Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DER FREIHEIT EINE GASSE'-A LANE FOR FREEDOM, by JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DER FREIHEIT EINE GASSE'-A LANE FOR FREEDOM, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My suffering country shall be freed
Last Line: To freedom's course a highway!
Variant Title(s): A Highway For Freedo
Subject(s): Freedom


I
" My suffering country shall be freed ,
And shine with tenfold glory!"
So spake the gallant Winkelried,
Renowned in German story.
"No tyrant, even of kingly grade,
Shall cross or darken my way!"
Out flashed his blade, and so he made
For Freedom's course a highway!


II
We want a man like this, with pow'r
To rouse the world by one word;
We want a chief to meet the hour,
And march the masses onward.
But, chief or none, through blood and fire,
My fatherland, lies thy way!
The men must fight who dare desire
For Freedom's course a highway!


III
Alas! I can but idly gaze
Around in grief and wonder,
The people's will alone can raise
The people's shout of thunder.
Too long, my friends, you faint for fear,
In secret crypt and by-way;
At last be men! Stand forth and clear
For Freedom's course a highway!


IV
You intersect wood, lea, and lawn,
With roads for monster waggons,
Wherein you speed like lightning drawn
By fiery iron dragons.
So do. Such work is good, no doubt;
But why not seek some nigh way
For mind as well? Path also out
For Freedom's course a highway.


V
Yes! up! and let your weapons be
Sharp steel and self-reliance!
Why waste your burning energy
In void and vain defiance,
And phrases fierce but fugitive?
'Tis deeds, not words, that I weigh-
Your swords and guns alone can give
To Freedom's course a highway!






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