Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, POEM COMPOSED FOR .. THE VIGILANT COMMITTEE OF PHILADELPHIA, by DANIEL ALEXANDER PAYNE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

POEM COMPOSED FOR .. THE VIGILANT COMMITTEE OF PHILADELPHIA, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Rise, god of freedom! From thy throne of light
Last Line: "be free! Be free! Ye ransomed lands, be free!"
Subject(s): African Americans; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Slavery; United States; Negroes; American Blacks; Antislavery Movement - United States; Serfs; America


Rise, God of Freedom! From thy throne of light,
Stretch forth thine arm of uncreated might;
In dire confusion cause thy foes to fly,
Chased by the lightnings of thy frowned eye.
Long have they scorned and mocked thy regal crown,
Despised thy laws, and cast thine image down:
O hasten then, in thine appointed hour,
And crush to nought the proud oppressor's power.

Say, Righteous Sire, shall Afric ever mourn
Her weeping children from her bosom torn?
Chained, sold, and scattered far in Christian lands;
Scourged, beaten, murdered to, by Christian hands!
Nor does she weep alone -- her sons to thee
Stretch forth their hands imploring to be free;
Their bleeding hearts, by Sorrow's falchion riven,
Cry out for justice from the God of heaven.

From cotton fields, rice swamps and verdant heath,
In howling tempests, gales, and zephyr's breath,
In smoky columns up to God arise
The groans of broken hearts, and dying agonies:
And pitying cherubs stoop them down to see
The scene of horror, crime and misery.
Hark! hark! they ask, whose arm will break their bonds,
Dry up their tears, and heal their gushing wounds.

Pride of the earth! shall Britain's voice command
That slaves breathe not upon her sacred land,
Whilst thou, before high heaven with brazen heart,
Sell men and women in thy brutish mart?
Make laws to crush the noble sons of earth,
And rank with chattels, minds of heavenly birth;
Shut from their eyes beams of ethereal light,
And doom their souls to shades of mental night?

Shame on thee! shame! land of the boasting free!
Go, shed thy tears -- go, bend thy callous knee --
In dust and ashes hide thy guilty face,
And beg for pardon at the throne of grace!
Then over plantations, farms, and valleys green,
In town and country where the yoke is seen,
Let the loud trumpet of Freedom's jubilee
Bid tyrants die, and trembling slaves go free!

No captive's wail shall then ascend on high,
Nor clouds of vengeance veil thy sunny sky;
No husband then severed from his wife,
Nor slavers cut the meanest cord of life;
No fugitive will seek our northern land,
Pursued by bloodhounds, or a viler band;
The "Vigilant Committees" then shall cease
Their toils of love -- their wars be hushed in peace.

Then, O my country, shall thy honor glide,
Deep, broad, majestic, as the ocean's tide;
Thy starry banner then shall be unfurled
In spotless glory over the admiring world!
Truth then shall crown thy towering crest with light,
And Justice nerve thine arm with deathless might;
Then from our southern to our northern bound,
The songs of freemen ever shall resound.

Fly, glittering orbs! on rapid pinions fly,
With angel swiftness, through the blazing sky!
O usher in that morn of light and love,
When God, descending from the climes above,
With word omnific shall to all proclaim
The doom of slavery, sin, and every other blame:
Bid Peace shed all her radiance over the globe,
With love divine all human hearts enrobe:
Say to all nations, "Hear my voice with glee --
Be free! be free! ye ransomed lands, be free!"





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