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| http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/25761 |
Robert Woodward Barnwell
Born: August 10, 1801, Beaufort, SC
Died: November 24, 1882, Columbia, SC
Interred: St. Helena Episcopal Churchyard, Beaufort, SC
Barnwell is best known as a lawyer, planter, politician, President of South Carolina College and signer of the Ordinance of Secession. However, he also wrote poetry, many of which reflect on the lowcountry's beauty. Here is the first three stanzas of the title poem in his small collection of verse Dawn at Daufuskie and Other Poems. :
Dawn at Daufuskie
I saw the fainting stars pass to their death.
I heard the frolic winds pausing for breath.
As the dawn crept upward all was still.
And my heart alone knew motion and thrill.
I saw the silver sea shining as steel.
The silence was pressing its golden heel
On lizard in leaves and bird on bough:
But I heard blood throbbing from heart to brow
I saw the fleecy clouds sink -- every one.
I heard no singing bird welcome the sun.
As the gold flashed landward glory spread,
And I heard my heart as its pulses sped.
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