Read "The Southern Refugee.”
What does this poem express about the individual’s search for home?
A. Losing a home can be a distressing experience.
B. Leaving a home molds and strengthens a person’s personality.
C. People can cope with a lost home by thinking about it often.
D. A home is vital to shaping a person’s upbringing.
“The Southern Refugee”
by George Moses Horton
What sudden ill the world await,
From my dear residence
I must deplore the bitter fate,
To straggle from my native home.
The verdant willow droops her head
And seems to bid a fare thee well;
The flowers with tears their fragrance shed
Alas! Their parting tale to tell.
’Tis like the loss of Paradise
Or Eden’s garden left in gloom,
Where grief affords us no device,
Such is thy lot, my native home.
I never, never shall forget,
My sad departure far away,
Until the sun of life is set,
And leaves behind no beam of day.
How can I from my seat remove
And leave my ever devoted home
And the dear garden which I love,
The beauty of my native home.
Alas! sequestered, set aside,
It is a mournful tale to tell;
’Tis like a lone departed bride
That bade her bridegroom fare thee well.
I trust I shall soon dry the tear
And leave forever hence to roam
Far from a residence so dear
The place of beauty—my native home.
