When on life's ocean first I spread my sail,
I then implored a mild auspicious gale;
And from the slippery strand I took my flight,
And sought the peaceful haven of delight.
Tyrannic storms arose upon my soul,
And dreadful did their mad'ning thunders roll;
The pensive muse was shaken from her sphere,
And hope, it vanished in the clouds of fear.
At length a golden sun broke through the gloom,
And from his smiles arose a sweet perfume--
A calm ensued, and birds began to sing,
And lo! the sacred muse resumed her wing.
Here, Horton seems to speak of the hope of becoming a free man that he felt returning to him when he heard that some people were trying to get him emancipated in 1828. These people may have included Caroline Hentz, who sent a letter with two of his poems to her local newspaper, the Lancaster Gazette. 

On Hearing of a Gentleman to Purchase the Poets Freedom