“I did not, when a slave, understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs. I was myself within the circle; so that I neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear. They told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness. I have frequently found myself in tears while hearing them. The mere recurrence to those songs, even now, afflicts me; and while I am writing these lines, an expression of feeling has already found its way down my cheek. To those songs I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I can never get rid of that conception. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds. If any one wishes to be impressed with the soul-killing effects of slavery, let him go to Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, and, on allowance-day, place himself in the deep pine woods, and there let him, in silence, analyze the sounds that shall pass through the chambers of his soul,—and if he is not thus impressed, it will only be because ‘there is no flesh in his obdurate heart.'” (242).
In the narrative, Narrative of The Life OF Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, by Frederick Douglass, Douglass elucidates to the readers that slaves would often sing songs to express their feelings of their horrible slave life. This paragraph in the narrative is essential in understanding how Douglass came to the realization of why slaves sang these songs on the plantations. He states that “every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.” This metaphor of a tone of a song to a “testimony” helps the reader gain the understanding of how important the songs were to the slaves. Throughout his narrative, Douglass lists multiple gruesome deaths and beatings given to slaves by their owners and overseers. These songs were a large coping skill developed by slaves to express their feelings out loud without punishment. Also, Douglass states how the songs, even at the moment of writing his narrative, “still follow” him. Therefore, the reader can understand how powerful these songs were to Douglass and American Slaves. He uses strong language to describe how the songs as writing this paragraph is forming tears, “an expression of feeling has already found its way down my cheek.” The songs provided Douglass with the dehumanizing conception of slavery in the form of a lasting song. As many know, songs tend to be easy to remember and can easily be “stuck in” someone’s head. It is possible that slaves intended to make these songs for future generations , like the reader, to inflict the dreadful experiences they faced in slavery. It is especially monumental to observe the ending of this paragraph created by Douglass, he gives instructions to anyone who wishes to hear the impactful songs of slaves and “analyze the sounds that pass through the chambers of his soul….” Furthermore, he explains if one is not impressed they have a stubborn opinion. This unique diction by Douglass emphasizes that he strongly believes in the songs’ impact and that a person who cannot be impressed is inflexible in their opinion.
Rishi, I agree with you that this description of the singing of the slaves is very powerful as serves, not, as some slaveowners argued, as evidence of the contentment of the slaves, but rather as an expression of their deepest misery and suffering.