James

Niger

by James

Theophilus Niger,

A man from Guilford,

an enslaved man,

gave one of his animals an earmark

as a freeman would do,

owned livestock

on his master’s land,

as a free man would do.

A farmer,

an enslaved man who lived in the Hodgkin house.

Secret markings like spiritual connections,

on the beams in the house.

He fell in love

with the most beautiful woman,

Penelope Tantipen,

and found a house and called it their own.

Blessed with five children,

four sons and a daughter.

A smallpox pandemic,

And Penelope and one of his sons

perished.

A freed man like a bird in flight.

made Theophilus a happy man,

and now he could stand on his plot of land.

1770,

at fifty, gone way too soon.

Remembered always by his children.

Artist statement

This poem is about Theophilus Niger’s whole entire life. Well, not that specific because there is too little information about him. I gathered all the information that we could find and built this poem up. With some beautiful poetic device, I made it perfect At line 11, I chose similes because I think there are some spiritual connections with it. At line 14, I used hyperbole because Theophilus may have thought that his wife was the most beautiful woman in the world. At line 22, I used a simile because Theophilus must have been happy when he was free like a bird in flight.