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Thomas Pringle

I lived from 1789-1834. I was from Scotland, and am in the English category.

Though he spent only six years in South Africa, Pringle has been called the "Father of South African Poetry in English." He was born in Scotland and met Sir Walter Scott at the University of Edinburgh. In 1820 he arrived in Cape Town, where he published a newspaper and a magazine, which were suppressed because of his reform views. He returned to London in 1826 and spent the rest of his life in the antislavery movement, serving as secretary to the Society for the Abolition of Slavery.

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  • Afar In The Desert
    Afar in the Desert I love to ride,
        With the silent Bush-boy alone by my side:
    100 lines
  • The Caffer Commando
    Hark! -- heard ye the signals of triumph afar?
    'Tis our Caffer Commando returning from war:
    26 lines
  • Makanna's Gathering
    Wake! Amakósa, wake!
    And arm yourselves for war.
    48 lines
  • The Slave Dealer
    From ocean's wave a Wanderer came,
    With visage tanned and dun:
    48 lines
  • Song Of The Wild Bushman
    Let the proud White Man boast his flocks,
            And fields of foodful grain;
    36 lines
  • The Lion Hunt
    Mount -- mount for the hunting -- with musket and spear!
    Call our friends to the field -- for the Lion is near!
    48 lines
  • The Hottentot
    Mild, melancholy, and sedate, he stands,
    Tending another's flock upon the fields,
    14 lines
  • The Caffer
    Lo! where he crouches by the cleugh's dark side,
    Eyeing the farmer's lowing herds afar;
    14 lines
  • The Kosa
    The free-born Kosa still doth hold
    The fields his fathers held of old;
    52 lines
  • The Coranna
    Fast by his wild resounding River
    The listless Coran lingers ever;
    24 lines
1 - 10 of 13  Show all by written, popularity, title, first line

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