FREEDOM'S first champion in our fettered land! Nor politician nor base citizen Could gibbet thee, nor silence, nor withstand. Thy trenchant and emancipating pen The patriot Lincoln snatched with steady hand, Writing his name and thine on parchment white, 'Midst war's resistless and ensanguined flood; Then held that proclamation high in sight Before his fratricidal countrymen, -- "Freedom henceforth throughout the land for all," -- And sealed the instrument with his own blood, Bowing his mighty strength for slavery's fall; Whilst thou, stanch friend of largest liberty, Survived, -- its ruin and our peace to see. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BURNHAM-BEECHES by HENRY LUTTRELL A DUTCH PROVERB by MATTHEW PRIOR SONG by MARGARET STEELE ANDERSON THE STEAM-ENGINE: CANTO 6. ON THE CORK PACKET, 1837 by T. BAKER THE CLOAK by ANNA LOUISE BARNEY THE LAST MAN: RECEPTION OF EVIL TIDINGS by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |