Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FREE, by ELIZA COOK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FREE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The wild streams leap with headlong sweep
Last Line: For I'd leave a throne for the hut of the free.
Subject(s): Freedom; Liberty


The wild streams leap with headlong sweep,
In their curbless course o'er the mountain steep
All fresh and strong they foam along,
Waking the rocks with their cataract song.
My eye bears a glance like the beam on a lance,
While I watch the waters dash and dance;
I burn with glee, for I love to see
The path of any thing that's free.

The skylark springs with dew on his wings,
And up in the arch of hearen he sings
Trill-la, trill-la -- oh, sweeter far
Than the notes that come through a golden bar.
The joyous bay of a hound at play,
The caw of a rook on its homeward way --
Oh! these shall be the music for me,
For I love the voices of the free.

The deer starts up with his antlers high,
Proudly tossing his head to the sky;
The barb runs the plain unbroke by the rein,
With streaming nostrils and flying mane;
The clouds are stirred by the eaglet bird,
As the flap of its swooping pinion is heard.
Oh! these shall be the creatures for me,
For my soul was formed to love the free.

The mariner brave, in his bark on the wave,
May laugh at the walls round a kingly slave;
And the one whose lot is the desert spot
Has no dread of an envious foe in his cot,
The thrall and state at the palace gate
Are what my spirit has learned to hate;
Oh? the hills shall be a home for me,
For I'd leave a throne for the hut of the free.





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