In his anti-slavery poem "The Warning," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow assumes a didactic and accusatory tone. The voice is that of a prophet or teacher who seeks to use an incident from history--in this case biblical history--to convey a moral lesson to the reader. Rather than gently point out the lesson like a patient mentor would, however, the poem conveys the feeling of the author that if the dire predictions come to pass of his "warning," those who suffer the consequences will have fully deserved them. Starting the poem with "Beware!" shows that the speaker knows of some peril that the reader has perhaps willfully ignored. Although the poem uses passive voice to describe those who are now "shorn of [their] strength and bound in bonds of steel," the words suggest that those who have caused the current "Samson" to be in this condition are as wicked as the Philistines who mistreated the original Samson.
The poem creates an ominous mood after it arouses sympathy and indignation in the reader. In Longfellow's day, almost every person would remember having heard the harrowing tale of the blind Samson and pitying his plight. All the disgust readers felt against the barbaric Philistines who could torture a hero in that brazen fashion is revived as the poet relates the story in the first part of the poem. That disgust then is transferred to those who could oppress a whole race of people in a similar way. Remembering the epic ending of Samson's tale--when his renewed strength allowed him to visit vengeance on his enemies--readers feel a sense of foreboding as they consider what the oppressed slaves in the South could do when they realize their true power.
Longfellow's didactic and accusatory tone coupled with the ominous and indignant mood create a powerful anti-slavery message in this poem.
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