Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
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Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | ||
REVOLUTIONISTS.
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Ye Fools, who with the vilest Things would gainThe holiest of Blessings. Liberty;
The Means destroy the Worth of that ye try
To win, and when acquired make it vain
As Light unto the Blind—ye need not strain
The Nerve, or grasp the Sword: the Victory
She loves, is o'er a nearer Enemy,
E'en your ownselves! And when ye can restrain
Your Passions, then ye have no other Foe,
Then are ye free! But Violence and Blood
Alike unfit ye to receive or know
That Blessing: from within comes all its Good,
But ye are no more in a fitting mood,
The only Source from whence it e'er can flow
Within yourselves, ye have destroyed, nor could
Ye now be free tho' all your Foes lay low!
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Wisdom delights in Gentleness, and ThoughtCan pass thro' Gates and break the Prisoner's Chain,
When meaner Instruments would work in vain:
It knows no Obstacles, for there is nought
Can check it. as St. Peter once was brought
Forth by the Angel from his Place of Pain,
So to the inmost Prison Thought can gain
Admittance, Thought, the Angel, who has wrought
So many Wonders for Mankind, and still
Works more and more; like to the gentle Light
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And moulds them by its soft yet Giantmight,
'Till blending all Men's Minds in one pure Will,
It realize all Blessings fair and bright!
Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | ||