Why is it so, Dear Prince of Peace, <br />That wrongs to Negroes never cease? <br />Are they disloyal to thy name, <br />And thus are punished for the same? <br /> <br />Is this thy training school on earth, <br />To mould a race of truest worth? <br />Pray is it thus that lives are pruned <br />And sanctified, for heaven tuned? <br /> <br />Thou art the refuge of the race, <br />That all its troubles will efface, <br />Wilt thou incline the wayward heart, <br />To keep thy law in ev'ry part? <br /> <br />'Tis needful that offences come, <br />But woe unto the man by whom! <br />They come the evil hearts to chain, <br />And drive them back to thee again. <br /> <br />For such afflictions, we are told, <br />Bring people nearer to the fold, <br />If this be true, then teach them now, <br />To such conditions here to bow. <br /> <br />Thy chosen people suffer here, <br />Such chastenings as children, dear, <br />With patience sweet, in peace and love, <br />Prepare their souls for life above. <br /> <br />They suffer from refining pains, <br />The kinds that raise to highest planes, <br />Can this be why, Dear Prince of Peace, <br />That wrongs to Negroes never cease?<br /><br />Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/why-is-it-21/
