 | [Poems by Story in] The liberty bell |  |
70
SONNET.
Freedom! august and spirit-cheering name!When will thy blessed light encircle all?
How long in Slavery shall the wretched thrall
Pine in an ignorance begot of shame?
How long in grovelling sense, debased and tame,
Shall man's aspiring spirit cringe and crawl,
And, with crushed hopes, hug round that moral pall,
Where life is reft of will and noble aim?
Such questions ask I of the swelling sea;
Such of the roaring winds, and boundless sky;
And, like a trumpet-blast, I hear their cry,
‘He who is true unto himself is free!
When to the Truth man's spirit shall be wed,
Freedom shall be his law, and Peace his bed.’
| [Poems by Story in] The liberty bell | |