Cowper's Complaint

Upon reading William Cowper's The Negro's Complaint, what becomes immediately evident is that it is written from the first person point of view. This is indeed interesting, as Cowper has no background in slavery and finds it morally appalling only due to his religious nature. Had this poem been written by John Newton, it would have probably been vastly different, but still more agreeable since Newton was once a slave trader himself. Though the poem itself does seem to capture what would arguably be a well written dissent to the social norms in a time where slavery was a common practice, it seems to stand out in that it's message is that which the slaves at the time were not allowed to say or were unable to so eloquently express: slavery is wrong on every basis. It is morally wrong "Skins may differ, but affection/dwells in black and white the same," it is illogical, "still in thought as free as ever, what are England's rights, i ask," and it there are emotional connotations that ask the reader what kind of person indeed would enslave another, even when the "One who reigns on high" sends nature to undo the such evil. The poems ends in a rallying call to arms that the reader "prove [their] human feelings/ere you proudly questions ours!" This poem is indeed quite a powerful sentiment coming from a white evangelist hymn writer, not necessarily because he believes in the words he's written, but because he has given a voice to a group that had none.