Classic Poem

  W OULD'ST thou be free?
Leave, then,
 The haunts of slavish men,
And seek the wilds of Nature. There, alone,
Behold and see
 How thick all round thee have been sown
The untrammelled prototypes of Liberty .

  The Air is free;
  And, unconfined
 By form or color, like a Spirit moves.
 Now, with a mighty rushing blast, the wind
  Upheaves the sea;
 Now, a tornado, crashes through the groves,
 Awhile it kindly fills the swelling sail;
  Then, rising in a shrieking gale,
Scatters the crumbling wrecks upon a rough lee-shore.

Up from the earth, on viewless pinion,
 It wafts at will the fleecy mist;
And, gathered by the breath of its dominion,
 Adown the lowering storm-clouds pour
  Upon the thirsty plain
  The plashing rain;
 While men, in silent terror, list
 The thunders shouting from the sky,
 Or start when, through the close-shut eye,
 They see the dazzling lightnings fly.
 Yet oft, amid sweet-scented valleys,
The gentle zephyr at its pleasure dallies;
 And oft, as golden evening closes,
  The fainting breeze reposes
  On beds of roses;
  Or, silently distilling,
 The calm air, drop by drop, is filling
  Flower-cups of every hue
  With pearly dew.

  And Ocean, too, is free;
 Thou canst not wake his slumbering ire,
Nor charm his roused wrath at thy desire:
 By his own fancy moveth he.
 At times, the peaceful little isles
In sunshine float upon a sleeping Ocean,
That girdles them without a sound or motion:
Thus darling babes, all dimpled o'er with smiles,
Sleep lulled to rest
 Upon a sleeping mother's breast.

But when the winds their battle trumpets blow,
 Aloft, with martial fury flashing,
Up start the billowy hosts, their armor clashing;
With crested heads, careering to and fro,
Shoreward they rush, like plumed horsemen dashing
  Headlong on the foe.
 At length, within the hollow bay,
  In long-drawn, pensive sighs,
  The tempest dies
   Away.
The glassy swells, with lazy, loitering sweep,
Along the curved beach slow-lingering creep,
And gently round the silvery circle move,
Till, by the mellow moon, their music seems
 Soft as the name of one we love,
  Murmured in dreams.

  The solid Earth is free!
  Nor arbitrary will, nor force,
 Can wrench the mountain-ranges from their course.
  Where'er they list, we see
 Their frozen summits bare their heads on high:
  While, cushioned soft with verdure green,
   And wet by rills
  That tinkle down the hills,
  The nestling vales between,
  With quiet trustful eye,
  Look upward at the sky.
The world of leaves and flowers springs up to birth,
  Unbidden, o'er the earth.
  No Master's word commands
The gnarled oak to flourish where he stands;
  Or plants the pine's perennial pride
  On the steep mountain-side;
 Or bends the willow o'er the winding brook;
  Or finds, for every perfumed nook,
  A floweret of its own;
 Or clothes in mossy vest each rock and stone.
 There is no overseer
To track the blindworm through
 The loamy soil,
Or watch the mole pursue
 His subterranean toil;
 Nor skilful engineer
 To teach the beaver build his dams so well.
 The bee requires no architect to tell
  How she shall shape her cell;
  Nor housewife needs, with frugal care,
  Instruct the busy little ant prepare
   Her winter fare.
  Without a driver's rein,
The wild ass scours the scorching plain.
  Unyoked, the galloping bison snorts,
  Through clouds of dust,
Across the trembling prairies to his old resorts;
  Nor will the trampling army halt,
  Till myriad hoofs have crushed the crust
 That spangles all the snowy vale of salt.
 No despot can compel the lion where
   To take his prey,
   Or when to roar;
  Or by his mandate scare
 The prowling tiger from his lair,
  Or bid him cease to slay,
  And slake his thirst with gore.
  Unfettered, through the deep,
Roll the huge whales;
 And finny tribes, in painted scales,
 Without a pilot, to their courses keep,
And steer right on,
Till in far distant streams they store their spawn.
At will, the birds traverse the heavenly blue;
  And, when brown Autumn comes,
The feathered crew
Spontaneous navigate the seas of air,
  And to their southern homes
  Repair,
O'er many a shore
Unseen before.
They need no dictatorial oversight
To point their flight;
 Nor doth the needle, at the approach of Spring,
Marshall the moving of their homeward wing.

All Nature speakes of F REEDOM ; her glad voice
Is heard in all the waves
 That thunder through old Ocean's caves,
Or, with prolonged, reverberating noise,
Echo along the shore;—
 And melts in every note of love,
So sweetly warbled o'er
By moonlight nightingale
  Or cooing dove;—
And breathes the charmed silence, deep and still,
 That broods at midnight on the hill,
Or hushes all the vale.

  Man, alone,
 To whom was given the empire of the whole,
  Man, alone,
 Hath lost the birthright of his royal soul!
 All the wide human family are found
 With checks, and curbs, and cramps, and fetters bound.
 Some bow their necks beneath a despot's sway.
 In servile bondage numbers pine away.
 Some are down-trodden by the conqueror's heel.
 Some the more stealthy strength of cunning feel.
 Lawless oppressors round the feeble swarm,
 And grasp, by title of the stronger arm.
 Some o'er their laws and rulers loudly mourn,
 Ground down by taxes grievous to be borne.
 The rich are servants to their hoarded store,
 While hungry want chains millions to the oar.
 The Soul, subdued by passion's siren strain,
 Now meanly serves, where it was meant to reign.
 The Mind, all darkened by the Soul's eclipse,
 No longer at light's Fountain wets her lips:
 Rush-lights and friction-matches she'll display,
 And boast that these turn darkness into day!
 Strong hearts, surrounded by restraints, which they
 Feel Nature never meant them to obey,
 Beat madly till they burst their prison bars,
 Or bleed, and break, and sink like falling stars!
 Men's bodies, bound by habit's long excess,
 Oppressed by diet false and senseless dress,
 Live humble slaves to tailors and French cooks,
 Then die by laws laid down in learned books.
 For many minds can understand no thought
 But what they were in school and college taught;
 This is the only test of truth they know:
 “Old Doctors said, and sure it must be so!”
 Yet change alone but little good will do;
 Reformers rise in shoals, who flounder through
 All wise restraints, and fancy they are free:
 But when, within, is no true Liberty,
 They take the bridle off, and, when 'tis gone,
 All they can do is—put the halter on!
 In politics what is our freedom worth?
 Her growth was stunted from her very birth.
 In Boston town her famous Cradle stands;
 Who'll show her how to burst her swaddling bands?
 Party now reigns supreme, though some may hint:
 “The Constitution still exists”—in print!
 King Caucus lords it o'er the rank and file,
 Driven to the ballot-box like cattle; while
 True men are called, by every hireling tool,
 Traitors—to those who have no right to rule!
 In social life, ten thousand fetters clog
 The bounding step down to the common jog;
 A paradox for “Sovereign People” fit,
 That all claim power, yet basely all submit.
 No man may think, or speak, or walk, or stand,
 But just as other people may demand.
 No independent citizen may dare
 To eat or drink, or even trim his hair,
 Or change the contour of his coat, unless
 The Nation chooses to endorse the dress.
 Men of free birth are clad in full-length suits
 Of abject servitude, from hat to boots;
 They seem to think inexorable Fate
 Made them, like monkeys, but to imitate.
 'Tis only pity that, for use so small,
 Men should be born with any brains at all!
 And still, for F REEDOM every soul has pined,—
 For ever seeking, though they never find.
 Freedom has left them ever since the Fall,
While sin, and ignorance, and sloth, enslave them all!

 And yet would'st thou be FREE ?
Look well around thee, then, and see,
 Throughout all Nature's bound,
What is that blessed thing called Liberty ,
 And where it may be found.
 For man, dethroned, must fain
Seek, in the subjects of his own domain,
The type and reason of his former reign.

 The Air is free; yet so
That it must be and move by laws.
Each sighing breeze,
And gale, and whirlwind, has its cause.
'Tis not by chance the steady trade-winds blow
Across the Indian seas;
Or clouds float lighter round the mountain's top
Than hang so heavy o'er the vale below.
 By law the morning dew goes up,
 Again to leave,
On the cool breath of eve,
A purer pearl to fill the honied cup.
 By law the graceful vapors rise,
And rain-drops fall oblique through gusty wind.
 By law the rapid lightning flies,
While the slow thunder lingers long behind;
 And when, with muttered rumblings ending,
The sullen storm resumes his lowering march,
 By regular laws his colors blending
O'er the retiring foe,
The sun, victorious, rears the round rainbow,
His bright triumphal arch.
Ocean is free; and, where he pleases, throwing
His giant arms inland,
Their tides arterial,—ever ebbing, flowing,—
Like healthy pulses throb along the strand:
 For law controls
The rise and fall of every wave that rolls.
 And though the billows rave and roar,
They have a boundary set,
 Which will not let
Their rage invade the shore,
Or their loud batteries make a yawning breach
Through rock broad-breasted, or the narrow beach.
In long white lines the hoarse-voiced surges roll
Over a smooth-faced shoal,
 Whose shifting sands have power, beneath,
To put a bridle 'twixt old Ocean's teeth,
So that his plunging steeds may rear and bound,
And shake their snowy mane,
And foam, and champ the bit, and paw the ground,—
In vain!

 The Earth is free; yet must
 The granite grey compose the lowest crust,
And regular gradations lead
To fertile field and dewy mead.
 The mountain head must still
Be bald and cold; while from the hill,
 Springs rise and rivers run, and, as they go,
Float down the rich alluvial to the vale below.
By law the palm is grown
Within the torrid zone;
 And the birch shows
 Its dwarf-like bushes amid arctic snows.
By law the willow bends, the floweret blows;
And the cold stone is dressed
 In mossy vest.
 By law the blindworm burrows, and the mole.
By law the bee and beaver build,
The emmet's granaries are filled,
The solitary wild ass spurns control,
 And bisons roam in herds.
By law, lions and tigers feed
 On living prey, whose blood their thirst assuages;
By law the fish move up the streams to breed,
 And flocks of birds
In Spring and Fall perform their pilgrimages.

All Nature speaks of Law .
And as, of old, the wise Amphion saw
 The walls of Thebes to heaven aspire,
The while his fingers swept the sounding lyre:
So, at the voice of Law ,
F REEDOM arose; whose notes of ravishing tone
Are sweet harmonics of a deeper string
Than she can call her own.
F REEDOM , that lovely, holy thing,—
 Whose beaming grace
Smileth o'er land and sea,—
Is Nature's light and flowing melody:
 In Law , alone,
Is found her fixed and fundamental base,
On which is built, through everlasting years,
The Music of the Spheres.

And Man, too, hath his laws.
  Laws of the land.
  That cannot stand
A twelvemonth without changing;—
  Laws of the Schools,
 For making pedants out of fools;—
And laws of fashion, taste, and etiquette,
With thousand others yet,
Which men continually are re-arranging,
And mostly for no cause.
 They make laws for themselves , and thus forget
 The solid grain to legislate on straws.
Hence from these laws, in thousand forms, have grown
Oppression, slavery, and misery and woe:
Yet still the human race go on,
 Though streams of blood and tears unceasing flow!

  Not thus with Nature!
 She claims no right divine of legislature.
For neither Air, nor Ocean,
  Nor teeming Earth
Did bring themselves to birth,
 Or could endow themselves with life or motion.
 The laws of Nature are the laws of GOD;
For, in the sense of Cause,
  Or unseen Power that maketh laws,
 Nature is but another name for GOD.
 H E , like a curtain spreads the heavens on high,
 And sends the feathered fowl to wing the sky.
 The strong foundation of the earth H E moulded,
  And round it, like a garment, folded
  The great wide deep,
With bounds which it must keep.
 Into the vales that run among the hills,
H E sends the bubbling spring;
 The thirsty beasts throng round the purling rills,
 And birds among the bending branches sing.
 From H IM the roaring lions seek their prey,
 Prowling in darkness; at the dawn of day,
 Back to their dens they hie away.
H E bloweth with H IS wind, and waters flow;
 High as the heaven the billows go,
And down to gulfs below.
 The ready lightnings run, all crying:
  “L ORD ! here we are!”
The thunder is H IS glorious voice replying
  From heaven afar.
And H E it is that makes the tempest cease;
  And, when H E will,
Saith:“Peace!
Be still!”
And hangs H IS bow of mercy's radiant form
On the retreating storm.
H E , from H IS treasure, brings
 The early and the latter rain;
H E giveth snow like wool, and hoar-frost flings,
 Like ashes, o'er the wintry plain;
And as when Gideon drew
The sword at H IS command,
  So now H IS hand
 Drops or withholds the evening dew.
All living things H E fills with plenteousness,
And all H IS Name do bless,
Shining in glorious liberty, because
All are obedient to their M AKER'S laws
  As at the first;
While man alone is curst!

The God of Nature is the God of Man;
Who, if he were not blind,
Would find
 That, since he never was, nor can
Become, the Author of his own estate,
He has no primal right to legislate .
The Law of GOD is pure; it giveth light
 Unto the eyes, and doth impart
 Deep wisdom to the simple mind.
 The Statutes of the L ORD are right;
  The constant thought
Of them brings fresh rejoicing to the heart.
 By them H IS servants all are taught,
  For there they find
A lantern unto wandering feet by night,
Casting its beams afar.
 True are H IS judgments, failing never;
  Perfect they are,
 And God hath grounded them for ever.
 Therefore to man, as to the rest
  Of H IS creation,
 Obedience is the only way
Whereby he can be blessed;
 And, without this, is no salvation.
A perfect LAW is given;—let Man obey!

