An Ante-Bellum Sermon

Dunbar begins “An Ante-Bellum Sermon” with the speaker, a Black preacher and a slave, addressing his congregation of Christian “brothahs” (Line 1), who are all slaves like himself. In this first stanza, the preacher promises to speak “some words of comfo’t” (Line 3) to those in “distress” (Line 4), uniting the downtrodden slaves for his sermon. He announces his “subjic’” (Line 5), directly quoting the first meeting between God and Moses from the Book of Exodus. The preacher next introduces Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt and the “wuss man evah bo’n” (Line 10), who was responsible for the suffering of the Hebrew slaves. The speaker notes how the slaves were forced to labor in Pharaoh’s fields of corn (Line 12), a deliberate parallel to the current situation of his enslaved audience.

Beginning in the second stanza, the preacher deliberately belittles and trivializes the cruelty of slavery under Pharaoh. Perhaps this lack of seriousness is because his audience was already intimately familiar with such cruelty and needed no further elaboration, but this trivializing is more likely the speaker’s attempt to show his contempt for slave owners and their practices. He refers to the man as “ole Pher’oh” (Line 9), an almost affectionate nickname that robs the cruel ruler of any gravitas or authority, and describes how the Lord “got tiahed o’ his foolin’” (Line 13). The preacher does not intend his description of the enslavement of an entire race of people as “foolin’”—nor his description of God’s anger as merely growing tired of such foolishness—to diminish the acute suffering of his listeners. By belittling the sufferings under slavery, the preacher instead demonstrates that the powers that oppress his people are trivial and temporary when compared to the almost casual display of God’s omnipotence. Therefore, the slaves in “distress” (Line 4) need not be subjected to such cruelty forever, nor do they need to be defined by their trauma, which the preacher bravely dismisses as “foolin’.”

The preacher next describes how God commanded Moses to tell Pharaoh “to let dem chillun go” (Line 16), a paraphrase of Moses’ famous order, “Let my people go” (Exodus 9:1). The preacher continues to loosely paraphrase and incorporate different portions of scripture when quoting God’s threats against Pharaoh, should he “refuse” (Line 17) to free the slaves. God threatens to “empty down on Egypt / All de vials of [his] powah” (Lines 19-20), a reference to God’s vials or bowls of wrath and judgement poured on the earth as described in the 16th chapter of the Book of Revelation. The preacher delightedly informs his audience that God did exactly what He promised, as his wrath proved Pharaoh’s army “was n’t wuth a ha’f a dime” (Line 22).

Knowing that God fulfills his promises, the preacher momentarily leaves his biblical subject and speaks directly to the sufferings his congregation must endure. He recognizes that “enemies may ‘sail” (Line 25) or assail them “in de back an’ in de front” (Line 26), but he is quick to assure them that the Lord will fight the “brunt” (Line 28) of their battles for them. He overtly acknowledges their slavery and how their enemies “fo’ge […] chains an’ shackles” (Line 29) to keep them captive. For a moment, the preacher no longer speaks about their suffering through the disguise of ancient Israel. He honestly shares the details of their enslavement and predicts that God will send “some Moses” (Line 31) or deliverance in their time of need. He encourages his congregation to have faith and “trust” (Line 24) in God, the “Lawd of hosts” (Line 35) who is “mighty / When he girds his ahmor on” (Line 36). However, the preacher’s overt reference to and condemnation of slavery and his subsequent Book of Revelation-inspired imagery (Line 34) necessitate a disclaimer. Lest someone “mistakes” (Line 37) or misunderstands his intention, the preacher quickly confesses he is “still a-preachin’ ancient” (Line 39). To protect himself from censure and potentially worse physical punishments, the preacher plays dumb and pretends his subversive sermon is merely historical and has no political or social implications.

Still cautious of disapproving listeners, the preacher comforts his “fellah christuns” (Line 41) that “mighty strange” (Line 42) and exciting things are about to occur. Knowing that the Lord delivered Israel from slavery and that He “nevah” (Line 44) changes, the preacher is confident the Lord’s mercy was not “all on Isrul spent” (Line 46). His mercy and love will soon fall on the Black slaves too. With this promise, the preacher commands any potential spies or informants in his congregation to refrain from reporting to their masters about the “discontent” (Line 46) he preaches, which is a “discontent” he cleverly refuses to admit. He characterizes his sermon as “a-judgin’ / Bible people by deir ac’s” (Line 50) and mere teaching of “de fac’s” (Line 52) from scripture, a practice his Christian slave owners could not possibly protest.

However, once again, the preacher’s placating remarks and disclaimers do not last long. Immediately after this disclaimer, he justifies his congregation’s desire to be free. He notes how Pharaoh “b’lieved in slav’ry” (Line 53) before God destroyed him and proved that every “mothah’s son was free” (Line 56). To “[think] lak Pher’oh” (Line 58) and defend the practice of slavery is to contradict or make scripture a “liar” (Line 58), which is a serious sin according to biblical teaching (1 John 1:10). The preacher quotes a biblical verse against slavery (Lines 59-60) and states that no one can “git roun’” (Line 61) or “ovah” (Line 62) this biblical truth, no matter how inconvenient. In his most combative tone yet, the speaker clearly rebukes the Christian slave owners that have ignored or warped biblical principles to justify slavery, demonstrating how doing so is both sinful and utterly impossible.

Having proved the folly of defending slavery, the preacher asserts that the freedom of all human beings has been the “Lawd’s intention, / Evah sence de wor’l began” (Lines 65-66). After yet another tongue-in-cheek denial that he is only “talkin’ ‘bout ouah freedom / In a Bibleistic way” (Lines 71-72), the preacher shares his elation that “Moses is a-comin’” (Line 73), sure and “fas’” (Line 74). He speaks for the congregation, affirming, “We kin his feet a-trompin’, / We kin hyeah his trumpit blas’” (Lines 75-76). Once more inserting imagery from the Book of Revelation (see: Symbols & Motifs) into his visions of liberation, the preacher warns his audience not to become “too brigity” (Line 78) or to “git ti braggin’” (Line 79) about “dese things” (Line 80). Just like his prior request to refrain from informing their masters about his sermon, the preacher warns against foolishly and openly communicating what he has confided in secret. All they can do is “wait an’ see” (Line 80) the salvation God will inevitably bring.

In the final stanza, the preacher rapturously describes the future freedom he foresees for his people. Once free, his people will “praise de gracious Mastah” (Line 83) that gave them their “liberty” (Line 84), foregoing the cruel masters of this world and serving only their true Master and benevolent Father. They will “shout…halleluyahs” (Line 85) on that day of reckoning (Line 86) and justice. However, in the midst of this hopeful excitement, the preacher is still very much aware of his current restrictions. He interrupts himself one last time, stopping short of saying the full word “citizen” (Line 87). As much as he longs for and believes in the day he and his people are “reco’nised” (Line 87) as equal citizens by their oppressors, he knows that day has not yet come and may not for some time. Until that day, the vocalization of such a sentiment could be fatal, so the preacher refrains from speaking any further on the subject. He instead concludes his sermon with the more somber instruction “Chillun, let us pray!” (Line 88). There is nothing he or his congregation can do to hasten their emancipation; they can only wait and pray that God will see their plight and deliver them as He once did for Israel.