Classic Poem

Oppression was the rod that struck the rock
And loos'd the fiery floodgates of my tongue.
The click behind me o' the prison lock
Unlock'd the fetters that had kept it dumb.
The body free, then was the tongue enchain'd;
The body 'prison'd, then the tongue sprung free.
Thus what the body lost the spirit gain'd;
Thus from defeat wrung I a victory!
The inarticulate thoughts of former years,
When in a forest dim I laid me down,
Or on a midnight watch'd the silent spheres,
Till then imprison'd, then their freedom found.
Thus from oppression, doth revolution spring,
And armed Justice stand where greed was King!