# Poor Afric — Poetry character guide

> Poor Afric in Poetry by Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** Afric

**First appearance:** 0000-the-grave-of-the-slave

## Who they are

A symbolic figure representing enslaved Africans, lamented in the poem.

## In the story

### [The Grave of the Slave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/the-grave-of-the-slave)

The deceased slave, now at rest in the grave, freed from pain and the master's command.

### [The Slave Girl's Address to Her Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/the-slave-girl-s-address-to-her-mother)

The speaker, a slave girl, addresses her mother and represents the enslaved African voice.

### [Past Joys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/past-joys)

The poem focuses on the profound and lasting sorrow of Poor Afric's son, who has been torn from all he loved.

### [Prayer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/prayer)

Afric's children are described as free to pray and find comfort, forgetting their slavish fear and bonds.

### [The Slave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/the-slave)

The enslaved person whose soul is darkened by oppression and who cannot share in the freedoms celebrated by white Americans.

### [The Farewell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/the-farewell)

Implied as the speaker who laments being forgotten by the stranger.

### [The Slave Girl’s Farewell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/the-slave-girl-s-farewell)

The slave girl who is forcibly separated from her mother and taken across the sea.

### [A Prayer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/chapters/a-prayer)

Implied as the 'poor and trembling slave' for whom Christ spoke and came to save.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/characters/poor_afric
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_20_se/characters