Volume Ii Part 9 (1/2)

I.

Here are old trees--tall oaks and gnarled pines-- That stream with gray-green mosses; here the ground Was never trenched by spade, and flowers spring up Unsown, and die ungathered.

II.

It is sweet To linger here, among the flitting birds And leaping squirrels, wandering brooks, and winds That shake the leaves, and scatter as they pa.s.s, A fragrance from the cedars, thickly set With pale blue berries. In these peaceful shades-- Peaceful, unpruned, immeasurably old-- My thoughts go up the long, dim path of years, Back to the earliest days of liberty.

III.

O Freedom, thou art not, as poets dream, A fair young girl, with light and delicate limbs, And wavy tresses, gus.h.i.+ng from the cap With which the Roman master crowned his slave When he took off the gyves. A bearded man, Armed to the teeth, art thou; one mailed hand Grasps the broad s.h.i.+eld, and one the sword; thy brow, Glorious in beauty though it be, is scarred With tokens of old wars; thy ma.s.sive limbs Are strong with struggling.

IV.

Power at thee has launched His bolts, and with his lightnings smitten thee; They could not quench the life thou hast from Heaven.

Merciless power has dug thy dungeon deep, And his swart armorers, by a thousand fires, Have forged thy chain; yet while he deems thee bound, The links are s.h.i.+vered, and the prison walls Fall outward; terribly thou springest forth, As springs the flame above a burning pile And shoutest to the nations, who return Thy shoutings, while the pale oppressor flies.

V.

Thy birthright was not given by human hands; Thou wert twin-born with man. In pleasant fields, While yet our race was few, thou sat'st with him, To tend the quiet flock, and watch the stars, And teach the reed to utter simple airs.

Thou, by his side, amid the tangled wood, Didst war upon the panther and the wolf, His only foes; and thou with him didst draw The earliest furrows on the mountain-side, Soft with the deluge.

VI.

Tyranny himself, Thy enemy, although of reverend look, h.o.a.ry with many years, and far obeyed, Is later born than thou; and as he meets The grave defiance of thine elder eye, The usurper trembles in his fastnesses.

VII.

O, not yet Mayst thou unbrace thy corselet, nor lay by Thy sword; nor yet, O Freedom, close thy lids In slumber; for thine enemy never sleeps, And thou must watch and combat till the day Of the new earth and heaven.

VIII.

But wouldst thou rest Awhile from tumult and the frauds of men, These old and friendly solitudes invite Thy visit. They, while yet the forest trees Were young upon the unviolated earth, And yet the moss-stains on the rock were new, Beheld thy glorious childhood, and rejoiced.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY.

FROM A SPEECH BEFORE THE NATIONAL CONVENTION OF FRANCE, 1789.

1. I hear much said of patriotism, appeals to patriotism, transports of patriotism. Gentlemen, why prost.i.tute this n.o.ble world? Is it so very magnanimous to give up a part of your income in order to save your whole property? This is very simple arithmetic; and he that hesitates, deserves contempt rather than indignation.

2. Yes, gentlemen, it is to your immediate self-interest, to your most familiar notions of prudence and policy that I now appeal. I say not to you now, as heretofore, beware how you give the world the first example of an a.s.sembled nation untrue to the public faith.

3. I ask you not, as heretofore, what right you have to freedom, or what means of maintaining it, if, at your first step in administration, you outdo in baseness all the old and corrupt governments. I tell you, that unless you prevent this catastrophe, you will all be involved in the general ruin; and that you are yourselves the persons most deeply interested in making the sacrifices which the government demands of you.

4. I exhort you, then, most earnestly, to vote these extraordinary supplies; and G.o.d grant they may prove sufficient! Vote, then, I beseech you; for, even if you doubt the expediency of the means, you know perfectly well that the supplies are necessary, and that you are incapable of raising them in any other way. Vote them at once, for the crisis does not admit of delay; and, if it occurs, we must be responsible for the consequences.

5. Beware of asking for time. Misfortune accords it never. While you are lingering, the evil day will come upon you. Why, gentlemen, it is but a few days since, that upon occasion of some foolish bustle in the Palais Royal, some ridiculous insurrection that existed nowhere but in the heads of a few weak or designing individuals, we were told with emphasis, ”Catiline is at the gates of Rome, and yet we deliberate.”