Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
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THE FREEMAN. |
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 | Madmoments: or First Verseattempts |  |
THE FREEMAN.
Who is the freeman? — he that in his prideOf heart exalts himself above his kind,
And in selfglory's sanctity enshrined,
Is his own idol? he whose wishes wide
Embrace a universe, yet cannot hide
The seeker's poverty! or such as find
Their Deity in wealth, or not less blind,
In Earth's brief pleasures? Truth will not abide
With these vile slaves to fancied Liberty,
Whose Circe-cup transforms them into Brutes,
Yet leaves no sense of their deformity.
True freedom in such Soil as this ne'er roots,
But in subduëd Will, Selfmastery,
The Empire of the Breast, 'tis there she yields her fruits!
| Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | |