Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1842-02-25
From the Knickerbockor for February.
THE ANTIQUITY OF FREEDOM.

By WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
Hero are Old trees, tall oahs and Gnar'ed pines
That stream with @reyrrcen MOSES: here the arount
Was never trenched by SPADES AMI flowers spring NJ
Cnsown and die uneathere1. 1t is sweet
To lin yer here, among the fitting birds
And leapln- squirrels, wandering brooks, and winds
That shake the leaves and scatter as they pass
fragrance from the ce1lrs thlckly set
With pale blue berries. In these peaceful shades
Peaceful, uHpruned immeasurably old
My thoughts 90 up the long dim path Of years,
Back 10 the earliest days of Liberty
Oh, Freedom thou art not as poets dream,
fair yonng girl, with light and delicate limbs,
And wavy lresses gushing from the cap
With which the Roman master crowned his slave
When he took of the gives. 4 bearded man,
Armed to the teeth, art tho one mailed hand
Grnsps the broad shieinnd one the sword thy brow
Glorious in beauty though it be, is Scared
With tokens Of cd wars thy massive limbs fed
Are strong with >trugplng Power thee has launch
His bolts, with h lighininss smittcn thee
They could not quench the life thou hast from Heaven
Merciless Power has dug thy dungeon deep,
Aud his swart arlnorcrs, by thousand fires,
Have 6rg'd thy chain; yet while he de ms thee bound
The links shivercd, and the prison walls
Fall outward; terribly thou sprngest FORTH
As rings the fame above barning pile,
And shouest to the nations who return
Thy shoutings, while the pale opprcssor flies.
Thy birth right was not given by human han S,
Thou vert twin-born with man. In pleasant fields
While yet race was few, that sat ST with him,
To tend the quiet flock and watch the star,
And teach the reed 10 utter simple airs.
Thou by his side amid the tangled wood
Did's war upon the pan her and the wolf,
Your only foes; and thou with him diist draw
The earliest burrows on the mountain 'lde,
Soft with the Deugc Tyranny himself,
Thy enemy, although Of reverend look
Hoary with many years and far obeyed,
Is later born than thou aud as he meets
The grave deilnce of thine elder eve,
The usurpcr renblos in his !nsiencsses.
Thou shalt wax s'ronger with the lapse of years
Blu shall fade into feeblcr age;
Feeblcr, We, subtler he shall weave his snares,
And spring them thy careless steps and clap
His withercd hands and from their ambush call
His hordes to fall upon thee. lie shall send
Quaint maslIers, forms of fair and gallant mlcn,
To catch Thy gaze, and uttcrnG graceful words
To charm thy ear; while his sly mps, by stealth,
Irvine round thee threads Of steel lah thread three
That grow TO feters or bind down thy arms
With chains concealed in chaNets Oh! not yet
May'st thou Embrace thy corslet, or lay by
This sword, nor vet, o, Freedom! close thy lids
In slumber; for thine enemy never sleeps.
And thou must watch and combat, till the day
Ofthenew Earth and Heaven. But would 81 thou res
while from tunult and the frauds of men,
These old and friendly solitudes invite
Thy visit. They, while vet the forest trees
Were young upon the invola'ed Earth,
And vet the moss-stans IN The rock were new,
Beheld thy glorious childhood, and reoiced.