Vied with the raven's glossy coat of black,
When I, with some adventurous emigrants,
First crossed the plain's monotonous expanse,
To leave my former history behind.
But who can regulate his peace of mind,
Or drop the morbid burdens of the breast
By simply going east or coming west?
'Way down upon the Rappahannock's shore,
Enshrined in memory, though seen no more,
There lies an old plantation. There I drew