OUR fathers fought for liberty; They struggled long and well, History of their deeds can tell -- But did they leave us free? Are we free from vanity, Free from pride, and free from self, Free from love of power and pelf, From everything that's beggarly? Are we free from stubborn will, From low hate and malice small, From opinion's tyrant thrall? Are none of us our own slaves still? Are we free to speak our thought, To be happy, and be poor, Free to enter Heaven's door, To live and labor as we ought? Are we, then, made free at last From the fear of what men say, Free to reverence To-day, Free from slavery of the Past? Our fathers fought for liberty; They struggled long and well, History of their deeds can tell -- But @3ourselves@1 must set us free. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS EPIGRAM: HERO AND LEANDER by JOHN DONNE LOVERS' INFINITENESS by JOHN DONNE ABRAHAM LINCOLN WALKS AT MIDNIGHT by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY THE REVENGE OF RAIN-IN-THE-FACE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THOMAS HOOD by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON HUDSON RIVER ANTHOLOGY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE OPTIMIST AND THE PESSIMIST; A DIALOGUE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |