Wendell Phillips Garrison (1840–1907)

HIGH walls and huge the body may confine,

And iron grates obstruct the prisoner’s gaze,

And massive bolts may baffle his design,

And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways;

Yet scorns the immortal mind this base control!

No chains can bind it, and no cell inclose;

Swifter than light, it flies from pole to pole,

And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes!

It leaps from mount to mount; from vale to vale

It wanders, plucking honeyed fruits and flowers;

It visits home, to hear the fireside tale,

Or, in sweet converse, pass the joyous hours.

’T is up before the sun, roaming afar,

And, in its watches, wearies every star!