WE ask not that the slave should lie, As lies his master, at his ease, Beneath a silken canopy, Or in the shade of blooming trees. We mourn not that the man should toil; 'T is nature's need -- 't is God's decree; But, let the hand that tills the soil, Be, like the wind that fans it, free. We ask not 'eye for eye' -- that all, Who forge the chain and ply the whip, Should feel their torture -- that the thrall Should wield the scourge of mastership -- We only ask, O God, that they, Who bind a brother, may relent: But, GREAT AVENGER, we do pray That the wrong-doer may repent. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...I'VE NOTHING TO OFFER by DAVID IGNATOW THE FAMILY by KATHERINE MANSFIELD POOR POLL by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES CYNTHIADES: TO CYNTHIA ON CONCEALMENT OF HER BEAUTY by FRANCIS KYNASTON SONNET by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE TWO TREES by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 40. PANTHEISTIC DREAMS by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |