free-verse161 lines
A Choral Ode To Liberty.
by Eric MackayI.
O sunlike Liberty, with eyes of flame,
Mother and maid, immortal, man's delight!
Fairest and first art thou in name and fame
And none shall rob thee of thy vested right.
Where is the man, though fifty times a king,
Shall stay the tide, or countermand the spring?
And where is he, though fifty times a knave,
Shall track thy steps to cast thee in a grave?
II.
Old as the sun art thou, and young as morn,
And fresh as April when the breezes blow,
And girt with glory like the growing corn,
And undefiled like mountains made of snow.
Oh, thou'rt the summer of the souls of men,
And poor men's rights, approved by sword and pen,
Are made self-certain as the day at noon,
And fair to view as flowers that grow in June.
III.
Look, where erect and tall thy Symbol waits,[B]
The gift of France to friends beyond the deep,
A lofty presence at the ocean-gates
With lips of peace and eyes that cannot weep;
A new-born Tellus with uplifted arm
To light the seas, and keep the land from harm -
To light the coast at downfall of the day,
And dower with dawn the darkening water-way.
[B] Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty in New York harbour.
IV.
O sunlike Liberty, with eyes of flame,
Mother and maid, immortal, stern of vow!
Fairest and first art thou in name and fame,
And thou shall wear the lightning on thy brow!
V.
Who dares condemn thee with the puny breath
Of one poor life, O thou untouched of Fate!
Who seeks to lure thee to a felon's death,
And thou so splendid and so love-elate?
Who dares do this and live? Who dares assail
Thy star-kissed forehead, pure and marble-pale;
And thou so self-possessed 'mid all the stir,
And like to Pallas born of Mulciber?
VI.
Oh, I've beheld the sun, at setting time,
Peep o'er the hills as if to say good-bye;
And I have hailed it with the sudden rhyme
Of some new thought, full-freighted with a sigh.
And I have mused: - E'en thus may Freedom fall,
And darkness shroud it like a wintry pall,
And night o'erwhelm it, and the shades thereof
Engulf the glories born of perfect love.
VII.
But there's no fall for thee; there is no tomb;
And none shall stab thee, none shall stay thy hand.
Thy face is fair with love's eternal bloom,
And thou shalt have all things at thy command.
A tomb for thee? Ay, when the sun is slain
And lamps and fires make daylight on the plain,
Then may'st thou die, O Freedom! and for thee
A tomb be found where fears and dangers be.
VIII.
O sunlike Liberty, with eyes of flame,
Mother and maid, immortal, keen of sight!
Fairest and first art thou in name and fame,
And thou shall tread the tempest in the night!
IX.
There shall be feasting and a sound of song
In thy great cities; and a voice divine
Shall tell of freedom all the winter long,
And fill the air with rapture as with wine.
The spring shall hear it, spring shall hear the sound,
And summer waft it o'er the flowerful ground;
And autumn pale shall shake her withered leaves
On festal morns and star-bespangled eves.
X.
For thou'rt the smile of Heaven when earth is dim -
The face of God reflected in the sea -
The land's acclaim uplifted by the hymn
Of some glad lark triumphant on the lea.
Thou art all this and more! Thou art the goal
Of earth's elected ones from pole to pole,
The lute-string's voice, the world's primeval fire,
And each man's hope, and every man's desire.
XI.
O proud and pure! O gentle and sublime!
For thee and thine, O Freedom! O my Joy!
For thee, Celestial! on the shores of time
A throne is built which no man shall destroy.
Thou shalt be seen for miles and miles around
And wield a sceptre, though of none be crowned.
The waves shall know thee, and the winds of Heaven
Shall sing thee songs with mixed and mighty steven.
XII.
O sunlike Liberty, with eyes of flame,
Mother and maid, immortal, unconfined!
Fairest and first art thou in name and fame,
And thou shalt speed more swiftly than the wind!
XIII.
Who loves thee not is traitor to himself,
Traitor is he to God and to the grave,
Poor as a miser with his load of pelf,
And more unstable than a leeward wave.
Curs'd is he for aye, and his shall be
A name of shame from sea to furthest sea,
A name of scorn to all men under sun
Whose upright souls have learnt to loathe this one.
XIV.
A thousand times, O Freedom! have I turned
To thy rapt face, and wished that martyr-wise
I might achieve some glory, such as burned
Within the depths of Gordon's azure eyes.
Ah God! how sweet it were to give thee life,
To aid thy cause, self-sinking in the strife,
Loving thee best, O Freedom! and in tears
Giving thee thanks for death-accepted years.
XV.
For thou art fearful, though so grand of soul,
Fearful and fearless and the friend of men.
The haughtiest kings shall bow to thy control,
And rich and poor shall take thy guidance then.
Who doubts the daylight when he sees afar
The fading lamp of some night-weary star,
Which prophet-like, has heard amid the dark
The first faint prelude of the nested lark?
XVI.
O sunlike Liberty, with eyes of flame,
Mother and maid, immortal, prompt of thought!
Fairest and first art thou in name and fame,
And thou shalt lash the storm till it be nought!
XVII.
O thou desired of men! O thou supreme
And true-toned spirit whom the bards revere!
At times thou com'st in likeness of a dream
To urge rebellion, with a face austere;
And by that power thou hast - e'en by that power
Which is the outcome of thy sovereign-dower -
Thou teachest slaves, down-trodden, how to stand
Lords of themselves in each chivalrous Land.
XVIII.
The hosts of death, the squadrons of the law,
The arm'd appeal to pageantry and hate,
Shall serve, a space, to keep thy name in awe,
And then collapse, as old and out of date.
Yea! this shall be; for God has willed it so.
And none shall touch thy flag, to lay it low;
And none shall rend thy robe, that is to thee
As dawn to day, as sunlight to the sea.
XIX.
For love of thee, thou grand, thou gracious thing!
For love of thee all seas, and every shore,
And all domains whereof the poets sing,
Shall merge in Man's requirements evermore.
And there shall be, full soon, from north to south,
From east to west, by Wisdom's word of mouth
One code of laws that all shall understand,
And all the world shall be one Fatherland.
XX.
O sunlike Liberty, with eyes of flame,
Mother and maid, immortal, sweet of breath!
Fairest and first art thou in name and fame,
And thou shalt pluck Redemption out of Death!