It would take more than a man
To lead the slaves from bondage.
It would take a god.
But if I could free them, I would.
What has turned you against me?
From the time my sister brought you to the court,
I loved you, reared you,
Set you before my own son...
Because I saw in you
A worth and a greatness
Above other men.
No son could have more love for you than I.
Then why are you forcing me to destroy you?
What evil has done this to you?
The evil that men should turn their brothers
Into beasts of burden,
To slave and suffer in dumb anguish,
To be stripped of spirit and hope and faith
Only because they are of another race,
Another creed.
If there is a god,
He did not mean this to be so.
What I have done, I was compelled to do.
So be it.