NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLE I’VE SEEN
translation: John Irons
I weep & moan, bend and stray,
wear your slave fetters.
Nobody knows my suffering,
nobody knows my fate.
You stole me from my country,
took away my name.
I’m like a motherless child,
far from home.
But one day the moon will change to blood,
and this old world will reel.
Hell is deep, hell is wide,
but the waters will make way.
It will rain 40 days & 40 nights.
Slave drivers will row off into the wilds.
Were they to try and swim,
they would be swimming still.
This world is not my home.
I am alone and passing through.
Let me kneel, break bread,
my gaze flxed on the rising sun.
My name has been called.
My house is on the other side.
FREE AT LAST
translation: John Irons
One bright morning I get wings,
a crown with stars, a golden harp
and sail through the sky
on my way to the promised land.
I follow the star till I reach the valley
where my soul finds rest.
Swiftly an end comes to
the tribulations of this world.
I was blind but now I see.
Grace, how sweet your sound
that saved a wretch such as I.
I am immediately released from all pain.
Not everyone who speaks of it
shall complete the journey. Hear their voice:
Should you reach your destination before me,
tell my friends that I am coming.
I reach the far side.
My soul has slipped away from you.
I write my name in blood
in the book of life.
Good news: No more shall I die.
I let the light shine over the world.