22.05.2007, 18:48
Freedom
Freedom! beneath thy banner I was born.
O, let me share thy full and perfect life!
Teach me opinion’s slavery to scorn,
And to be free from passion’s bitter strife;
Free of the world, a self-dependent soul,
Nourished by lofty aims and genial truth,
And made more free by love’s serene control,
The spell of beauty and the hopes of youth:
The liberty of Nature let me know,
Caught from her mountains, groves, and crystal streams;
Her starry host, and sunset’s purple glow,
That woo the spirit with celestial dreams,
On fancy’s wing exultingly to soar,
Till life’s harsh fetters clog the heart no more!
Freedom! beneath thy banner I was born.
O, let me share thy full and perfect life!
Teach me opinion’s slavery to scorn,
And to be free from passion’s bitter strife;
Free of the world, a self-dependent soul,
Nourished by lofty aims and genial truth,
And made more free by love’s serene control,
The spell of beauty and the hopes of youth:
The liberty of Nature let me know,
Caught from her mountains, groves, and crystal streams;
Her starry host, and sunset’s purple glow,
That woo the spirit with celestial dreams,
On fancy’s wing exultingly to soar,
Till life’s harsh fetters clog the heart no more!