  And can it be
 That Reason, then, whose wondrous force
 Can probe the earth and sound the sea,
And whose sublime discourse
  Reaches to heaven,—
That this, with our mysterious Will, was given
  For naught? Ah, no!
 For as Man was the crowning part
  Of all creative art,
So, with his nobler birth,
 Was his obedience meant to flow,—
 Not from blind instinct, which can know
  Nor choice, nor worth,—
But from the clear bright eye
  Of knowledge high,
  And onward move
With heart enkindled by the flame of Love!
Then love thy God and Saviour! H E is Love;
And he who dwells in love
 Dwelleth in God , and God in him.
  Thus shall thy cup
Of F REEDOM be filled up
With living waters, bubbling o'er the brim;
And thy emancipated soul shall own,
When H E
  Hath made thee free,
That this, and this alone,
Deserves the noble name of LIBERTY.

In vain, then, hath the world
  So oft unfurled
The red flag of rebellion to misrule;
The oppressed in vain have hurled
The oppressor down, and, in the ruddy pool
 Of his own blood, washed out his crime;
In vain have mobs arisen
  Time after time,
 Burst open every despot's prison,
Plundered the palace of its precious things,
And stamped their heels upon the neck of kings.
They were not therefore free;
Freedom from tyrants is not Liberty .
From age to age the world enslaved hath lain,
Like a chained prisoner, in fevered pain;
Who, all night long, but tosses to and fro,
Haunted by horrid dreams,
Through which his struggling soul, in vain,
Fights for some fancied prize,
  That dancing gleams
  Before his eyes,
Although
 What it may be he doth not know.
Dark scenes of blood affright
  His shuddering sight;
At each imagined blow
Is heard a fearful groaning;
 At every spasm and laboring throe
The husky voice breaks out
 In shrieking, muttering, and moaning,
 Or wailing notes of misery and woe;
 While loudly, through the long-fought battle,
 His clanking chains for ever rattle!

 But lo! The night is now far gone,
And soon shall have its ending.
 Day is at hand!—a blessed dawn,
  When, with a shout,
 With the Archangel's voice, and trump of God ,
 We shall behold the LORD from heaven descending!
His feet
  Shall stand upon Mount Olivet,
Whose wooded height they trod
 When to H IS F ATHER'S home the angels bore Him.
  On either hand,
Gathered from every coast,
  Ten thousand saints shall round Him stand,
 Ten thousand times ten thousand kneel before Him;—
  A billowy host,
 Brighter than blazing seas in sunshine rolling.
To east, west, south, and north,
The Reapers shall rush forth,
And home, from earth and sea,
 Gather the harvest to the granary:
  While, all alone,
The heathen's rage controlling,
  Shall Judah's L ION ,
The KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS, ride on,
Trampling His foes victoriously;
  Then build His throne
  Aloft on Zion,
 And reign before His ancients gloriously!
 Over the mountain tops His mount shall rise,
 And of all nations draw the adoring eyes;
  For His dominion then shall be
  From sea to sea,
And from the river, round
To the world's utmost bound.
 Forth to the Gentiles from Jerusalem
  Shall living waters flow: of them
  Half to the former sea shall go,
Half to the hinder flow;
Nor summer's heat shall dry
  The moistened shore,
 Nor winter's cold suspend the rich supply,
  For evermore.
 The curse of Babel's tower shall then be o'er:
  But one pure speech
All round the world shall reach,
And the LORD'S glorious NAME
Be everywhere the same.
Nor grief, nor care, nor sigh,
  Shall then be nigh;
 Nor tears of woe
   Shall flow:
  But by his own domestic vine
Shall every man recline,
And, 'neath the fig-tree's shade,
None make their hearts afraid.
  For wars shall cease;
  Swords shall be turned to ploughs,
 And spears, transformed, shall prune the boughs
Of fruitful trees;
While peace again
  Shall reign,
  Supreme o'er hill and plain
And bosky dell.
 Then with the wolf the lamb shall dwell,
The leopard with the kid lie down at ease,
And, in their laughing play,
Shall little children lay
  The guiding rein
Upon the lion's mane.
The desert shall rejoice
And blossom as the rose,
And every living creature find a voice,
To swell the joyous noise.
The little birds, with all their warbling loves,
 Shall sing among the ringing woods;
  And, joining those,
 The hills shall dance in ranged bands,
With all their nodding groves;
  The winds fresh-blowing,
And purling streams soft-flowing,
In liquid concert move;
  And deep-toned floods,
  Clapping their hands,
  Shall crown the bursting Jubilee
Of universal Love.
All Nature then shall be
  In perfect unison with Man,
And Man with Deity.
  Once more, as when the world began,
Shall GOD be ALL IN ALL, and the whole world be FREE.