Phew! 'T'is a stuffy and stupid place, This social edifice by Custom wrought -- This fenced enclosure wherein all are caught, The great and small, the noble and the base, And squeezed and flattened to one common face. Air, air for springing fancy, errant thought! Scope to make something of the seeming nought! Room for the fleet foot and the open race! Break out, O brother, braver than the rest, Lover of Liberty, whose arm is strong! Buttress our independence with thy breast, And fight a passage through the stagnant throng. Many will press behind thee, but they need The stalwart captain, not afraid to lead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HAARLEM HEIGHTS by ARTHUR GUITERMAN WOMEN MEN'S SHADOWS by BEN JONSON SHE CAME AND WENT by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL A RHYME by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE BEFORE PARTING by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE HOPE AND FEAR by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE EVOLUTION by JOHN BANISTER TABB |