AH why deceive ourselves! by no mere fit Of sudden passion roused shall men attain True freedom where for ages they have lain Bound in a dark abominable pit, With life's best sinews more and more unknit. Here, there, a banded few who loathe the chain May rise to break it; effort worse than vain For thee, O great Italian nation, split Into those jarring fractions. -- Let thy scope Be one fixed mind for all; thy rights approve To thy own conscience gradually renewed; Learn to make Time the father of wise Hope; Then trust thy cause to the arm of Fortitude, The light of Knowledge, and the warmth of Love. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT; AN ODE ATTEMPTED IN ENGLISH SAPPHIC by ISAAC WATTS WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, BY OUR OWN TOM DALY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 29. ALL NOT WORTH A REWARD by PHILIP AYRES MINDEN HOUSE by WILLIAM BARNES THE GUEST OF PHINEUS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET RETURN OF THE NATIVE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 6 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH |