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Sonnets and Other Poems

William Lloyd Garrison · 1843

A collection of verse written by William Lloyd Garrison, published in 1843, showing his religious and moral convictions.

This is a book of poetry written by Garrison himself, showing the moral fervor behind his activism.

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Front cover of a dark purple cloth-bound book with an embossed floral and scrollwork pattern. Gold lettering on the cover reads "GARRISON'S POEMS." A white library label in the upper left shows handwritten call numbers 953 G242 so case B.
William Lloyd Garrison, Sonnets and Other Poems, 1843. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This is a book of poems written by William Lloyd Garrison, published in 1843. It is held by the Library of Congress.

Why it matters

Garrison is best known as a newspaper editor and abolitionist leader, but this collection shows another side of him: his religious and moral feeling expressed through poetry. It reveals that his reform work grew out of strong personal convictions, not just political argument.

Look closer

  • What might poetry let a reformer say that a newspaper editorial cannot?
  • What does the care taken in printing and binding this book suggest about how its author or publisher valued it?
  • Why might historians look at a reformer's poems as well as their speeches and essays?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of William Lloyd Garrison on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Yellowed title page of the 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Text reads 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself', 'Boston: Published at the Anti-Slavery Office, No. 25 Cornhill, 1845'.Book

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Frederick Douglass · 1845

Title page of 'Thoughts on African Colonization' (Boston, 1832). Large heading reads 'Thoughts on African Colonization: or an impartial exhibition of the doctrines, principles and purposes of the American Colonization Society', with text 'together with the resolutions, addresses and remonstrances of the free people of color'. Epigraphs from the Bible appear below, followed by 'By Wm. Lloyd Garrison'. Imprint: 'Boston: Printed and published by Garrison and Knapp, No. 11, Merchants' Hall, 1832'.Book

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William Lloyd Garrison · 1832

Oil portrait of a balding older man with wire-rimmed spectacles, wearing a black coat, white shirt, and black neckcloth, against a dark brown background. He faces forward with a neutral expression.Painting

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Nathaniel Jocelyn · 1833

Masthead of The Liberator newspaper, an engraved illustration with the title THE LIBERATOR in large letters across the bottom. Scenes include an auction of enslaved people with a sign reading slaves, horses, sheep, and other goods, a central robed figure with arms raised breaking chains, enslaved people working in fields, and a gate at right. Below the title is the motto Our Country is the World, our Countrymen are all Mankind.Newspaper article

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The Liberator, 15 December 1854

Hammatt Billings · 15 December 1854

Front page of The Liberator, Boston, Friday, January 3, 1862, Vol. XXXII, No. 1, Whole No. 1619. A woodcut vignette of figures, including a standing woman, sits above the masthead. Dense columns of small printed text fill the page.Newspaper article

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The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison · 1831-1865

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