Here is a link to the parable I
reference in the post (http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=luke+18:9-18:14&version=nrsvae)
Southey's "The Sailor, Who Had
Served in the Slave Trade" reminds me of the tax collector (the sailor)
and Pharisee (the minister) parable from the Bible because of the similarity
between the two stories. However, there are differences.
The sailor is like the tax collector
because of the profession's negative image in society (even today we have
sayings such as "swear like a drunken sailor" that support the
negative stereotype of sailors). And like the tax collector he realizes his
wrongful deed, which is killing a slave through flogging.
It is interesting that the minister
does not act like a self-righteous Pharisee and put down the sailor for his
sin, but is humble and helps the sailor. I think this difference from the
parable states that if the “Pharisee and tax-collector,” two complete opposites
in the parable, can see the evil of the slave trade, everyone should be able to
see the evils too. Unlike the Pharisee, the minister is also humbled and made
to think about the sin of slavery, as should the reader after reading the
poem.
While I would disagree that the sailor (only partially despised) is comparable to the tax collector (universally despised), I do think you raise an interesting point about unifying people in the belief that slavery is wrong. I do believe this is the poem's intention... to, as you say, humble and make people think about the sin of slavery.
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