Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HENRY WARD BEECHER, by CHARLES HENRY PHELPS First Line: His tongue was touched with sacred fire Last Line: Wherever men lay bound he clave. Subject(s): Beecher, Henry Ward (1813-1887); Clergy; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Politics & Government; Writing & Writers; Priests; Rabbis; Ministers; Bishops; Antislavery Movement - United States | ||||||||
HIS tongue was touched with sacred fire, He could not rest, he must speak out, When Liberty lay stabbed, and doubt Stalked through the night in vestments direr -- When slaves uplifted manacled hands, Praying in agony and despair, And answer came not anywhere, But gloom through all the stricken lands, -- His voice for freedom instant rang, "For shame!" he cried; "spare thou the rod; All men are free before their God!" The dragon answered with its fang. 'T is brave to face embrasured death Hot belching from the cannon's mouth, Yet brave it is, for North or South, And Truth, to face the mob's mad breath. So spake he then, -- he and the few Who prized their manhood more than praise; Their faith failed not of better days After the nights of bloody dew. England's great heart misunderstood: She looked upon her child askance; But heard his words and lowered her lance, Remembering her motherhood. Majestic Liberty, serene Thou frontest on the chaste white sea! Quench thou awhile the torch, for he Lies dead on whom thou once did lean. Thy cause was ever his, -- the slave In any fetters was his friend; His warfare never knew an end; Wherever men lay bound he clave. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GARRISON by AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT WENDELL PHILLIPS by AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT THE DEATH OF SLAVERY by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT BOSTON HYMN; READ IN MUSIC HALL, JANUARY 1, 1863 by RALPH WALDO EMERSON FIFTY YEARS (1863-1913) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL JOHN BROWN OF OSAWATOMIE [OCTOBER 16, 1859] by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN AMERICA by JAMES MONROE WHITFIELD JOHN CHARLES FREMONT by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |
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