Poems (Jones)/The Soliloquy of Liberty
NATION of my hope, Prove true, I said: The lines of thy horoscope. My Chaldean lore hath read:And far through the night burns an arc of light, Where the prophet-star hath sped: Prove true, I said.
THE SOLILOQUY OF LIBERTY.
NATION of my hope, Prove true, I said: The lines of thy horoscope. My Chaldean lore hath read:And far through the night burns an arc of light, Where the prophet-star hath sped: Prove true, I said. By God's most sacred hand, (Prove true, I said:) Into a bountiful land Thine infant steps were led;And the flower and the vine gave honey and wine, Whereby thy life was fed: Prove true, I said.
Hurt by the wrath of kings, (Prove true, I said:) Thou, under the eagle's wings, Didst shelter thy drooping head, While the rain of thy wound did cover the ground, Of lucid dew, in the stead: Prove true, I said.
To the holy truth of God, Prove true, I said: Though struck by his chastening rod, Or tried in the furnace dread,Or chained, death-cold, to the rocks of old, Where vulture flocks were fed,— Prove true, I said.
O people of my love, Be free, I said: Till all the fires above From the altars of heaven are fled;Till its halls of light have sevenfold might, And the spheres are dumb with dread,— Be free, I said.
On Afric's golden strand, (Be free, I said:) The wild wind gave command, And the ships before it fled,—Till the Southern wine of this people of mine With Afric's blood was red: Be free, I said.
Ah, then fierce madness came; (Be free, I said!) The air was hot with flame, The rivers below ran red;For the guns did roar from shore to shore, And the heart of the nation bled: Be free, I said.
Down fell the slaver's whip, (Be free, I said!) And clanking chains did slip From limbs that shook with dread;While the burning breath of that wind of death, At the smile of Jehovah, fled: Be free, I said.
Then all the people bowed; (Be free, I said:) For the bolt that hissed in the cloud From God's right hand had sped;But heaven grew bright with sevenfold light, For the sake of the royal dead: Be free, I said.
O nation of my hope, Live long! I said; With the lines of thy horoscope A threefold splendor is wed; For thy stars with the moon, and the sun at noon, On golden wings have sped: Live long, I said.
Live till the seas go dry,— Live long, I said; Till the sluices of the sky Their last, wild rains have shed;Till the roses pale, and the seasons fail, And mountains bury the dead: Live long! I said.
Thou nation of my heart, Live long! I said: Live till the stars depart, By the wan moon deathward led;Till the sun drops down like a shattered crown From an old king's dying head: Live long! I said.