Even though this poem wasn't very "poemy," I really liked it. But I watch the History Channel a lot, so maybe I just liked hearing a firsthand account. The stanza, "Consider...survive," was really cool. I've never though about inoculation, but it's pretty crazy. A person is infected with a disease that is supposed to kill, but they survive and can never get sick from that again. Kind of genius.
But then the poem became about slavery. The slave had an inoculation and it saved him from smallpox, but then he just ended up being a slave. His life was saved to serve another. I was a little disappointed to hear it take this turn--it ruined the happy-coolness of inoculation. But of course it had to be a sad poem >:(
I looked up Onesimus to see if it held any significance. The Holy Apostle Onesimus was a slave to Philemon of Colossae.
I like it too--precisely because it is not very "poemy." I think it's cool to see the many ways people have used poetry to express things. Onesimus was a biblical slave and a real slave in New England. You are correct.
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