36 Oft, when the wine in his glass was red, 37 And closed his eyes on his garnished rooms, 38 And the proud man sighed, with a secret pain, "Ah, that I were free again! 39 "Free as when I rode that day, Where the barefoot maiden raked her hay." 40 She wedded a man unlearned and poor, 41 And oft, when the summer sun shone hot, 42 And she heard the little spring brook fall 43 In the shade of the apple-tree again 44 And, gazing down with timid grace, 45 Sometimes her narrow kitchen walls 46 The weary wheel to a spinnet turned, 47 And for him who sat by the chimney lug, 48 A manly form at her side she saw, 49 Then she took up her burden of life again, 50 Alas for maiden, alas for Judge, 51 God pity them both! and pity us all, 52 For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "It might have been!" 53 Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies Behold its streaming rays unite, One mingling flood of braided light,- The sister Stars of Liberty! Then hail the banner of the free, The starry Flower of Liberty! *For Biography see p. 253. |