CHAINS may subdue the feeble spirit, but thee, Tell, of the iron heart! they could not tame; For thou wert of the mountains; they proclaim The everlasting creed of liberty. That creed is written on the untrampled snow, Thundered by torrents which no power can hold, Save that of God, when he sends forth his cold, And breathed by winds that through the free heaven blow. Thou, while thy prison walls were dark around Didst meditate the lesson Nature taught, And to thy brief captivity was brought A vision of thy Switzerland unbound. The bitter cup they mingled strengthened thee For the great work to set thy country free. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BRER RABBIT, YOU'S DE CUTES' OF 'EM ALL by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MERCILES BEAUTE; A TRIPLE ROUNDEL: 2. REJECTION by GEOFFREY CHAUCER YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR GOD'S GRANDEUR by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS THE COURTSHIP OF THE YONGHY-BONGHY-BO by EDWARD LEAR |