And they shall rise and cast their mantles by, Erect, and strong, and visioned, as the day That rings the knell of curfew o'er the sway Of prejudice -- who reels with mortal cry To lift no more her leprous, blinded eye. Reft of the fetters, far more cursed than they Which held dominion o'er the human clay, The spirit soars aloft, where rainbows lie. Like joyful exiles, swift returning home, The rythmic chanson of their eager feet, While voices, strange to ecstasy, long dumb, Break forth in major cadences, full sweet Into the very star-shine, lo! they come, Wearing the bays of victory complete! |