Phew! 'T'is a stuffy and stupid place, This social edifice by Custom wrought -- This fenced enclosure wherein all are caught, The great and small, the noble and the base, And squeezed and flattened to one common face. Air, air for springing fancy, errant thought! Scope to make something of the seeming nought! Room for the fleet foot and the open race! Break out, O brother, braver than the rest, Lover of Liberty, whose arm is strong! Buttress our independence with thy breast, And fight a passage through the stagnant throng. Many will press behind thee, but they need The stalwart captain, not afraid to lead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE REVEALER by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON SALLY IN OUR ALLEY by HENRY CAREY (1687-1743) THE BALLAD OF BOUILLABAISSE by WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY SIX TOWN ECLOGUES: SATURDAY; THE SMALL-POX by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU RUINS OF CORINTH by ANTIPATER OF SIDON BLACKBIRDS by CLARA EXLINE BOCKOVEN HE TOOK MY PLACE by HORATIO (HORATIUS) BONAR |