Deem our nation brutes no longer

Quote byWilliam Cowper · 1731–1800

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Negro's Complaint (1788), Lines 49-52.

English (original)

Deem our nation brutes no longer, Till some reason ye shall find Worthier of regard and stronger Than the colour of our kind.

— William Cowper

But oars alone can ne'er prevail To reach the distant coast; The breath of Heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost.

Beware of desp'rate steps! The darkest day (Live till tomorrow) will have passed away.

Man disobeys, and deity disowns me.

Absence from whom we love is worse than death, And frustrate hope severer than despair.

Damned below Judas; more abhorred than he was.

Oh! I could thresh his old jacket till I made his pension jingle in his pockets.