oppressors. However, the right to freedom over one’s life is the dearest of all
rights. But, the slaves were deprived of this right. Thereafter, the speaker of ‘Bury Me in a Free
Land’ says she can calmly rest in any grave. But on one condition, “none can call his brother a
slave” there. It doesn’t matter what the color of one’s skin is. Everyone should treat their fellow
human beings as their brothers.
Stanza Eight
I ask no monument, proud and high,
To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;
All that my yearning spirit craves,
Is bury me not in a land of slaves.
The last stanza of the poem contains the reiteration of the main idea. Here, the speaker uses a
symbol of fame. The monument is built on the memory of the poet, no matter how high it is, it
can’t give freedom to those who are even denied their basic human rights. The poet doesn’t want
the attention of others about her works. All that her “yearning spirit craves” is to bury her “not in
a land of slaves”. The refrain (Refrains are used in poems and songs. They are repeated sections
of text that usually appear at the end of a stanza or verse.) used in the last line, highlights that the
poet not only hates slavery but she also hates the land where it’s in existence.
Meaning Behind Bury Me in a Free Land
The phrase "bury me in a free land" highlights the poet's unwavering commitment to the
abolitionist cause and her fervent desire for a world free from the injustice of slavery. It reflects
the poet's deep-seated opposition to slavery and her desire for freedom and equality. The poem's
central theme is the speaker's wish to be buried in a land where no man is enslaved, as she cannot
rest in a place where such inhumane practices exist. The phrase can be broken down into the
following key points:
1. Free Land: The speaker requests to be buried in a land where slavery does not exist,
symbolizing her commitment to the abolitionist cause and her belief in the inherent dignity and
freedom of all people.
2. No Man Calls His Brother a Slave: The phrase emphasizes the speaker's rejection of the
dehumanizing concept of slavery, as she cannot bear the thought of being buried in a place where
people are treated as property rather than as human beings.
3. Rest: The speaker's inability to rest in a land where slavery exists highlights her emotional and
moral distress at the thought of being associated with such a cruel and oppressive institution.
4. Monument: The speaker asks for no monument, emphasizing her focus on the moral and
spiritual aspects of her request rather than material or physical symbols of her legacy.
Historical Context of Bury Me in A Free Land
The historical context of "Bury Me in a Free Land" by Frances Harper can be traced back to the
mid-19th century, a time when the abolitionist movement was gaining momentum in the United
States. Key aspects of the historical context include:
1. Publication: The poem was first published in The Anti-Slavery Bugle, an abolitionist
newspaper, on November 20, 1858.
2. Abolitionist Movement: Harper was an active participant in the abolitionist movement, and
her poem reflects her strong opposition to slavery and her commitment to the cause.
3. Frances Harper's Background: Born in Baltimore, Harper was the child of free black parents.
She learned to read, write, and sew at a school run by her maternal uncle, a clergyman.
4. Canada as a Free Land Harper's first experience of a "free land" was when she gazed across
Lake Ontario, which she described as a place where the slave becomes a man and a brother.
5. Poem's Impact: "Bury Me in a Free Land" has been recognized as a powerful and poignant
work that continues to resonate with readers, reflecting Harper's profound insights and advocacy
for social justice and human rights.
The historical context of "Bury Me in a Free Land" is deeply rooted in the abolitionist movement
and the struggles faced by African Americans during the mid-19th century. The poem serves as a
testament to Harper's unwavering commitment to the cause of freedom and equality, and her
desire for a world free from the injustice of slavery.
Thematic Analysis
"Bury Me in a Free Land" by Frances Harper is a powerful and insightful poem that effectively
conveys the themes of slavery, despair, freedom, humanity, death, and the search for a free land.
These themes are closely related to the historical context of the poem and the struggles faced by
African Americans during the mid-19th century, making it a significant work in the abolitionist
movement and a testament to Harper's unwavering commitment to the cause of social justice and
human rights.In addition to the main theme of the unchristian nature of slavery, "Bury Me in a
Free Land" by Frances Harper also explores the following themes:
1. Despair: The poem conveys the horrors and despair of slavery through vivid imagery and
emotional language. Harper effectively uses metaphors, similes, and creative imagery to express
the suffering and anguish experienced by enslaved people.
2. Freedom: The speaker's desire to be buried in a free land reflects her longing for freedom and
equality. This theme is closely related to the abolitionist movement and the struggle for human
rights.
3. Humanity: The poem emphasizes the dehumanizing effects of slavery, as the speaker cannot
bear the thought of being buried in a place where people are treated as property rather than as
human beings.
4. Death: The speaker's acceptance of death and her understanding that she will die at some point
is evident in her request for a simple grave among earth's humblest graves[2].
5. Canada as a Free Land: Harper's first experience of a "free land" was when she gazed across
Lake Ontario, which she described as a place where the slave becomes a man and a brother[4].
Useful References
https://www.enotes.com/topics/frances-ellen-watkins-harper/questions/what-theme-poem-bury-m
e-free-land-by-frances-e-w-209427
https://www.ipl.org/essay/Bury-Me-In-A-Free-Land-Analysis-PCFCJLY22AG
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/feb/27/poem-of-the-week-bury-me-in-a-fre
e-land-by-frances-ew-harper
https://poemanalysis.com/frances-harper/bury-me-in-a-free-land/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_Me_in_a_Free_Land
https://poets.org/poem/bury-me-free-land
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_Me_in_a_Free_Land
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/feb/27/poem-of-the-week-bury-me-in-a-fre
e-land-by-frances-ew-harper
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/will-the-slave-mother-be-buried-in-a-free-land.200621