Sion, thine eye beheld and wept too late
O'er tower and temple crumbling in decay,
The crashing column and the falling gate; -
And saw the deadly paleness of dismay
The faces of they trembling priests' array,
And high-born maids and matrons…
There's sorrow on the sea -
The ocean's mighty deep,
When raging winds roar furiously,
And mournful vigils keep:
When noble barques press foaming waves, And sink amid unnumber'd graves.
There's sorrow on the surge,
When blacken'd grows…
From old Virginia's mountains,
From Carolina's strand,
Where Georgia's glittering fountains
Abound with golden sand;
From many a Southern river,
From many a vale and plain,
They call us to deliver
From Slavery's galling chain.
What through…
Freedom's concentrated dower,
Casket of a priceless gem!
Nobler heritage of power
Than imperial diadem!
Cornerstone in which was reared
Liberty's triumphal dome,
When the glorious form appeared
'Midst our own green mountain home!
Purchased by…
"What is there sadd'ning in the Autumn leaves?"Have they that "green and yellow Melancholy"That the sweet poet spake of? - Had he seenOur variegated woods, when first the frostTurns into beauty all October's charms -When the dread fever quits us -…
O Camalu - green Camalu!
'Twas there I fed my father's flock,
Beside the mount where cedars threw
At dawn their shadows from the rock;
There tended I my father's flock
Along the grassy-margined rills,
Or chased the bounding bontebok
With hound…
O'er the level plain where mountains
Greet me as I go,
O'er the desert waste where fountains
At my bidding flow,
On the boundless beam by day,
On the cloud by night,
I am rushing hence away -
Who will chain my flight?
War his wary watch was…
I bring no chain of rarest worth -
No coral from the deep sea-cave -
No gem long hid within the earth,
To shine where now those tresses wave;
A gift more precious, far, is mine,
Than sparkling gem from earth or sea;
This treasury of thought -…
Earth speaks in many voices: from the roar
Of the wild cataract, whose causeless din
Shakes the far forest and resounding shore,
To the meek rivulet which seems to win
Its modest way amid spring's pleasant bowers,
Singing its quiet song to charm…
Is it his daily toil that wrings
From the slave's bosom, that deep sigh?
Is it niggard fare that brings
That tear into his down-cast eye?
O, no - by toil and humble fare
Earth's sons their strength - their glory gain.
It is because the slave…
