20.12.2012, 21:26
Oh ! when shall man th' invigorating air
Respire unshackled by the Helot's chain,
Nor from his enervating toils repair
Soon to return to waste what pow'rs remain
His health and life for the oppressor's gain ;
That noble energies should thus be lost,
Which, cultur'd, might to fame's proud height attain,
And prove perchance a nation's ardent boast
! If e'er the patriot's malediction rise,
Sure it must fall upon the shameless head
Of one who mocks fair freedom's type — the skies,
Dooming the subjected to toil for bread
Beyond those limits Nature has assigird,
With'ring the fruit which else would dig nify the mind.
Respire unshackled by the Helot's chain,
Nor from his enervating toils repair
Soon to return to waste what pow'rs remain
His health and life for the oppressor's gain ;
That noble energies should thus be lost,
Which, cultur'd, might to fame's proud height attain,
And prove perchance a nation's ardent boast
! If e'er the patriot's malediction rise,
Sure it must fall upon the shameless head
Of one who mocks fair freedom's type — the skies,
Dooming the subjected to toil for bread
Beyond those limits Nature has assigird,
With'ring the fruit which else would dig nify the mind.