Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LOST FREEDOM OF SWITZERLAND, by JAMES SHERIDAN KNOWLES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOST FREEDOM OF SWITZERLAND, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh! With what pride I used / to walk these hill
Last Line: Blow on! This is the land of liberty!
Variant Title(s): Tell On His Native Hills
Subject(s): Freedom; Switzerland; Liberty; Swiss


OH! with what pride I used
To walk these hills, and look up to my God,
And bless Him that it was so. It was free --
From end to end, from cliff to lake 'twas free --
Free as our torrents are that leap our rocks,
And plough our valleys, without asking leave;
Or as our peaks that wear their caps of snow,
In very presence of the regal sun!
How happy was I in it then! I loved
Its very storms! Yes, Emma, I have sat
In my boat at night, when, midway o'er the lake,
The stars went out, and down the mountain gorge
The wind came roaring -- I have sat and eyed
The thunder breaking from his cloud, and smiled
To see him shake his lightnings o'er my head,
And think I had no master save his own!
You know the jetting cliff round which a track
Up hither winds, whose base is but the brow
To such another one, with scanty room
For two abreast to pass? O'ertaken there
By the mountain blast, I've laid me flat along,
And while gust follow'd gust more furiously,
As if to sweep me o'er the horrid brink,
And I have thought of other lands, whose storms
Are summer flaws to those of mine, and just
Have wish'd me there -- the thought that mine was free
Has check'd that wish, and I have raised my head,
And cried in thraldom to that furious wind,
Blow on! This is the land of liberty!





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