Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO WILLIAM E. CHANNING, by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO WILLIAM E. CHANNING, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The pages of thy book I read
Last Line: This dread apocalypse!
Subject(s): Channing, William Ellery (1780-1842); Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Antislavery Movement - United States


The pages of thy book I read,
And as I closed each one,
My heart, responding, ever said,
"Servant of God! well done!"

Well done! Thy words are great and bold;
At times they seem to me,
Like Luther's, in the days of old,
Half-battles for the free.

Go on, until this land revokes
The old and chartered Lie,
The feudal curse, whose whips and yokes
Insult humanity.

A voice is ever at thy side
Speaking in tones of might,
Like the prophetic voice, that cried
To John in Patmos, "Write!"

Write! and tell out this bloody tale;
Record this dire eclipse,
This Day of Wrath, this Endless Wail,
This dread Apocalypse!







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