October 19, 2019
Dear Subscriber:
Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of
view. Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme
for this week is Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which are celebrated
on Oct. 14.
I welcome comments on my poems at
http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .
A poem for Indigenous Peoples’ Day about the destruction of
the indigenous peoples of America by liquor, based on passages from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin:
THE RAVAGES OF RUM: AMERICA
From The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin:
As the Indians are
extremely apt to get drunk,
And, when so, are
very quarrelsome and disorderly,
We strictly forbade
selling any liquor to them.
And when they
complained of this restriction,
We told them that if
they would continue sober
During the
negotiations over the treaty,
We would give them
plenty of rum
When the business
was over.
They promised this,
and kept their promise,
Because they could
get no liquor,
And the negotiations
were conducted
In a very orderly
fashion,
And concluded to
mutual satisfaction.
They then claimed
and received the rum.
This was in the
afternoon.
In the evening,
hearing a great noise among them,
The commissioners
walked out
To see what the
matter was.
We found they had
made a great bonfire
In the middle of the
square.
They were all drunk,
men and women, quarreling and fighting.
Their dark-colored
bodies, half naked,
Seen only by the
gloomy light of the bonfire,
Running after and
beating one another with firebrands,
Accompanied by their
horrid yelling,
Formed a scene best
resembling our ideas of hell.
There was no
appeasing the tumult,
And we retired to
our lodging.
At midnight a number
of them
Came thundering at
our door,
Demanding more rum,
Of which we took no
notice.
The next day,
Sensible that they
had misbehaved,
They sent three of
their old counselors to make their apology.
The orator
acknowledged the fault,
But laid it upon the
rum;
And then endeavored
to excuse the rum
By saying, “The
Great Spirit, who made all things,
Made everything for
some use.
And whatever use he
designed anything for,
That use it should
always be put to.
Now, when he made
rum, he said,
‘Let this be for the
Indians to get drunk with,’
And so it must be.”
And, indeed, if it
be the design of Providence
To extirpate these
savages
In order to make
room for cultivators of the earth,
It seems not
improbable
That rum may be the
appointed means.
© by Nicholas Gordon
If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share
it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site,
go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/thera2.html.
For more poems for indigenous peoples’ day, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/indigenouspeoplesdaypoems.html
.
This week’s theme: Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day
10/19: The Ravages of Rum: America
