LIBERTY. Hail, sacred Freedom, when by law restrain'd! Without you what were man? A grovelling herd, In darkness, wretchedness, and want enchain'd. Beattie Oh, Liberty, thou goddess, heavenly bright, Addison. Liberty. THE VISION OF LIBERTY." BY HENRY WARE, JR. THE evening neavens were calm and bright; No dimness rested on the glittering light That sparkled from that wilderness of worlds on high; Those distant suns burn'd on in quiet ray; The placid planets held their modest way: And silence reign'd profound o'er earth, and sea, and sky. O what an hour for lofty thought! My spirit burn'd within; I caught A holy inspiration from the hour. Around me man and nature slept; Alone my solemn watch I kept, Till morning dawn'd, and sleep resumed her power. A vision pass'd upon my soul. I still was gazing up to heaven, From a poem delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cam bridge, in 1825. As in the early hours of even; I still beheld the planets roll, And all those countless sons of light Flame from the broad blue arch, and guide the moonless night. When, lo, upon the plain, Just where it skirts the swelling main, A massive castle, far and high, In towering grandeur broke upon my eye. Proud in its strength and years, the ponderous pile Flung up its time-defying towers; At vain assault of human powers, And threats and arms deride. Its gorgeous carvings of heraldic pride In giant masses graced the walls above, And dungeons yawn'd below. Yet ivy there and moss their garlands wove Grave, silent chroniclers of time's protracted flov. Bursting on my steadfast gaze, So small at first, the zephyr's slightest swell, Nor makes the wither'd leaf to drop, The feeble fluttering of that flame would quell. But soon it spread Waving, rushing, fierce, and red From wall to wall, from tower to tower, Till every fervent pillar glow'd, And every stone seem'd burning coal, Instinct with living heat, that flow'd Like streaming radiance from the kindled pole Beautiful, fearful, grand, Silent as death, I saw the fabric stand. At length a crackling sound began; From side to side, throughout the pile it ran Till now in rattling thunder-peals it grew: And piecemeal driven, Like blazing comets through the troubled sky. 'Tis done; what centuries had rear'd, In quick explosion disappear'd, Nor even its ruins met my wondering eye. But in their place Bright with more than human grace, Robed in more than mortal seeming, Radiant glory in her face, And eyes with heaven's own brightness beam. ing Rose a fair, majestic form, As the mild rainbow from the storm. |