STRIKE from that laborer's limbs his chain! In the fierce sun the iron burns! By night, it fills his dreams with pain; By day, it galls him as he turns. Yes; and your dreams it visits, too, When Fear stands o'er your restless bed, And shakes it in your ears, till you Tremble, as at an earthquake's tread. Then break his chain, and let him go, And, with the spirit of a man, Earn his own bread; and you shall know Peace, -- that you know not now, nor can The chain, that binds to you your slave, Binds you to him, with links so strong, That you must wear them to your grave, If all your days you do him wrong. Then, from his body and your soul, Throw off the load, while yet you may; Thus strive, in faith, for heaven's high goal, And wait, in hope, the judgement day. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE IN AUTUMN by SARA TEASDALE HIC VIR, HIC EST' by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY ELEGY IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON THE BATTLE-CRY OF FREEDOM by GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT HEATHER ALE: A GALLOWAY LEGEND by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TO JOSIAH ROYCE by BRENT DOW ALLINSON |