 | Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with Other Poems |  |
265
ODE TO LIBERTY.
Freedom, thou co-eternal might with Love,
Great birthright of all breathing things that be,
The bird's light wing thy inspirations move,
And the stern thinker's thought is shaped by thee.
Thou in the sailing cloud,
Thou in the laughter loud
Of ocean's bright wave dost supremely reign;
The grey hills know thy sovereignty; and all
The undulant fulness of the green-leaved plain;
And heaving nations own thy heart-constraining call.
Great birthright of all breathing things that be,
The bird's light wing thy inspirations move,
And the stern thinker's thought is shaped by thee.
Thou in the sailing cloud,
Thou in the laughter loud
Of ocean's bright wave dost supremely reign;
The grey hills know thy sovereignty; and all
The undulant fulness of the green-leaved plain;
And heaving nations own thy heart-constraining call.
Peoples are strong by thee. Old Greece and Rome
Waxed mighty, when thy waxing power they knew;
Thy virtue fenced the Sabine farmer's home,
And to a king the ploughman-consul grew.
From each Ægean isle
Thy broad benignant smile
Beamed forth; and lo! all radiant with thy fire,
Th blind old Chian leads the minstrel band;
A thousand bards catch rapture from one sire,
And tuneful sages teach the fine-eared Grecian land!
Waxed mighty, when thy waxing power they knew;
Thy virtue fenced the Sabine farmer's home,
And to a king the ploughman-consul grew.
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Thy broad benignant smile
Beamed forth; and lo! all radiant with thy fire,
Th blind old Chian leads the minstrel band;
A thousand bards catch rapture from one sire,
And tuneful sages teach the fine-eared Grecian land!
Thy home is in the soul. On Hebrew hills,
Alone communing with his fervid thought,
The shepherd knew thee, brooding o'er the ills
That godless kings to his dear country brought.
God's Spirit moved him then
To walk forth amongst men,
And through the crowds his burning message send.
Through streets, through halls, his fearless way he took;
People and priest before his preaching bend,
And purple monarchs own the shaggy seer's rebuke.
Alone communing with his fervid thought,
The shepherd knew thee, brooding o'er the ills
That godless kings to his dear country brought.
God's Spirit moved him then
To walk forth amongst men,
And through the crowds his burning message send.
Through streets, through halls, his fearless way he took;
People and priest before his preaching bend,
And purple monarchs own the shaggy seer's rebuke.
Thee knew the Saxon monk in lonely cell,
What time on dusty shelf remote he found
The Book; and from his eyes thick darkness fell,
Like scales. As one new-born he looked around.
O then, nor Prince nor Pope,
Nor worldly fear or hope,
Might bribe his lips; but with free voice he spake.
Scorning the smooth damnation of a lie:
Old Error shrinks; world-famous falsehoods quake.
And the strong Kaiser fears his bright truth-gleaming eye.
What time on dusty shelf remote he found
The Book; and from his eyes thick darkness fell,
Like scales. As one new-born he looked around.
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Nor worldly fear or hope,
Might bribe his lips; but with free voice he spake.
Scorning the smooth damnation of a lie:
Old Error shrinks; world-famous falsehoods quake.
And the strong Kaiser fears his bright truth-gleaming eye.
Right hand of God, victorious Freedom! who
Are they that dare, where thou dost loose, to bind?
The dark-stoled priests, the sharp suspicious erew.
The jealous warders of the God-stirred mind.
These are thy foes; and thou
With them dost struggle now
In terrible agony, where old Tiber rolls
His tide, with many a murtherous memory red,
And hoary curses from the prisoned souls
Of thousands, cry to God to judge the injured dead.
Are they that dare, where thou dost loose, to bind?
The dark-stoled priests, the sharp suspicious erew.
The jealous warders of the God-stirred mind.
These are thy foes; and thou
With them dost struggle now
In terrible agony, where old Tiber rolls
His tide, with many a murtherous memory red,
And hoary curses from the prisoned souls
Of thousands, cry to God to judge the injured dead.
These be thy foes; and whoso leagued with them.
Stopping their ears to fettered nature's moan,
Have glued with blood their forceful diadem,
And marched through murder to a lawless throne:
He who doth use foul sway
O'er Naples azure bay;
And he—his baseness with his years increased—
Where the fat Danube feeds the polished slave,
Who sold his empire's charter to a priest,
And hired the Russ with gold to dig free Hungary's grave.
Stopping their ears to fettered nature's moan,
Have glued with blood their forceful diadem,
And marched through murder to a lawless throne:
He who doth use foul sway
O'er Naples azure bay;
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Where the fat Danube feeds the polished slave,
Who sold his empire's charter to a priest,
And hired the Russ with gold to dig free Hungary's grave.
Long hath grim Tyranny reigned; but we will wait.
A thousand years with God are as one day:
And the slow-brewing storm of righteous fate
Will burst, like deluge, from the long delay.
The days and years that roll
Obey thy sure control,
Almighty; and, like fruitful sowers, we
Cast the small seed beneath the lowly clod;
From the hard shell thy touch the germ makes free;
And all the field is quick with verdurous life from God.
A thousand years with God are as one day:
And the slow-brewing storm of righteous fate
Will burst, like deluge, from the long delay.
The days and years that roll
Obey thy sure control,
Almighty; and, like fruitful sowers, we
Cast the small seed beneath the lowly clod;
From the hard shell thy touch the germ makes free;
And all the field is quick with verdurous life from God.
| Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with Other Poems | |