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Composed in 1884 by Sarah Ann Nelson Thomas Shimm for her "Toussaint Sofa"
 When Albion from her island cliffs
The air with "Hampden" rends
And France with drooping flour-de-lis
Bewails the Orleans maid
 When Italy wafts through cloudless skies
Her Garibaldi's name
And Austria tells from ramparts high
Of Louis Kosuth's fame
When Scotch sigh o'er Wallace's grave
And Freedom weep the martyred brave
 When patriot lands for country's sake
From Emmet's tomb the shamrocks break
 When o'er the fanes of other lands
 The stored radiance shines
We turn to thee o sun kissed isle
And on thy peaks see Freedom smile
 And Hayti sea-girt ocean gem
'Twas Toussaint won thy diadem!

Sarah Ann Nelson Thomas Shimm (1854-1885) was a black female who wrote articles for an early Washington D.C. newspaper under the name Faith Lichen because newspapers would not published material written by a black person. Mrs. Shimm composed the above poem to accompany her sofa which was upholstered with a tapestry which she embroidered with scenes from the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture and displayed at the New Orleans World's Fair in 1884. The poem is from the collection of Dr. Charlene Byrd, Mrs. Shimm's great grand-daughter.
[[copyright symbol]] Dr. Charlene Byrd, Nitro, West Virginia